No longer on the edge of the world...

Advantages: Only two hours away, compact size
Disadvantages: Didn't have long enough there!

...On 5th March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill, then Leader of the Opposition in Great Britain, declared 'From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent.' Until I had cause to visit Trieste earlier this year that is what Trieste meant to me - a quote I learnt at school. It was fitting, then, that Trieste should be an overnight stop on my way to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia and until the early 1990s behind the 'iron curtain' and firmly within the Soviet sphere of influence as defined by Churchill. Trieste is situated in the far north western corner of Italy in the region of Friulli-Venezia Giulia, which borders Slovenia and Austria. It is a former Habsburg city and this influence is apparent from the architectural styles of its more recent buildings, its cuisine...

fizzytom 22.10.2004 (08.08.2005) · Read review
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Review of Trieste (Italy)

Into the bowels of the earth

Advantages: Impressive rock formations, very memorable attraction
Disadvantages: Not suitable for young children or people with limited mobility, not as good as other nearby caves

...Hey ho, another review - another cave. Recently I reviewed the magnificent karst caves at Postojna in Slovenia; this time it's another karst cave not far away in Italy, just outside the city of Trieste. The Grotta Gigante is billed as the "biggest tourist cave in the world" which, having been to Postojna I have to take issue with. I can only imagine that this must be referring to the central cavern in Trieste because Postojna is a huge complex of caves of which the visitor sees only 5 Kilometres of the twenty-odd that have been explored. The Grotta's vital statistics - 107m high, 65m wide and 260m long. I've dug up some statistics that might enable readers to put these facts into perspective - the Eiffel Tower is 324 Metres high, the Tower of "Big Ben" is 96.3 Metres tall and the Angel of the North is 20 Metres high. WHERE IS...

fizzytom 23.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Grotta Gigante Showcaves, Trieste

Michael and the Golden Fleecing

Advantages: cheap, enough to occupy you for a few hours, easy to reach
Disadvantages: not that much to see really

...Jason and the Argonauts were said to have stopped in Trieste in the hunt for the Golden Fleece. With this being Italy I had been expecting this to be a case of the Golden Fleecing of a stupid tourist? Read on to see if I got fleeced? --- During my recent trip to Slovenia, I decided to take a day trip to Trieste, especially as it was only just over an hour away by bus from Piran, where I was staying. It also gave me a chance to try and complete a set of Italian Euro coins or two for friends (demanding friends I have!). The other recent was to be able to say that I had visited both ends of the where Churchill?s ?Iron Curtain? stood. Churchill?s quote was as follows: ?From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an Iron Curtain has come down over Europe?, a quote which has of course descended into history. Well...

Morgenhund 23.09.2002 · Read review
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Review of Trieste (Italy)

Basic, Budget, Boring but Bearable

Advantages: Reasonable price for Trieste, meets basic requirements, good location
Disadvantages: No kitchen for use of guests, no communal areas

...Affittacamere Ghega gets listed as a hostel but is really a collection of five rooms - we booked a double but I believe there are triples and quads (maybe they just add or remove beds depending on the booking) and there may be even be a dormitory too. There are no real communal areas and even the kitchen was locked with a sign saying "private" stuck to it. Breakfast is advertised on websites as not included and costs extra but it was never offered to us. Never mind, there are plenty of cafes nearby so you can be sure of a decent coffee and a pastry. The "hostel" is in a fine old Trieste apartment building which has a grand entrance way leading to the archaic but functional lift which usefully has a wooden bench in it for those people who have to rest their aching feet after a day's sightseeing. The lift is tiny though, so, perched...

fizzytom 29.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Affittacamere Ghega, Trieste

A Romanian Romance

Advantages: Beautiful descriptions, interesting historical detail
Disadvantages: Frustrating ending

...Ana's son disappeared without warning and how, hoping in vain for news of him Ana "waits for him in the evening with dinner ready, and she becomes fatter and fatter until she dies of a heart attack from never seeing Petea again and from eating all the dinners that Petea didn't get to eat". More than anything "Train to Trieste" is a love story and I thought that Radulescu excelled at demonstrating how much Mona loves Mihai and how much pain her doubts caused her. The love scenes, while not explicit, are very sexy yet understated and the way that Mihai is described as this brooding, raven-haired mysterious young man it would be pretty hard to imagine any impressionable teenage girl not falling for him. Mona says "I taste the raspberries on his lips. I want to melt into the pink clouds and this kiss tastes like the wildest fruit...

fizzytom 12.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Train to Trieste - Domnica Radulescu

An enchanting town

Advantages: Breathtaking coastline, enchanting town
Disadvantages: a bit expensive

...Built on the rugged hillside above its beautiful port and the dramatic Adriatic coastline, Trieste is famous for it's marvelous seafood and Vienna-like coffeehouses. But there is much more to enjoy in this marvelous city which was once a part of the Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg Empire. During the year, there are numerous Markets and Fairs in the city. On the third Sunday of every month, the cities love for antiques reflected in the coming together of over 60 or so antique shops, jewellers and second-hand dealers offering Art Nouveau and Secession objects and furniture. On a Monday, take a stroll through the street markets and pick up a few bargains! Trieste offers a huge number of galleries, museums, attractions and sites. If you are interested in art, geological, botanical, mineralogical and historical collections, Trieste offers all...

Mark2003 14.04.2003 · Read review
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Review of Trieste (Italy)

OK for a flying visit...

Advantages: Useful for lots onward travel possibilites, good public transport links
Disadvantages: See below

...Trieste as a stepping stone on my way to Ljubljana in neighbouring Slovenia and indeed it is quite a useful airport to use for onward travel to a number of other destinations. The airport is situated 33KM from Trieste and the city can reached easily within around 40 minutes by public transport. There is a bus service that runs roughly every thirty minutes at peak times into the city and terminates at the main bus station which is situated in the centre of town adjoining the train station and right next to the ferry port from where it's a short hop to the Slovenian coast and a couple of hours down to Croatia. Internal buses and trains can be taken to access other Italian cities and towns. Udine is 40KM away and there is a regular bus service tothis city too. Venice is 130 KM away and the ariport could be useful for anyone with time to spare...

fizzytom 24.03.2004 (26.03.2004) · Read review
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Review of Ronchi dei Legionari - Trieste Airport

Izola - an island no more

Advantages: Pretty Venetian town, a good base for exploring the Slovenian coast
Disadvantages: Hard to learn about historic sights, no sandy beaches

...torn down and used to fill in the channel that separated the island from the mainland. At this time many of the important historic buildings such as churches and palaces were demolished too. In 1918 all of Istria fell under the jurisdiction of Italy and remained so until 1943 when, with the Italian surrender, it fell under the control of the Germans. At the end of World War Two Izola became part of the "Free Territory of Trieste" and remained so until it became part of Yugoslavia in 1954. Most of the Italian speakers living in Izola at the time chose to leave for Italy though a small number remained and today, of a population of around 15,000 there are approximately 600 ethnic Italians living in Izola, the number in the western part of Slovenia totally some three thousand or so. The second thing you'll notice is the high number...

fizzytom 13.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of Izola, Slovenia

The nicest place that I ever saw!!!

Advantages: beautiful, cheap and safe place
Disadvantages: anithing

...walking), and it is and all prision rebuilding about 7 months ago. It is very nice and comfortable. Fornitures of Ikea, and painted by a famous Slovenian painter. Really good and cheap place!! The web page is: www.souhostel.com but is not in english yet! You can call: 00 386 1 4301890 (if you call from england or another place) and only: 01 4301890 if you call from Slovenia Don't go to "Bit Center"!!!! It is cheap too, but very bad, not near of the center, and bad conections!! Bad service, and so on! It is a piece of shit!! The cheapest taxi is: 0801190 (from Slovenia). You can call, they speak english! And it costs about the middle than the taxi that you see by the street. Believe me!!! For a cheap trip by plane, you can fly by ryanair from London to Triest(Italy) and then by train to Ljubljana. Really good daily conections by...

itaita 04.01.2004 (27.08.2008) · Read review
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Review of Ljubljana (Slovenia)

The ups and downs of Zagreb

Advantages: Elegant architecture, plenty of green spaces, lots of museums, good food
Disadvantages: Not so good for people with mobility problems

...A couple of weeks ago, to celebrate the auspicious occasion of my mother's birthday, we took my parents to Zagreb for the day. Of course, we set out from Slovenia so it wasn't the enormous undertaking that sounds. The Croatian capital is well worth a stay of at least a couple of days, but it also makes an excellent day trip and is a viable destination from the holiday resorts of Croatian Istria, the coastal towns and other places in Slovenia, Venice and Trieste in northern Italy and the Plitvice Lakes in northern Croatia. I wouldn't recommend it as a day trip for people staying further south in Croatia as distances take longer to cover in this part of Europe. The train to Split (as far south as you can travel by train in Croatia) is an overnight one and you may have a few hours to kill before it departs, fortunately the station is...

fizzytom 22.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Zagreb (Croatia)