Delightful

Trieste, Italy

Today I travelled to Trieste via train. I love European trains - clean, quiet, on time and free WIFI that works. Always a fun time.

Trieste has never been on my list of cities to visit. I'm here because it is the embarkation point for the cruise. But it has been a lovely afternoon. Starting in the old town is always a safe bet that you will find something interesting. Like many Italian towns, the old town can be a maze of smaller streets and walkways that seem to lead nowhere yet, open up into wonderful piazzas - some small and some quite large and important.

Have a map but take a walk. Your eyes catch something and never quite sure where it leads, all of a sudden you stumble across the tail end of a Christmas Market. These are filled with stalls of food, drink, Christmas items and things that could be Christmas gifts. Interesting in a relatively mild climate, the hot wine booth was doing a huge business.

This discovery led to the Piazza Unita d'Italia, an immense square facing the Adriatic Sea (Gulf of Trieste) and ringed with governmental offices and palaces. Used as a uniting place after WW II it is now a public gathering spot for celebrations, strolls, restaurants, events etc. I had a nice video but for some reason, I am not getting it to work on this blog (Kristin??) but,I do have a picture of the Governmental Palace at the end of the Piazza and a close up of the fountain in the middle.

Every good European town has some Roman era ruins and Trieste is no slacker. They have a very nice Roman Theatre located in the Old Town. Ever wonder about the many people who sat in that Theatre so long ago?

Walking, I noticed that Trieste has very unique lamp posts and street lights. I can't explain it but I find them delightful.

Am I getting better pictures with my new phone or what? Another thing I love about Christmas in Europe is how the towns are decorated in lights. The streets are narrow enough that the lights are strung high across the street which I find - delightful

And finally, I am staying at a hotel that originally was a bank and government building in the early 1900s. In their lobby they have a statue that was the center piece of a fountain in the bank. The front desk staff informed me it has been valued at 100 million euros. Ok but, I find the lions in the statue to be absolutely (you guessed it) delightful. The stone is a high gloss except for the male lion's manes. It is rough cut as if it was never finished but the visual change from smooth to rough is eye catching. And lions paw on the left has such detail with the pad, toes, nails etc. What else can I say (yeah, delightful)

Am I right, or what!

Tomorrow I'll be busy getting on the boat and will give you a break from my odd style. Plenty of time crossing the Atlantic and Pacific for any interesting findings on the boat. First port is Dubrovnik on the 7th. Hope to see you then!

Ciao!