I’d forgotten how nice little trips can be. Sometimes I get stuck in my apartment, busying myself with all and nothing. When I’m not on the road, I forget to explore. I get stuck in a sense of home. This can be nice, but at times when there’s no purpose, no reason to be home, it can also drive me nuts. At the start of summer I had a few days in between a training trip and a trip I was leading. Instead of going home, I decided to spend it in the region where my trip was taking me. It was partially a way for me to get familiar with the places, and partially a way to relax, to get my mind in the right mode and to take advantage of the better climate.
So I flew into Trieste and decided to take a day to explore some of its surroundings. In the morning I took the bus from close to my hostel towards the Obelisco. It took me way up the mountainside in the direction of Opicina, but I got off before we hit the town. There was a terribly busy road and I couldn’t find a crossing. So I carefully hopped my way over to the parking lot on the other side. There stood the obelisk, letting me know I was at the right spot. From here I was going to follow the Napoleonic Way, or Strada Vicentina. It connects Opicina with Prosecco and runs on the hillside, high above the city of Trieste. It’s only a 5km walk, but it was exactly what I needed to clear my head. I had to let go of all the impressions and learnings of my training and reset back into tour leader mode. After not leading any tours for a long time, it was nerve wracking.
After a quick view of the city from the parking lot, I didn’t see any views for a while. I was starting to think that I’d missed my opportunity and should have stayed in the parking lot longer. All I saw was plants and the occasional bird. It was early in the morning and many locals were out for a run. It had been hot the last days and the morning air was still cool. There were even some clouds rolling by, some of them threateningly dark. And then the views came back. The trees made way and I could look out over the Gulf of Trieste, with a cruise ship in the harbor and the fancy yacht of a Russian oligarch chained in the bay. I saw Trieste’s neighboring towns below me and the Miramare castle down to the right.
Towards the end the path became wider and turned into an asphalt street. It started to rain a little bit, but it didn’t push through. There was a steep cliff face and some climbers were scaling the wall. I noticed some other trails heading up through the forest. From the city I’d already seen a strange, very modern buildings standing on top of the mountain, surrounded by trees. It seemed that this trail would lead me there, so I decided to keep climbing up. This was more of a hiking trail, much narrower and with branches covering parts of it. I came by a little platform with a view and in the end I passed a picnic area. Then I stood in front of a massive building that appeared to be a church. I was at the Santuario di Monte Grisa. The bishop during the second world war had vowed to build a church if Trieste would survive the war. It was opened in 1966 and has no resemblance to a traditional church. The quite modern architecture is meant to look like a letter M, referring to virgin Mary. It’s a pilgrimage church that could house hundreds of people. When I was there it was deserted. A few other people had come by car to take pictures. But the place was kind of eery.
I took the same trail back down to the climbing area and continued to Prosecco. It’s a very small town so I didn’t stick around long and decided to catch the bus from there. In Trieste I picked up some food from the supermarket and changed onto another bus, heading for Miramare castle. The buses are super convenient. All you have to do is tap your card and after 4 rides the system automatically charged me for a day pass, which was very cheap.
Miramare Castle is a palace from the mid 19th century (1856 – 1860). It was built for Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife Princess Charlotte of Belgium. Maximilian was blown away by the beauty of the water and karst rocks. There was no vegetation at that point, so he started a garden from scratch. The couple lived in the small Castelletto, while the main house was being constructed and on Xmas Eve 1860 they moved into the main building. Unfortunately the couple only lived there for a few years. In 1867 Maximilian died in Mexico, where he was king, and Charlotte went back to Belgium.
Honestly, the inside of the castle was nice, but not the most spectacular place I have seen. There was no waiting line and I got to walk through the private apartments and reception rooms of the Habsburg couple. It was nice to see that it was decorated partly in a sort of maritime style, because Maximilian wanted to be reminded of his quarters on the ships. There was some nice woodwork and the furniture was in style. The last bit showed some modification from a later time when it was occupied by the duke of Aosta.
The gardens around it are at least as impressive. Imagine that when the Archduke came to live here, most of this space was rock. He was quite the botanist and selected trees during his travels in the navy. He experimented with rare botanical species and it was a challenge to let them grow on this bare land. They brought in soil from other regions and had a team of gardeners to plant trees and shrubs from different corners of the world. Even when Maximilian was in Mexico he still sent home different plants. Now you can stroll through a large garden with pieces of woodland, grassy spaces, winding paths, gazebos, ponds and geometrically arranged areas. The setting of the castle with the gardens and the sea is truly spectacular.
Not being quite ready yet to return to the city, I walked part of the way back. You can follow a little boulevard alongside the main road. It’s right next to the water and there are benches every so often, underneath the trees. By now it had gotten hot again and many people had come out here for a swim or to sunbathe. There were some little outdoor bars as well. You could walk all the way back to the city, but after a while I caught the bus. Enough excitement for a day. Time to get some ice cream in the city!
