Italy Part 3: From Santa Croce to Trieste

We were leaving the stunning Dolomites mountain range and arrived at the small lake Santa Croce, where we spent two nights on a campground. When we left we were blessed with a splendid morning scenery with fog crawling over the lake and fishermen snoozing on their boats. Then it was finally time for a long downhill drive towards the flat plains of northern Italy and the Dolomites vaguely faded in our rear mirror. We had an Italian breakfast in the province of Treviso in Vittorio Veneto. A charming small city, that is quite known in Italy for the important battle against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I that contributed to the end of the First World War. Our cycling trip allows us to discover those places that we never heard of before. Sometimes they’re worth a stop, sometimes not so much. But they’re always a surprise and we started to tenderly call them the “B-side” of South Tyrol, of Friaul a.s.o.

As soon as we reached the plains of northern Italy it got very hot and the landscape was dreary and uninspiring. We cycled along big arterial roads and very unpleasant places such as Casarsa with military facilities. We just wanted to pedal through as fast as possible. The sweat was running down in streams and there was no possibility to cool down. The rivers we passed were dried-up and the streams only consisted of muddy and brackish water. It was also hard to find drinking water. Days like these can be very exhausting. But they are usually just short snapshots and then something happens suddenly, that takes us by surprise.

For instance, when we met a man from Dübendorf in Switzerland when we stopped in Pordenone. Or another example is our accommodation of the day – an old giant mansion from the 17^thcentury in the tiny village Camino al Tagliamento. We probably would have never stopped here without booking.com. It wasn’t possible to wild camp in this area and we decided to look around for an Agriturismo and found this gem. The furniture was dusty and the wooden floor creaked with every step. We loved it immediately. The old landlady Daniela even offered us to use her private swimming pool. We didn’t take her offer and visited the village instead. Just as expected, there was not really much to see. But we weren’t picky, just hungry. And happy to find an open Pizzeria, the only one within kilometers. The pizzas were excellent and we found ourselves in the middle of village life. We weren’t ready to return to the Agriturismo jut yet and stopped at the only bar, where all the locals seemed to enjoy their beer after work while listening to music from the 90s. The owner of the bar even served us two Negronis, but only after searching the recipe on google. Who would have expected that our evening in Camino al Tagliamento would be that much fun?

The small city of Palmanova was a pleasant stop on our way to the sea. The layout of this planned city from the 16h century already attracted our attention on the map. Palmanova represents the ideal of a fortified city, shaped like a nine-pointed star and its city center enclosed within three defensive walls. The layout is still the same and we enjoyed a breakfast on the wide octagonal square. A young man asked us about the bicycles and why we are doing this trip. A very reasonable question certainly, but not easy to respond to. We told him “why not”, but we would have to find a more elaborate answer in the future, because we will probably hear this question quite often. He was waving us goodbye and minutes later he followed us on Social Media. Those unexpected encounters always bring so much joy and can be real motivation boosts.

Seaside in sight

The last kilometers from Palmanova towards the ocean were pretty straight forward – just following the damn over the lagoon towards Grado. And there it was, the smell of salt in the air. We finally reached the sea after 845 km and 16 days, unbelievable. A childhood dream came true – cycling from our doorstep all the way to the sea. But that first impression of the sea was a rather sobering experience. We reached the Adriatic Sea, resembling more a lukewarm pond full of sea weed than the big wide ocean we had in mind. We would just have to be patient, the “real” sea alongside with the cries of seagulls would follow soon.

The campgrounds around Grado were mostly fully booked and expensive and offered everything people obviously were looking for in a holiday: motorized water activities, tennis courts and of course aerobic in the swimming pool. Many permanent campers installed themselves with big campervans decorated with light chains and even brought their own catamaran to their pitch and various surfboards for the ever popular SUP. Not really our scene, but still fascinating to observe. Better than the movies, as our friends back home would say. We gladly continued our trip along bumpy tracks in the direction of Trieste.

Of ghosts, Gelatis and Osterias in beautiful Trieste

The port city of Trieste (about 204'000 inhabitants) is beautiful. When you usually get industrial plants and big shopping malls leading to big cities; Trieste welcomes you with a panoramic coastal road along the Costa dei Barbari with rocky cliffs and hidden coves. The location on the ocean and the possibility to go swimming in the city add to its charm and we already liked Trieste before even arriving in the city center. And that positive first impression lasted.

Just before we reached the center we went to see the Miramare Castle. The majestic white castle overlooks the sea and offers stunning views, but a tragic story lies behind this romantic building. It was constructed as a hideaway for the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife Charlotte from Belgium. They lived at the castle for four years, then the Archduke was announced Emperor of Mexico, only to be executed shortly after. His wife Charlotte went insane after Maximilian’s death and spent the rest of her days in seclusion, deeply in love with her husband and hanging on to the possessions they shared. According to legends, her ghost is still haunting the castle.

In Trieste were greeted by two very nice hosts in our small Bed & Breakfast and they recommended us the best places for the sunset aperitifo (the Roof) and the best Gelateria (Zampolli) among others. We leisurely strolled through the city, ate delicious meals in tiny osterias and sat on the ocean with our feed in the water looking at the many magnificent buildings from the Habsburg Era. We walked across the Piazza dell’ Unità d’Italia, often said to be Europe’s largest square located next to the sea, and were astonished by the many noble and imposing buildings. At night, as the cool air from the Adriatic washes in, the piazza becomes peaceful and romantic. Everything was very elegant and usually we’re used to port cities being a little rougher. But Trieste offers this fascinating blend of cultures with Austrian Grandeur and Mediterranean Lifestyle and Trieste’s architecture is a living testimony to its past.

We also discovered the hidden Piazza del Barbacan with many welcoming bars. This was our place and we stayed and stayed and were able to order a good Negroni without someone having to search for the recipe first. We really enjoyed our time here and can highly recommend a city trip to Trieste and it is even easily reachable by train from Switzerland. But for us it was time to say goodbye to the beloved Italy and to hope, that we would still get some decent Pasta in the future. Now it was time to hit the Balkans and we were very excited about this next part of our trip.