Happy Trieste Friends and Friends

Trieste is lovely. It’s a medium sized city nestled up on the north east border of Italy, a few kilometres from Slovenia and just an hour’s drive from Croatia. It was my destination for a little 3-day break with my fellow Aussie Karen, who lives in London these days. We’d picked it pretty randomly – neither of us had been there before, but it seemed suitably exotic and promisingly sunny. A cheap airfare and the news that Trieste is the home of Illy coffee sealed the deal!

Trieste has a sort of faded grandeur and elegance that fits its brilliant location and difficult history. While it is currently very Italian, this incarnation is relatively recent. Between 1382 and the end of Word War I Trieste was the major seaport of the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian empire. The region has been settled continuously for over 5000 years, and was occupied by the Illyrians (some sort of army of caffeine-freaks I presume) and the Romans. The architecture around the city is a mix of styles – some of it looks quite Italian for sure, but other parts did remind me more of Ljubljana and Budapest. After fighting to become part of Italy after World War I (and somewhat upsetting the 25% ethnic Slovenes in the area) the city seems to have accepted its downgrading in importance from key port to outpost. This perhaps adds to its current charm. Nothing is too ostentatious, and the locals seemed pretty content to enjoy their home and give thanks that the swarms of tourist that descend on much of Italy are, for now at least, leaving Trieste largely untouched.

Karen and I therefore enjoyed a leisurely three days. There are some sights, such as an old castle, and numerous grand buildings and churches. But mainly we enjoyed strolling around, stopping for coffee, gelato and spritzers (campari and wine cocktails which everyone seemed obsessed with) whenever the mood took us. The food was excellent too. I branched out beyond the traditional Italian staple and had very tasty meals of beef, grilled tuna and super-fresh baby squid cooked in a thick tomato and olive sauce – really good stuff. I did try some pasta and that was simple and delicious as well. On our last day in town we jumped on a local ferry and headed off first to the little town of Barcola and then to Grignano, both further around the coast towards the bulk of Italy. Grigano is next to the Castello Miramare, a 19th century castle built for an Austrian duke, which was a nice place to visit. We didn’t have time to head in the other direction down to coastal Slovenia, but it didn’t matter as the weekend was suitably relaxed and calm and wouldn’t have benefited from racing around trying to see too much.

Either side of the Trieste trip I had a few days in London – my last visit to London for quite a long time I’d imagine. I got to watch the Champions League final (brilliant!), meet Karen’s housemates, catch up with Vanessa and generally enjoy the comforts of being in an English speaking environment for a few days, which is always a nice change. I think it’s the 4th visit to London I've made during these last few years in Europe and I can’t say I savour the prospect anymore (other than seeing friends of course), so perhaps giving it a rest for a decade or so is a good idea! Now I’m back to looooooong (and hopefully sunny) Oslo days and some relaxation as I head towards 9 June and my thesis defence. That will mark the end of my degree and signal one final month of travels and Norwegian fun before heading home.