JJ and I achieved another successfully executed international transfer today (albeit a
less than 2 hour bus trip) and are now in Trieste, Italy. The day started
slowly with a sleep in and agreement that our activity deserved some peaceful
slumber time – so no problems there. So after the (very comfortable catch up
with electronic contacts without stepping out of bed (wonderful Wifi everywhere)
– the one reason to be thankful for the time difference with home) it was out
of bed to pack and prepare for a mid-morning head out – first to our favourite Ljubljana
café (too convenient for words) for a coffee thanks to our favourite Ljubljana
waiter, back to our apartment (he he.. apartment is a bit grand, its more like
a ground floor flat) and a request to our accommodation facilitator (this is
the best expression I can think of, but made sure we were in the right spot,
took our money and he has been quite helpful) resulted in a taxi coming to our
local square to whisk us off to the bus station.

Our driver this time was a young man who had excellent English, so it was a great
opportunity to quiz a local about working conditions, employment opportunities,
wages and schooling of people living in Ljubljana. He was very helpful in
response and later in the conversation showed quite a sense of humour when we
commented on the difference we found with the excellent customer service and
friendliness of the Slovenians (very friendly and great customer service)
compared with the Croatians (many of whom were very grumpy and not at all
helpful) – he commented that the Croatians are only full of good customer
service in June and July (‘the season’) when it is profitable – which we
chuckled about as we had found it to be true.

Then to the bus station – we were scheduled on the next leg of the same bus route (which
goes through to Turin) that we took from Ljubljana (which seems like an
absolute age away), so we knew what we were doing re where to go (a bit
unusual). While I spent a bit of time reviewing the week’s communications and
bag minding, JJ did a short walk around the previously Sunday-sleepy streets of
Ljubljana to confirm that Monday morning indeed saw an increase in traffic and
general business with shops open and businesses happening.

The bus trip was very pleasant, plenty to see and plenty of entertainment at hand (what did
we do before kindles and iTunes I ask?) – a few pics show a bit of what I saw –
but the rain started part way through our trip as we had expected and we
arrived into a pretty soggy Trieste. A taxi waiting outside the bus / train
station whisked us off to our hotel – a ‘boutique’ hotel hidden behind some
very imposing doors, where we were greeted very warmly by our hosts in what was
quite elaborate surroundings – in fact the reception area was quite amazing
(see pics). The (two friendly young ladies looking after reception ) explained that it was customary for the hotel to welcome visitors with a drink and we were offered a choice of
beverages. Pic shows that not only did we get our choice (I needed another
coffee at that point) but they then brought out some very nice pastries and a
bowl of popcorn. The hotel itself was delightful – hopefully my pics show its
uniqueness – including the original stone walls exposed throughout and while
the tones were dark grey generally, the feeling was very warm and the unusual
décor, a mix of the old stone walls with quite modern fittings (some bits a bit
too minimalist) was quite intriguing. Our bathroom in particular reflected this
with a stone basin and great use made of what was actually a very, very small
hotel room but very tasteful and pleasing on the eye.

After minimal unpacking (because there was actually nowhere to put anything much) we
reviewed some maps and set out to do some preliminary touring and orientation,
mindful that the weather forecast had been for rain this afternoon and a fine
evening. We are located very close to Trieste’s short canal (for those of you
lucky enough to have been here before) and very close to the water’s edge. 

So we wandered along orienting ourselves to the delightful buildings (some pics attached)
and noticing this and that – including the very large gulls and some brown and
black birds that looked very unfamiliar (see pic – if you know what they are
please let me know). Our planned destination was the city’s main square –
claimed to be Europe’s largest water facing square, which is actually very
large and surrounded on 3 sides by large, largely government focused building
(more on that tomorrow when I get a chance to collect the details – but several
pics attached to give you the overall impression, which was of imposing, well
maintained old buildings). 

As often happens, we then chanced upon the information centre and collected all sorts of
other bits of information / maps including buying the Trieste tourist card
(something we have done in other cities too as the discounts they provide via
significant discounts for entry into museums and other venues, make the
purchase well worthwhile) and getting some more details on what to see and do.

Then the skies started closing in and as we crossed the square the skies opened up so we
chose to stop for a wine in one of the many cafes / restaurants that we had
passed. Despite service taking a bit of time, the wine duly arrived accompanied
by a little tray of nibbles and a jar of potato chips – making the reasonable
E5 price tag very appealing. Together with the refreshments the day’s
complimentary food will, I am sure we will see today’s expenditure come in
under budget. 

I don’t think that I have mentioned that when we set out I set an arbitrary budget of
AUD100 per day, which except for one day and not including a handbag which
wasn’t counted due to being on a credit card (not counted as ‘real money’, I
have stuck to that amount per day (including all bus fares, admissions, meals
and lots of coffees and beers mostly). My tally at the end of the Croatian Kuna
expenditure was well under budget and so far so good in Euros, though I am
realistic that Venice will blow things out of the water – to say nothing about
the fact that my short window shopping experience this afternoon has sparked a
bit of interest in places to return to tomorrow (maybe will report on that
later – maybe not!).

After the rain stopped (didn’t take long) we returned to the hotel via checking out
possible venues for dinner later. When we did venture forth for dinner, surprisingly
it was difficult to find a restaurant in the area around our hotel that offered
more than drinks and tapas or light snacks, despite wandering up and down
multiple streets amid the array of majestic buildings that make up downtown
Trieste. After passing what appeared to be (and we had confirmed was) a
political rally prior to the local, municipal election on June, we settled on (somewhat
desperately due to increasing hunger pangs) a bar that appeared to offer
hamburgers and other meals that looked like a good option. 

We were buoyed when our first round of drinks was accompanied by multiple savoury accompaniments (chips, peanuts, rolled up corn-chip sort of pieces and little gherkins), which
put our pangs of hunger at bay while our hamburgers were under construction. Then
we settled in for a few drinks and after dinner and a few more drinks eventually
wandered home via an ice-cream shop (my first for the day – shock horror) to
end the night very nicely before planning another day of discovery tomorrow. 

 Fingers crossed that the rain clears tomorrow.