Trieste

I have always wanted to visit Trieste: it's from Trieste that the heroes of the favourite adventure books of my childhood set on their first journey, it's Trieste that has been the gateway to the truly far away places for those who lived in the mostly land-locked provinces of Austro-Hungarian empire further north, it's in Trieste that the civilised West started to gradually change into the wilder and more mysterious East. Once the principal port of the Hapsburg monarchy, Trieste's heyday dates to the 19th century, when it was the fourth largest city of the Empire and later on an important cultural centre. It became a part of the unified Italy after World War ...  Read the complete review

On 5th March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill, then Leader of the Opposition in Great Britain, declared 'From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent.' Until I had cause to visit Trieste last year that is what Trieste meant to me - a quote I learnt at school. It was fitting, then, that Trieste should be an overnight stop on my way to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia and until the early 1990s behind the 'iron curtain' and firmly within the Soviet sphere of influence as defined by Churchill. Trieste lies right on the brink of the "Iron Curtain". Trieste is situated in the far north ...  Read the complete review

Jason and the Argonauts were said to have stopped in Trieste in the hunt for the Golden Fleece. With this being Italy I had been expecting this to be a case of the Golden Fleecing of a stupid tourist... Read on to see if I got fleeced... --- During my recent trip to Slovenia, I decided to take a day trip to Trieste, especially as it was only just over an hour away by bus from Piran, where I was staying. It also gave me a chance to try and complete a set of Italian Euro coins or two for friends (demanding friends I have!). The other recent was to be able to say that I had visited both ends of the where Churchill's "Iron Curtain" stood. ...  Read the complete review

Trieste must rank as one of Europe's most under-rated cities. Lying in the forgotten north-eastern corner of Italy, for years almost cut off from the rest of the country by the so-called Iron Curtain, the port city of Trieste (Trst in Slovene) is neglected by the tourist crowds in favour of its better known and more beautiful sister venice. I must admit that passing through Trieste by train five years ago en route to Slovenija, there did not seem much to stop for. It seemed ordinary, nondescript, industrial, consisting solely of factories, cranes and mist. A town made to be forgotten...and forget it I did, until I happened across Ryanair's website offering ...  Read the complete review

Trieste is a funny old city and the Triestini are mad. Or at least, that’s what many people round here told me when I said I was heading to the border city for the weekend.Of course, I asked for clarification, but was just met with a sad nod of the head or a chuckle. Being assured it was not a malevolent madness, I felt quite comforted by this thought. Anyone the people here think are mad, can’t be all that bad! In fact, this made the thought of Trieste all the more appealing to me and I wasn't disappointed. I didn't really know what to expect of the city before I arrived. Trieste has many 'claims to fame'. She lies by ...  Read the complete review