Trieste, our final Italian city

Tomorrow, we leave Italy for Slovenia. The past several days, we have been in Trieste, an Italian town that is only 5 miles from Slovenia and 20 miles from Croatia. On the Adriatic Sea, Trieste had been part of the Roman Empire and a Hapsburg port as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as fought over by the Ottomans from the east, Napolean from the west, and Hitler and then Tito from the north. It didn't become part of Italy until 1954. Like most European cities, it has plazas, ruins, and a castle to visit. 

Roman theatre ruins (1st century AD)

Yesterday, we walked to Piazza Unita, Trieste's central square and the largest sea-facing plaza in Europe. However, there was a foot race in town and this plaza was the finish line, so we couldn't actually walk on the plaza. 

One race was a 2k, the other was longer

We strolled along the sidewalk at the edge of the water, going out on a long stone pier

and past boats in the harbor.

Lots of sailboats in the harbor

After visiting those Roman ruins, we walked up the hill to find the Castello di San Giusto, Trieste's 15th century castle and fortress. 

statue on the castle hill

While we were walking around the grounds, the bells tolled in the bell tower. Phillip and I decided, since the very loud bells had just rung, to take the opportunity to head up the stairs to see the bells before they rang again. Phillip made it all the way to the top and got pictures of the bells.

On first glance at the following picture, it may seem like it is a picture looking up a stairway towards a door. It is not. Phillip took it looking down the stairs from mid-way in the bell tower. That's a glass floor on a section of the stair way. And the arrow is pointing to me as I would not (could not) cross that glass to continue up the stairs. 

After the bell tower, we walked outside to the Lapidario area, a collection of pieces of ruins that formed almost a garden of relics and artifacts.

broken pieces of old statues

We walked back down the hill away from the castle, a much easier hike. Statues abound throughout the town, including this one of Irish author, Jame Joyce. He lived in Trieste from 1905 to 1920.

Trieste suffered some damage during WWII, but mainly to the shipyards and its nearby oil refineries. I didn't notice any statues or memorials to WWII, but did see several memorials for WWI. It appears to have claimed more Trieste citizens and had a greater effect on the city. 

honoring WWI soldiers, statue between Piazza Unita and the harbor

Today, we walked back Piazza Unita and found most of the race stanchions and barricades had been removed. 

As you can see by the cloudy sky in the picture, we have had off-and-on rain today. We only walked 8,000 steps today instead of the 11,500 steps a day that we've averaged since we got off the cruise ship.  With rain and the promise of more rain, I've gotten caught up on pictures and posts so I'll be ready when we get to Slovenia tomorrow!