TODAY

left hotel and walked to Zia's place. At about 10.00am we drove with Zio Poalo to Trueste where we visited the castle of Miramare. A castle built on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was built by Maximillian of the Hapsburgs. Very beautiful jnside, exquisitely decorated. The castle is surrounded by a magnificent park and gardens. I enjoyed touring the building very much. Dad, unfortunately didn't come with me as his back is playing up. We then drove to Opacina to dad's cousin Gianni and his wife Cornelia. We are going there for , you guessed it, lunch! Zia Tcarsicia and Zio Pino are joining us also. lunch was lovely - not too much. We had gnocchi do pane (gnocchi of bread) they were fantastic and Cornelia gave me the recipe - in Italian of course! After lunch and some active conversation Gianni took dad and I on the famous Opicina tram. A tram service that runs from Opicina to Trieste. About half of the tram ride is by funicular because the decent to Trieste is so steep. Fantastic tram ride. From there we went to a look oust and finally a roman church on top of a hill overlooking the Trieste Slovenian border. Great scenery.
We picked up Cornelia and went to their church on Monte Grisa. The church is huge and built like no other church I have ever been. It has a restaurant and bar and at least four mass areas, other than chapels. Amazing church!
After this we drove to Zia's house and said our goodbyes to Gianni Cola and his lovely wife Cornelia. I have been invited to stay next time I am in Trieste. At Zia's place we had late afternoon drinks with their notify ours, a Bosnian couple who Zia and Zio have befriended. They have a lovely daughter named Josipa who is in first year at school. After drinks the neighbors went home and we had s light dinner and then dad and I left to walk back to the hotel. Unfortunately dad had a fall and hurt his arm. It took me all my strength to lift him back on to his feet. We made it back to the hotel and packed ready to go to Fossalta tomorrow. Big day, but very enjoyable.