Goodbye Trieste, Italy! Hello Opatija, Croatia

Ancient Roman Theatre Remains in the center of Trieste

Ancient Roman Theatre Remains in the center of Trieste (with black and white kitty playing in the grassy nook

Ancient Roman Theatre Remains in the center of Trieste

 After the terrible storm last night the city of Trieste was clear, fresh and warm enough this morning that most of the ice was gone and all that was left was lots of slush in puddles between sidewalks and street.

My personalized salad pod for breakfast

I had a nice breakfast they offered at this hotel something I hadn't seen yet in all the hotels I've been at and this was small plastic pods with personalized salads. I had to take a picture it was so cute.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Trieste

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Trieste

Grand Canal, Trieste

Small plaza, Trieste

Because I couldn't put it even half as well as the journalist, Adam Begley who wrote these words for The New York times in April 2011 I've just pasted his short description of Trieste and it's true at first glance you wonder why a tourist would come but then you stroll along the winding streets and you see there is really is much to admire and respect and embrace. "A MEDIUM-SIZE seaport teetering on the edge of what we recognize as Italy, Trieste is a mysterious and puzzling place. Its iconic central square, the Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia, bounded on three sides by comically pompous 18th- and 19th-century buildings, most of them decorated like big, boxy wedding cakes, is wide open to the Adriatic, as though the ever-changing seascape were an entertainment staged for the city’s benefit. This vast, glorious piazza promises all sorts of civic delights, but in fact it’s one of the few immediately gratifying spots in Trieste. The rest takes time — exactly what most of us are unwilling to give up. With a convoluted history of serial conquest, culminating in a century-long tug-of-war between Italy and Austria, a melting-pot population, a street plan that ranges from serenely rational to bewilderingly crooked and steep, and a forbidding limestone plateau crowding it down to the waterfront, Trieste is like a modernist novel — complex, layered, ambiguous. It makes you dig for significance. But don’t worry, the story has a happy ending: the patient visitor will go away well satisfied (and wonderfully well fed), rewarded by an experience unavailable to those looking for a quick and easy foreign fix." 

Grande Canal with St. Antonio's Church in the distance

Marian,. Trieste

Main Avenue, Trieste (near the marina)

Piazza Unità d'Italia (Unity of Italy Square in English) is the main town square in  Trieste

Marina, Trieste

Neptune Sculpture, Trieste

By 10:00am I was packed and ready for a long 2 hour walk around the city before I had to check out. The city is much more beautiful than I had expected and well worth a day visit with the large beautiful plazas and pastel colored buildings that line the small streets and large avenues. It reminds me partly of Genoa and partly of Milan. I stopped in at St. Antonio Taumatugo Church. "The façade of the church of Sant’Antonio Taumaturgo, built in the mid 19th century and popularly known as “Sant’Antonio Nuovo” stands out as if set in a natural scenery at the end of the Grand Canal, in the heart of Borgo Teresiano. The façade’s austere and regular classical style is a clear reference to the great Greek and Roman monuments and to the Pantheon’s façade in particular, with its six Ionic columns surmounted by a gable that used to be reflected in the canal. The interior is extremely spacious and is adorned with frescoes by Sebastiano Santi dated 1836 depicting the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem." And then a visit to the St. Nicholas' Greek Orthodox church near there, "situated on the seafront and is consecrated to Saint Nicholas, patron of sailors, ship-owners and all those involved in maritime trade."

View from my room (incredible)

After checking out I sat in the lobby of the hotel until it was time to walk the 5 minutes to the bus station to take the 1:45pm bus to Opatijia, Croatia. I chose that place because it was only a 2 hour bus ride that was only 9 Euros and went from Italy through Slovenia to Croatia on a beautiful mountain top route. 

I still can't believe how nice the trip was for little money but the bus was completely packed so it's not as comfortable as the train but I thought the picturesque ride was worth a little discomfort. And we breezed from Italy to Slovenia but when we got to the Croatian check point on the top of a mountain we were stopped twice by customs and everyone had to show their passports twice. I actually thought they weren't going to let me stay because both men took a long time looking at the passport and they did the same to the American couple behind me but then the first policeman surprised me and happily stamped my passport so I guess he was just looking for a free page when he was flipping through it. It's not often anymore since the EU that you get stamps in your passport so it's really exciting when you do. The second guy kind of gave us the fish eye but let us go so I guess he was just surprised three Americans decided to take this more local bus.

View of the what must be the tiniest marina in the word with bronze statue of a sailor

View from my room at 6:00pm with moon in the distance

View from small park with their famous statue of women with pigeon

The American couple got nervous when the second guy came back on and shouted something in Croatian and then got off. They now knew I was American because I spoke to the policeman and so the wife tapped me to ask what he said and if everything was okay. I turned to the Croatian women who was sitting next to me and who spoke great Italian so she and I had been able to communicate some on the trip thus far and she said in Italian that there was nothing to worry about it was all good and he was just letting us go. So I reassured the couple who it turns out are from Alabama and were in Venice for a few days and took the train this morning to Trieste to pick up this local bus going to the larger town next to mine, Rijeka for a conference on linguistics that the husband was participating in. He's a professor at the University in Alabama and his wife is a high school teacher. Very nice so we chatted a bit before I had to get off and she recommended I sign up for a web site www.edmodo.com which connects teachers from around the world and a good place she said if you want to ask someone a question about a school or a lesson or something. So I did as she suggested and it looks interesting and worthwhile and so great when people share helpful information and they were a particularly friendly couple but I think what you'd expect from people from Alabama although she is originally from LA.

Once we left the Croatian check point we moved along pretty quickly and passed what must have been a mile long back up of trucks on the other side heading toward the boarder into Slovenia. The women next to me said that most likely with the horrible weather and snow/ice storms all along the coast (obviously effecting Trieste as well) the trucks were stranded until this afternoon.

One of the tiniest marinas in the world

As we approached Opatija descending down the mountain to the sea and town below we were all blown away by the immense beauty of all around us. It was breathtaking in every direction and I just couldn't believe I was here. That's all I kept thinking is how did I get here is just so beautiful!

I got off at my stop and said bye to the couple and to the nice Croatian women next to me and joined the bus driver outside to get my suitcase which he found funny when I said it was the bright pink one and he looked and saw it really was bright pink, it practically glows.

Now I found myself right in the center of town at the small bus waiting area and took a moment to look around at the pretty buildings and the sea in the distance and realize I have no idea where to go next. I had my hotel name and address written down so I approached a lovely older women and her elderly mother who had gotten off the bus as well and were waiting on a platform for their public bus home. I anticipated they didn't speak any English so I just smiled and showed them my paper with the hotel info and the women said in perfect English with a slight accent did I also speak English and I was so amazed, I'm not sure why, but I just never expected it would be that easy. She directed me to exactly where to go which was only a 10 minute walk away along the waterfront and her elderly mom, who reminded me of Nonnie had me smiling because as the daughter described where to go the mother kept interjecting in Croatian different things and the daughter then repeated or slightly changed her directions to me. What a great introduction to Croatia and it turns out just about everyone here speaks English. It's an incredible place and you feel so safe and happy with the sun shining and all these friendly, happy people greeting you and taking care of you, it's fabulous. The hotel staff could not have been more accommodating and so happy to have you stay there.  Clearly the Croatian people understand hospitality as tourism is the main generator of revenue here and they should be applauded and awarded for truly understanding how to make someone, on their first visit to a new country, feel like they are not only welcome but are home.

From only a few hours in his country I can tell just about anyone this is a great, great place to vacation. Less expensive (especially this time of year) than other countries in Europe with incredible natural beauty and so easy to get to Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Hungry, etc. from here as well.

My room overlooks the sea and I was blown away when I opened the curtains and stepped out on my balcony to see the boats below, the sea beyond and the beautiful mountains in the far distance covered in snow.

I walked around the waterfront for an hour or so and then had an phenomenal dinner at an Italian restaurant called Roko with superb service and great, inexpensive food and clearly a great spot for locals it was packed.

The hotel has a salt water indoor pool and warm whirlpools as well as two saunas and an inhalation steam room so I got to enjoy that for an hour when I came back from dinner. I met a very nice couple from Sarajevo, Bosne i Hercegovine. I think they arrived today after and 11 hour driver and they'll be meeting their son here with his wife and two children for Easter. He married an Italian women and now live in Padua, Italy. The wife was telling me how celebrating holidays before the war here was so much better because all the religions participated in everything and enjoyed each others events and really lived as one and now after the war everything is separate and different in ways that sadly make it less inclusive. But she's very happy just to be seeing her son and grandchildren for the holiday and enjoying the beautiful seaside.

I'm in the lobby now because there is no wifi in my room and there are lots of couples playing cards, chess and various other games and children playing and laughing and running and clearly people are just happy to be here and making the best of the visit. The tourists are predominately Italians, Germans (both who drive) and British who fly so it's a nice mix and a great relaxed environment.