Filled up with breakfast, sun was shining but still cold, went back to the old town to wander and take more photos. Walked up the hill to the castle but didn’t go in, we’d seen plenty of fortresses up to now.
Walked to the bus station to buy tickets to Trieste on the next bus but were told there was only one seat. I told Song I’d see her there.
Actually the guy said we could try to buy tickets on the bus which was due in 10 minutes so went and stood outside.
45 minutes later we were still waiting, deciding whether to continue to wait and try our luck or to get a later one. We overheard an English couple who were also trying to buy on the bus and as we were there first made sure we were in front of them. All’s fair in love, war and European bus travel.
Eventually we decided we’d had enough of standing in the cold so bought tickets for a later bus, and if the other one turned up as we were walking away, tough.
Went back to the hotel and they let us leave the bags, then bumped into the Chinese couple we met on the lake trip the day before – they were also waiting for a bus but were told there were delays of about 3 hours in Zagreb. Hopefully by the time our bus was leaving it would be cleared
Wandered back into the old town and found a restaurant that was warm. They had a limited menu but we weren’t fussy. Song had smoked Slovenian sausage, I had potato goulash with smoked Slovenian sausage. Mine was ok, good for a cold day. We sat in the restaurant for over an hour, it was quiet, the owner playing dice with his friends, MTV classic on the TV playing songs from the 80s and 90s, quite pleasant and relaxing. By the time we left it had warmed up a bit to a balmy 11c.
Went back to the hotel, waited a while in the lobby then to the bus station – the bus was on time and was very nice, new, and hardly anyone on it.
The views weren’t much, one over a valley, but when we turned a corner got some fabulous ones over Trieste.
There’s not a lot in Trieste really, but just a short walk away was the main square, which was very impressive – some magnificent buildings and a wide open area overlooking the sea.
Took photos, Song wasn’t hungry so went back to the apartment, I found a restaurant next to the canal and was directed to a table. To say the staff were laid back is an understatement – young and covered with tattoos they were happily chatting among themselves for 5 minutes before I had to interrupt and ask for a menu.
I ordered a burger (only the second of the trip, quite a record) and a beer (lost count). The beer menu had bottles for about 14 Euro, about $20, but luckily these were ‘special’ and I just had a common one. There is no smoking in restaurants in Italy, but they do allow e-cigarettes, which I find odd. So although there wasn’t the annoying clouds of smoke, there were annoying clouds of various flavours of vaping from hipsters.
The waiter told me my meal would be a while because the kitchen had been closed, which made me wonder why he gave me the menu and accepted my order in the first place.
The sun was going down so ate the meal and waited so I could get some more photos of the square lit up.
I also think I went to the most expensive burger place in Italy because it cost $36. The beer cost $10 and I thought it was the cheap one. I think the cheap part of the trip is over.
Took some photos then went back to the apartment.
