Trieste, Italy
To start off with I apologize for not updating for over two months! It has been a crazy time with midterms and projects galore after spring
break. I am almost done with all my project though. I’ve got a presentation
this week and 6 more pages of a 10 page paper to write by mid June.
Another note: Thank you to all who donated to BGSU’s Dance
Marathon benefactor Children’s Miracle Network! We raised $250,000!!!! Great
job to all the Dancers, Bikers (who biked from Cincinnati to BG!), Moralers, and
everyone involved.
Ok on with the story that is Trieste..
I spent the day before I left packing and getting ready for
my four day trip to the beautiful Trieste. I was kind of nervous because I had
to take two trains and a bus to get there because of the mountains. For those
that do not know where Trieste is, it is located just south of Austria and
borders Slovania, and Croatia. On the map it’s directly across the Adriatic
from Venice. My train left around 8 in the morning and arrived in Trieste around
3. I was excited for the long travel time because you get to see so much. I
left Salzburg Hbf and my first stop was in Villach. The trip was pretty
uneventful. I fell asleep about an hour into the trip and woke up about 20min
before my stop and saw such a gorgeous sight! The mountains were so close and
beautiful.
I got off the train and happened to find an English couple
traveling to Venice that were looking for the same bus I needed to get to Udine
(Pronounced Oo-din-A). I joined them and since they didn’t speak any German I
spoke to a worker and asked where the bus would pick us up. He showed us and
all we had to do is wait. Finally a double-decker coach bus shows up and the
driver asked where we were going and stored our bags. I mentioned earlier how to
pronounce Udine. I mentioned this because I completely butchered the
pronunciation the first time. I said
U-dean, that’s what I get for studying German haha! So I boarded the
bus, found my seat which happened to be next to a cute guy, and settled in for
a two hour drive to the Udine train station. The bus ride was uneventful, we
did cross the border into Italy and the mountains looked amazing, as usual. I
was excited to be in Italy again. I traveled to Venice and Verona when I
graduated high school, and I’m going back with my family in July. Once the bus
arrived at the Udine train station I found my train easily and settled for
another 2 hour trip.
This train ride was also uneventful, that was until I saw
the ocean. At one point I was reading my book and then happened to look up at
the window opposite me and there was the ocean. What was even better was that
it was sunny. I had looked up the weather before I left Salzburg and it was
supposed to rain every day. So the sun was a pleasant surprise. I finally
arrived at the Main Station and set out to find the guesthouse I was staying
at. It was literally right down the road from the station. Thank goodness for
Street View on GoogleMaps. I walked up to the giant wooden door and couldn’t
open it! I had no idea how to open the door and there were buttons on the side
for different rooms/ tenants. I didn’t’ want to disturb anyone so I waited for someone to leave or
enter. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait long. Someone came out and I went in. I
walked up four flights of stairs, because the elevator scared me, and finally
arrived at the guesthouse. I knocked and the owner opened and was very nice. He
showed me all the keys I needed and that was confusing, there were three haha.
Then I went to my room which was pretty nice. It was small but comfortable. It
had two twin beds, a dresser, desk, and a tv. The tv didn’t work though. They
also had wifi, which I was super excited about, naturally since I’m a geek. I
checked in with Facebook and text my parents letting them know that I arrived.
Since it was still light out, I decided to get my bearings
for the city. I looked up on GoogleMaps how to get to the Piazza dell’Unità
d’Italia which was a big Plaza that would be my starting point each day. It
wasn’t but a 5min walk to the plaza. It was hard to miss haha. There was a big
pier to the right where people were sitting and enjoying the sun. I walked
around the plaza for a moment then went and sat along the pier and looked out
to the water. I am not sure how long I sat there listening to the water and
taking in the city, but I was more relaxed than I had been since I was in
Ireland. I was started to get hungry and decided to get something from a place
near the guesthouse so I could be back in before dark. I found a nice little
Kebab place one road over and ate there. I tried really hard to order in
Italian “Una Panino Kebab”. The guy smiled and chuckled a bit but made the most
delicious Kebab aside from Haci’s in Salzburg, I went back to the guesthouse
and turned in for the night.
I woke up the next morning and wanted to walk around and
just take in the city. It was overcast and a bit rainy in the morning so I
didn’t head out until around noon when it cleared up. I found the main shopping
street in Trieste. It was calling my name haha. I walked around,
window-shopping and just enjoying my time. I ended up walking down a few side
streets and came upon Roman Theatre ruins. What is neat about the ruins is that
it used to be along the ocean. I was about a 10min walk from the ocean! This
shows how much the land has changed over the years. I ended up back on the pier
enjoying the sun and people watching for a bit. It was quickly approaching
dinner time and I wanted to go to a grocery store and get some food that’ll
last me a while. So I went back to the train station and to the Spar that was
there. I found a delicious ham, mozzarella, mayo, and lettuce sandwich as well
as Pringles and a Twix for dessert. I also grabbed a coke and water. I trekked
back to the hostel and watched Galaxy Quest on YouTube and enjoyed my night in.
The next day was again rainy in the morning so I decided to
sleep in a bit and then get ready. I went to take a shower and the water was
FREEZING!!!! I have never in my life taken such a cold shower. Needless to say
I was wide-awake and had the quickest shower in my life. Today was the day that
I was going to go out to Schloß Miramar. This castle was home to Austrian
Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and wife Charlotte of Belgium. The lived there
when it was not yet completed, then became Emperor and Empress of Mexico. The
castle sits in a 54 acre park and is right on the ocean. The gardens are
beautiful. However my favorite part about the castle is the fact that there are
Pineapples EVERYWHERE! One may ask why am I so excited about pineapples. Good
Question. I am an avid fan, ok I’m obsessed, with a TV show on USA called Psych. In every episode there is a hidden pineapple. My
family and I see who can spot the pineapple first. I now have cute pineapple
earrings, and a pineapple patch on my Phi Mu bag. Needless to say Pineapples
are a big part of my life. So when I found out that one of the symbols chosen
by Maximilan for the castle was a pineapple, I just had to go.
Getting to the Castle was an adventure in itself. I knew
that I had to take the 25 bus to get there. I also knew where the bus stop was.
What I didn’t know was how much a bus ticket was, and where to buy it. I sat at
the bus stop for about 40min waiting for someone who looked nice so I could ask
about the tickets. This really nice, older lady stood by me and summoning my
Spanish lessons from high school and applying the subtle differences that makes
Italian, well Italian, I asked her how much a ticket was. “Cuànto cuesta la…
ticket?” Haha I ended up pointing to her bus ticket, which she had in her hand.
She smiled and told me 2.10 and then proceeded to show me the proper coins. I
thanked her and then boarded the bus, ready with my 2.10. Slight problem, the
bus drivers don’t sell tickets at the door like they do in Salzburg! I was
terrified that I was going to get thrown off the bus, or taken to jail haha.
Imagine me calling my advisor in Salzburg saying I need to be bailed out
because I couldn’t find where to buy a bus ticket! Haha. Fortunately I didn’t
run into the ticket police. I did however accidentally get off way early and
didn’t know how to get to the castle entrance. However I figured so long as I
keep the castle in view I’d be able to get there. I got to walk along the ocean
and enjoy the quite morning with the sound of waves hitting the rocks of the
shore just feet away.
I finally made it to the castle and it was much smaller than
I thought it would be. The gardens around the estate were beautiful. I bought
my ticket and enjoyed walking through the estate taking my time to take in the
details and think about what it would have been like to live here. The symbols
of the estate are the Anchor and Pineapple. These could be seen everywhere! I
had fun finding them in odd places and reading up on some of the history.
Pictures were forbidden but hey if one is careful one can sneakily take
pictures with their phone haha. Once I was finished the tour I headed back to
the guest house and chilled for a bit. Then I went out and enjoyed some mint
gelato on the pier watching the sun set..
The next day the owner stopped by and asked if was leaving.
I couldn’t believe that it was time for me to go already. When I travel I tend
to lose track of time. I quickly packed and was on my way. I got to the train
station and looked at my ticket. It said Saturaday the 14th on it. I
looked at my phone, it was Friday the 13th.. Oops. So I hurried back
to the guest house and the owner asked why I was back. I explained that I had
paid for that night as well and showed him my receipt. He was confused and said
they didn’t have room for me. Well I needed a place to stay and since it was
their mishap with the booking they paid for me to stay in a nicer hostel down
the road. I was happy that I had a place to stay haha. Once I called my mom and
told her what happened I enjoyed my “extra” day by taking a bus tour of the
city. I got to see where James Joyce, the Irish writer, lived and wrote several
of his works. It was a nice tour, then I went back to the room, since it was
raining, and enjoyed my kebab dinner and some more YouTube.
The trip home went off without a hitch.. Oh wait! I forget
about the bathrooms at one of the train stations! I had gotten a redbull to
insure that I’d be awake for the first half of my trip since there were a bunch
of changes I needed to make. Well redbull always makes me have to use the
restroom haha. So at the sop in Udine I had about 15min until the bus came. I
walked into the bathroom and opened the stall door and laughed out loud. It was
a glorified hole in the ground. There was no way I was squatting to pee- that’s
just begging for me to fall down and make a mess…
In a nutshell that is my trip to Trieste for Spring Break.
Up next is the Berlin trip! I’m currently writing it so it should be up in the
next day or so.
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