What do you think about trieste

Empires breezed in, too, notably the Roman and the Byzantine. But it was centuries of Austrian rule that left the most enduring mark. The winds also brought James Joyce, who lived intermittently in the city in the early 20th century. But Trieste is hardly a gusty relic. A new high-tech photography museum, an expanding night life area and a fancy new nearby marina, Portopiccolo , join the Old World churches, picturesque piazzas, sumptuous palazzo-museums, classic Austrian coffeehouses and cozy seafood restaurants to create a distinctive Adriatic experience.

Your crash course in history begins at the Roman amphitheater on Via del Teatro Romano. Built from the s to s on the site of the former Roman settlement, the fortress offers panoramic vistas of the city and sea. Spectral music ensures full sensory immersion. Admission, 8 euros. Expect to learn some salty new vocabulary at Alla Sorgente, a rustic seafood restaurant with stone walls and wooden tables. In lieu of a menu, the matron of the house tells you in Italian the dishes.

You might hear talk of capesante scallops or orata sea bream , to say nothing of triglia mullet — recently served cold with thyme and vinegar-marinated leeks — or the fantastic house-made spaghetti with tiny clams and tomato chunks.

Three courses cost about 40 euros a person. A bar for every thirst awaits on Via Torino, a surging strip of night life on a stony pedestrian street. A restaurant and juice bar by day, Draw is a vast space adorned with vintage bric-a-brac, from bicycles to suitcases-turned-tables. But Austrian and Slovenian influences are just as strong. Lunch here on jota a Triestino stew made of sauerkraut, beans, potatoes and sausage or tender hunks of roast pork served with kren freshly grated horseradish.

Da Siora Rosa and Buffet Rudy are two of the best. These days in Trieste, it feels like everything old is new again. Likewise, Piolo e Max have re-invented the regional tradition of after-dinner digestivo, by infusing local grappas and bitters with fragrant botanicals. Try one on the rooftop of The Pier , a bar perched on top of the San Giusto yacht club. Triestini are the first to admit that they have an enviable quality of life, and this quality benefits travellers, too.

You can spend weeks here, launching off on the Delfino Verde ferry to the Venetian fishing port of Muggia or the sandy, barrier island of Grado. One afternoon, on the hill of San Giusto, where the stately imperial buildings give way to medieval cobblestoned sprawl and ivy-covered houses, I came upon a group of young Serbian Orthodox priests. They were standing beneath a dilapidated Roman stone arch named for Richard the Lionheart, who, according to another legend, was imprisoned here on his way home from the Crusades.

Once inside, they each lit a candle and prayed before beginning to sing. Their voices, at the same time distinct and hauntingly one, echoed off the marble, the Baroque frescoes, the mosaics, each redoubling the sound. Most of the Vienna-style cafes I visited were cathedral-quiet when I visited: hushed and formal in a way that seemed so alien in the country of the countertop espresso and the typically raucous bar. Men and women, most of them elderly, sat contemplatively over coffees they rarely touched.

This was not the Italy of sprezzatura , of gleeful chaos. Everything was muted, languid, precise. I sat under Jugendstil molding of copper leaves and faded frescoes of harlequins, pretending that I was not spying on my neighbors. In a back corner, two women were holding a formal philosophical-literary salon, inviting speakers—both Italian and English—to give discourses on the problem of collective versus individual guilt. On the right was the church of San Giusto and on the left, Santa Maria; their side aisles were combined to make the cathedral's central aisle the nave.

Along with the two churches, bits of Roman stonework were recycled into the building — look for them in the doorway and the campanile. Look also for the excellent mosaic work from the 7th and 12th centuries in the altars at the end of the side aisles. To fully appreciate them, you can activate the lights for a '1 coin. In the cathedral are the tombs of eight House of Bourbon claimants to the Spanish throne, who were promoted by the Carlist movement. You may hear another note of European history ring out here, as the cathedral bell was cast in from a cannon left by Napoleon.

Outside are the remains of the second-century Roman forum and a first-century temple. Canale Grande. Relax or stroll here at any time of day, but be sure to return in the evening, when the lights and reflections shimmer on the water. The area was a favorite of James Joyce, who lived in Trieste from to He is commemorated by a statue on one of the bridges across the Canale Grande.

The canal was once longer, but the upper end was filled in to create Piazza Sant'Antonio. Above the square stands Trieste's largest church, the Neoclassical Sant'Antonio, built in To the right is the Serbian Orthodox church of San Spiridione , built in and reminiscent of Byzantine-style Eastern churches.

Along with frescoes and paintings, the church contains four outstanding early 19th-century Russian icons in the iconostasis, covered in gold and silver.

The large silver candelabrum in front of the iconostasis was a gift of a Romanov Grand Duke. Lake Bled. One of the most idyllic spots in neighboring Slovenia, Lake Bled, is only about kilometers from Trieste.

The beautiful, clear glacial lake sits under a background of a mountain range, with a pretty village along its wooded shore and a postcard-perfect island set in its center. The island rises to a beautiful spired Gothic church. Swans swim in the lake, and walking paths lead along its shore from the village, where the 12th-century Bled Castle perches atop a steep meter cliff above the lake. Although you can get here by bus via the capital city of Ljubljana , itself worthy of a visit for its unique architectural heritage, the easiest way is to combine the two attractions on the seven-hour Lake Bled and Ljubljana Tour from Trieste.

From here, you'll travel to Lake Bled, where there's plenty of time to walk along the shore and explore the village. Teatro Romano Roman Theater. The stone theater uses the slope of the San Giusto hill as its base, and the upper steps and the stage were probably made of wood.

You can see some of the statues that adorned the theater, which was brought to light in the s, in the Castello San Giusto. Several other tourist attractions are on this hill, which is the old city of Trieste, with narrow winding streets and venerable buildings, quite a contrast to the Austrian-Hungarian part of the city below. It's a nice place to stroll, and if you're wondering where to eat in Trieste, you'll find a number of restaurants and cafes here.

Faro della Vittoria. Both a monument and a working lighthouse, Faro della Vittoria was built after World War I, commemorating those who had died at sea during the war, and celebrating Trieste's joining the Kingdom of Italy following its long occupation by the Austrian Empire. The location, too, has symbolic significance, as the lighthouse stands on the foundations of an important former Austrian fort.

Atop the lighthouse, a seven-meter-tall statue of the Winged Victory holds a raised torch in one hand, a laurel branch in the other. Below, standing against the base of the tower is an 8. Below the statue is the anchor of the destroyer Audace, commemorating the historic entry of the first Italian ship in Trieste. The lighthouse is often open to visitors, who are treated to panoramic views of the harbor, the city, and the Adriatic Coast.

Grotta Gigante. The minute guided tour of this karst cave, about 20 kilometers from the city center, cannot possibly show you all of it. But you'll be impressed as you stand inside the main underground chamber, which is 98 meters high, 76 meters wide, and meters long.