Trieste

Hi

I just thought I would post a few pics (not from my camera as I am still getting it fixed but from a friends camera)

These pics were from my last trip to Trieste (with any luck I will not have to be back) not that Trieste is a particularly bad place to visit but there are nicer places which I would rather be spending my time.

Some friends which came along for the ride and to do a little shopping in Trieste (These young ladies are always up for a shopping trip so I was not hard to convince them to come along)

What trip to Italy is complete without some hotdogs at Ikea (yes that is right we hit up Ikea for some cheap hotdogs, they were cheap in price but large in value).  As you can see my knack for taking terrible photos is still alive and well.

This was by a castle

And this is the castle (I am sorry that there is not a better pic available but it was raining and we were pretty close to the castle and it was not I who was taking the picture.  I can be honest and admit that even if I did take the picture I don't think that it would have turned out much better.

Anyways that is all I have to say and all the pictures which I have to show.  I will talk to you all soon.  As the Italians (and apparently everyone else in Europe) say Ciao.

Love ya wll

Venice

Hi all

Dad and I are back from Venice and I must say that Venice is everything that they say it is. I must be honest Venice was a place that I had wanted to visit but I was not really looking forward to but this trip has changed my view. The trip started off with some difficulties for both dad and myself however more so for dad. I had to drop off some documents in Trieste for my visa so my trip to Venice was not a direct one. While getting to Trieste was no problem when I got to the consulate to drop off the documents I found that I needed to have the letter of support translated to Slovenian and I was informed that I would not be able to drop off the letter until translated. Well here I was in Trieste on my way to Venice and I had to figure out how to this letter translated. I was informed that I would be able to go to a little border town in Slovenia and go to the courts to get this document translated however no one in the court spoke English so the next option was going to a private translator but that would have taken at least a day to get translated. After pleading my case it was agreed that they would translate the document at the consulate for 27 euros making me very happy. I was then off to Venice, I was able to quickly buy my ticket for a cheap price and got the train no problem however what I didn't know was that I had to validate my ticket before getting on the train. I was discovered about 3/4 of the way to Venice and had to pay a 50 euro fine on the spot. Needless to say that put a damper on my mood but that quickly lifted when I got to Mestre (where dad and I were staying) and easily met dad as I was leaving the train station. After a quick stop at the customer service department to try to get back my money and complain we were off to the hostel. The hostel was really nice it was for sure more like a hotel then a hostel. That night we took it easy as both dad and I were tired (dad was more tired then I and was asleep by 5:30) and then next day we were off to Venice.

Venice at night, I think this was just outside the train station.

Pic of me trying to look Venician

One of the many pictures of gondolas that dad made me take while in Venice

Dad and I got off the beaten path for most of our first day and this was one of the delightful squares.

One of our first picture of Venice with dad looking like the locals

Our first day we wandered Venice around off the beaten path looking to see how the Italians lived and generally trying to avoid all the tourists (there were not a ton of tourists however they were on the main routes). We headed to St. Marcs square where we had gelato and and watched the tourists then wandered around at the top of the island. Slowly we headed back where we went for 3 course dinner (it was wonderful and filling) at this little kosher restaurant that we found in the Jewish quarter and headed back to the hotel. The next day dad and I wanted to see some of the islands (there are lots of little islands in the bay by Venice) and we bought a water taxi pass and went to Murano (they make glass on the island and it is famous in Italy) and to Borano (this is a little fishing village with lots of brightly colored house). Mom you would love Borano it is beautiful and both dad and I agreed that if we were going to live in the area that it would be Borano that we would live (I tried to talk dad into getting a place on the island). That night we made our way back to the main island and had some Italian pizza and we were pretty cold and made our way back to the hostel. Saturday (our last day) we packed up at the hostel and stored all the luggage at the hostel and headed back into Venice to see everything that we missed and then about 2 we caught a train back to Mestre and grabbed a bite to eat and caught a bus back to Ljubljana.

homes in Borano (not all the bright colors)
Italian sunset

Borano (note this little cannel)
Mom's future house (dad and I were thinking B & B)

Random shot of Venice

Some more homes in Borano

One of many shots of gondolas that dad made me take (you can't see the accordion player who was playing and singing in the boat because he had just sat down when I was taking the picture)
This was the most authentic gondola that we say (if I were going to take a gondola I would be looking for gondoliers that look like this)

All in all it was a great trip and I would have no problem going back.

Visa Run

Hi all

I finally made it with all my documents to Trieste to apply for my permanent residency it only took me about a month to get everything together but I can finally breath a sigh of relief all I now have to do is wait. I actually only spent a day in Trieste because of obligations here in Ljubljana, so that made the trip a little difficult as I had to be up by 3:00 to get on the train for 4:30 and from there it was a combination of two train switches and two buses before I finally reached Trieste 3.5 hours later. Anyways it didn't take me much time to get all my documents all sorted out so seeing as the next train was not leaving until 14:40 this gave me some time to wander around. After having a coffee and delicious dainty I set off to do something a little more constructive, as I was not really in the mood to go shopping and I was by myself (and there is only so much coffee one can consume without consequences) I decided to do a little exploring. These are pictures from my exploits.

Notice all the Christmas trees, Italy is already in full Christmas mode. In the Cafe that I went for coffee and then the Cafe that I went for lunch there were Christmas Carols already playing.

The weather was overcast the entire time but the temperature was nice, I am guessing about 12 or 13 degrees with a nice breeze.

I know that you have already seem this area before in my other pictures however it was just too nice to pass up an opportunity to take another pic.

Anyways I have to run but I will talk to you all later.

Ciao

Trieste

Hi all

I ended up taking an unexpected trip to Trieste Italy today. I have to go to either Trieste or Zagreb for my temporary residency however today I was woken up by a text from a friend of mine wanting to know if I would like to go to Trieste today, seeing as I had no other real plans my answer was a lively YES I WOULD LOVE TO GO!!! One hour later I found myself on the way to Italy (which was slightly amazing as I had no plans and then all of a sudden I find myself on the way to another country (and Italy at that)). The trip down was very uneventful except for the fact that this friend of mine is German so we were doing about 180 - 190 on the highway (the usual 1.5 hour trip was over in less then a hour), direct quote from the driver "these roads are much too nice to go the posted limit of 130 I don't even know why they bother posting speed limits at all".

The city was beautiful and there were so many things to see and do, I am afraid that my pictures do not do this beautiful city justice. Of course the first thing that we had to do after arriving was go for a coffee as it was already 10 and we had not even had our first coffee (a crime in Slovenia). Plus Trieste produces 40% of the coffee that Italy drinks so we had to try it. We ambled towards the this town square (the bottom photo) where we sat in the sun and enjoyed an Cappuccino and the pigeons, it is a little strange there were so many pigeons around and no one really seemed to care.

After we had our coffee we headed out to look around and do a little shopping however we found out that the stores were open from 9:30 until 13:30 then closed until 15:30 and were opened until 21:30 so as a result we ended up just wandering around. Also interestingly the streets were pretty empty for most of the day however after 17:30 the city really came alive and there were tones of people around shopping, going for coffee and just hanging out. I wish that I would have been able to take a picture however by that point my camera's batteries had already died

You are never really able to entirely capture the moment with a camera but in the case of the picture with the pillars this could not be more true. Picture this organ music coming from a little church that was behind us, the smell of the sea wafting up towards us and the warm sunshine raining down on us. Really there is nothing that can capture that.

Trieste only has a population of a little over 200000 people but it is built on a hill so you spend much of your time climbing hills and there are lots of little narrow ally ways it is really a remarkable city and I can't wait to return and explore it some more.