While Trieste and the rest of Italy are trying to bravely return to normality, we might see instances of bacchanal frenzy , but mostly we see tepid attempts to resume regular activities. Going to a popular cafe’ over the holiday weekend, you see contradictions: people trying to drink, eat and talk with masks half on…
This week Trieste, along with the rest of Italy, has begun a nearly full easing of the restrictions that have been in place for the last 10 weeks in response to the COVID-19 crisis. I ventured out yesterday, partly out of curiosity, mostly because I had some errands to run, but also to support local…
It seems incredible that after 4 years of living here, I’m still able to uncover things about this city that I never knew before. It seems that Trieste is the birthplace of Italy’s commercial air travel. 97 years ago, commercial flights began departing from Trieste. Yes, I know, that seems very far-fetched and yet it’s…
So after 8 weeks of lockdown, we are embarking on “Phase 2”, the slow reopening of Italian life, the economy and the business of “getting back to normal”. In my mind I see those time-lapse videos of springtime flowers bursting through the soil, first weak and fragile sprouts shoot straight up, determined to burst open…
Going to catch the number 9 bus on Viale Mazzini, one passes a building with the inscription Hotel de la Ville. Just the name transports me; I immediately envision corsetted women with elegant bustles and bootlets, with dizzying amounts of laces walking with their moustached gentlemen in top hats and carrying walking canes. It’s hard…
So many Italian cities, towns and regions have symbols to represent them. Some are associated with an historic landmark or a cathedral. Others use their heraldic seals to represent them and for some, there are architectural details or decorative items that represent them like the winged lion of Venice or the Pomo of Puglia or the…
I keep telling anyone who’ll listen that Italy has so many amazing and beautiful treasures to see that there is no actual need to travel out of the country. Just two hours from Trieste, in the Veneto region, is the city of Padova (Padua). A little smaller than Trieste, the city is just as enchanting;…
Ode to the Rosa di Gorizia courtesy of Rosenbar Restaurant In the dead of winter, when all else struggles to bloom, the Rosa di Gorizia is the first “flower” to appear in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. I’m talking about a local variety of red radicchio (Cichorium intybus) that has been cultivated in and…
This year will mark the 67th anniversary of the launch of the bathyscape TRIESTE and on January 23, 2020 we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its history making dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. From Greek words bathys=deep and scafos=ship, this deep submergence vehicle (DSV) was designed by Swiss scientist Auguste…
Walking around Trieste, one often stumbles upon a beautiful building that has been shuttered for many years, if not decades… relics of a once vibrant past when the city was the epicenter of trade and culture as the port city of the Austrian Empire. Often one hears descriptions of these once great palazzi; the beautiful…
Jutting out above the rive (waterfront) from the molo (pier) 23 is Trieste’s unofficial mascot, URSUS. A piece of industrial archeology dating back to 1913, it is one of the largest and oldest floating steel cranes in the world. Outfitted with an electrical system, motors and 2 rudders, the crane is equipped with an arm able…
With All Saints Day coming upon us, I could have easily recycled one of the articles on the famous Fave Triestine, the tri-colored “Day of the Dead” cookies that are ubiquitous in shop windows this time of year, but instead I want to tell you about where you can actually visit the dead here in…
Here we are coming up on Halloween and all I can think of is Venzone. Host to the annual Festa della Zucca, the Pumpkin Festival, for the last 27 years, I have been jonesing to go and see for myself both the town and the festivities. Like a child hopped up on halloween candy, I have…
Walking around Trieste, you will notice that many butcher shops have signs advertising the availability of steak tartare on Fridays and Saturdays. This struck me as unusual in more ways than one; having grown up in an Italian-American family, Fridays was rigorously a “no meat” day in the Catholic practice of self-discipline and penance. And…
This year, Trieste celebrates 51 years of the Barcolana Autumn Cup Regatta (La Barcolana), organized by the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano. This is one of Trieste’s premiere events for locals and visitors alike and is the world’s largest regatta. For 2019’s race, the organization had to place a cap of 2,700 on the number of entries, as the…
