As I had expected to be the case for the whole trip(which it wasn't), the day dawned (actually, a late night full of technological frustrations meant that I actually slept right through dawn so my comment applies to activities in a post-checkout time slot) with a clear blue sky, a slight breath of wind and warm sunshine. My preparations prior to our 10am checkout were fairly standard, and last nights death of my laptop meant there was no option for responding in depth to client matters and with my mastery of packing, the departure proceeded easily.
 
We checked out, left our bags in the hotel, headed out for breakfast and stopped in at a cafe where there were limited options - we have found that quite a few Trieste Cafes specialise in only coffee and drinks - maybe our timing was out. It was 10.30 after all! Still, I enjoyed the coffee and apple strudel very much, helped down by lashings of cream ... A bit of a heart starter! 
 
JJ and I set out then to take in two final Trieste museums before heading off. 
 
The first was Civic Museum Morpurgo. A 19th-century bourgeois family's villa full of period paintings, furniture, glassware & porcelain. It sounded quite interesting and after finding a not very well marked doorway off the street, we climbed the stairs to the museum. However, it was closed so our visit was canned.
 
Heading out into the sunshine again we noticed a department store across the road so decided that as retail therapy had generally been off our agenda (as a focus that is, we have certainly picked up a few bits and pieces along the way), we would see what the store 'Coin' (aptly named I thought) could share with us. After wandering around all 3 floors I found a few small items that looked like me and with therapy up to date I headed off to the next Museum - the Museum of the Jewish Community of Trieste “Carlo and Vera Wagner'. 
 
Up a slight rise (yes, my knees groaned) the two floors of a building in which the museum is locates holds particular historical significance for the Jewish Community in Trieste, and has been declared a site of national interest. Previously a Jewish hospital; in the first decades of the twentieth century the area hosted the local Jewish Agency which helped refugees fleeing Nazism as they left from Trieste for Palestine and the Americas. 
 
Jews have a living history in Trieste - including as you would expect, business and cultural contributions. Prior to WWII there were about 5,000 Jews in the city but of course their persecution by the nazis reduced that number significantly - with today around 500 Jews living in the city - an ageing and dropping population, which I was told by the he museum's Jewish manager.
 
Today the museum has on display 'an array of artifacts, which in quality and quantity are apparently amongst the most important in Italy, and which provide a unique insight into the Jewish life'; the exhibition also aims to be ' as informative and engaging as possible for visitors, from within Italy and from further afield - thanks to the English translation of all the texts - with particular attention to schools.' I enjoyed the museums content and explanations of the meaning and relevance of many items, but do course found it sad to read the individual stories of promising young Jews who were either put to death, or whose families or future was destroyed...
 
From there I went to the main square to take advantage of the free wifi, and as I sat near the central fountain, I saw a couple with bicycles - he was taking a photo of her with her bike in front of the fountain. On hearing them speak English I offered to take a photo of them (as I often do knowing ho hard it is to get a photo together when travelling) in the recognisable setting and when we got chatting they turned out to be Aussies from Cairns doing an individually organised bicycle riding tour through Slovenia, with a side trip to Trieste.
 
This connection precipitated lots of story swapping, including me quizzing them about the organisation that organised their, and them telling me about their travels to Venice - hence the photo of me with a stranger!
 
From there it was back to the hotel to meet up with JJ, collect or bags and take a taxi to the train station. It is cutting a long story short to say that the journey from there was challenging, as our trip from Trieste to Vienna (which we changed from bus to train to supposedly enjoy an relaxed Italian train experience travelling into Venice) was thrown out of sight by a sudden, unexpected rail strike that the rail people appeared to have no notice about. 
 
Even though the displaced passengers were asking a lot of questions, helpful information was not forthcoming from the Italian rail people and and so we went through some decision stress re what and when to do it, and with 5 mins to spare chose a bus option. The bus took us directly to Venice - I have yet to follow up re the train disappointment but will try for a refund (LOL).
 
We arrived into Venice not sure how to get where we needed to go, banded up with an Argentinian girl and 6 American girls as we trained it across from the bus station to Piazzale Roma and together eventually found our way .... having survived the bag carrying / dragging challenge that Venice presents and stopping off for a drinks recharge along the way.
 
Getting into our hotel after finding it with Venice's unique street naming convention (and we were Venice naive after all) was the final challenge. Like some of our other accommodation, the Ca' Princess location was not particularly obvious from the street and it required a call to someone to come and let us in and organise our checkin. After multiple calls (initially unanswered) our 'host' arrived and we were shown to our room.
 
It didn't take long before we were unpacked and into bed. Exhausted!
 
The next day in Venice was action packed and I have a lot to tell about it, but because we are in the thick of exploring, the next posts may take some days to write it up and post..... 

 Sorry about the delay but stay posted and be patient.