Trst

Officially, this is called "Fontana del Giovannin del Ponterosso," Giovannin Ponterosso Fountain.
I call it "the Creepy Baby Fountain," because, well, look at those creepy babies.

The Croats and Slovenes call this town "Trst." The rest of the world, including the Italians, calls it "Trieste." Either way, we drove to Trst/Trieste for one reason and one reason only.

To say we've been to Italy.

Italy is now my 30th country that I've visited. I took this picture of the statue honoring Giuseppe Verdi for one reason. To remember where we parked the car. There weren't many parking spaces open in Old Trieste, even if the peak season had passed.

The walking tour was scheduled to start on Piazza Sant'Antonio. This was a church of Sant'Antonio Taumaturgo, St. Anthony the Miracle Worker, or as it is more commonly known, Sant'Antonio Nuovo.

This is his plaza:

Piazza Sant'Antonio Nuovo. This is the nearby Serbian Orthodox Church, Tempio serbo-ortodosso della Santissima Trinità e di San Spiridione, or the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Spyridon.

Trieste, or Trst, whichever you prefer, has been a cultural crossroads for several hundred years. It is probably the least Italian city in Italy, although, being the only city in Italy I have visited, the most Italian city I've been to. Trieste has had a strong Austrian/Hapsburg influence, and a strong Slavic influence. Trieste was the seaport of Hapsburg Austria.

Piazza Sant'Antonio Nuovo:

This is the so-called "Grand Canal" of Trieste.

Merry-go-rounds aplenty around this part of Trst.

Back to the Grand Canal. It's not very "grand," nor is it much of a "canal."

But there is a statue of James Joyce on the Ponte Rosso, a bridge over the so-called "Grand Canal."

James Joyce lived in Trieste for several years at one point in his life.

Restaurant on a floating dock in the Grand Canal, which is merely a rectangular inlet that goes into the city for a few blocks and then dead ends. Canals, by my definition, go somewhere.

And the bridges over the so-called "Grand Canal" (I promise not to call it "so-called" anymore as I believe I have made my point.) (And repeated my point sufficiently.) (Move on dot org, as the kids would say.)

It looks more impressive in pictures.

Don't get me wrong. The Grand Canal looks nice. It's very photogenic. And, considering that it is a dead end, it is quite impressive that it does not stink.

And it does flow into (or flow from, depending on your perspective) the Adriatic here at the Gulf of Trieste.

There was a surprising amount of pedestrian traffic in Trieste, which was surprising for a couple of reasons.

Tourist (and cruise ship) season have wound down. And this waterfront area is not well-developed with tourist infrastructure, such as the Riva in Split, for example.

A few boats here and there, but not a hyperactive tourist zone.

And there were a few boats in the (let's not call it "so-called") Grand Canal, but I don't know if there were pleasure craft or working boats.

Back to the waterfront. The area off in the background of this picture, behind the crane, in an international no-man's land. It is old, abandoned port area. A newer modern port was built south and east of here.

Our tour guide called it the "second largest section of abandoned land in Europe," after Chernobyl. This was abandoned as Italy and Tito's Yugoslavia forgot to account for it in the international treaties settling the post-WWII re-distribution of land following the defeat of Fascist Italy.

There were people out and about, and there were no parking spaces in the city, but the waterside area was not packed with people seeing and being seen, as one would expect on a warm, mostly sunny, afternoon.

The buildings in Trieste look more Austrian than Italian.

Again, the city is more Hapsburg Austrian than Italian.

But ... moving away from the Austrians ... this is the Greek Orthodox Church, Chiesa Greco Ortodossa di San Nicolò, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas:

Next we hit the humongous Piazza Unità d'Italia, the center of Trieste.

Government buildings in the past. Government buildings today. If you look closely, you can see figures from Italian history in the side of the building, who were cleverly painted over pictures of royalty from the Austrian Hapsburgs.

Here is a modern sculpture of a giant fish. Why? Do you need a reason?

And this is the Monumento Leonardo Manzi:

Returning our attention to the Governo di Trieste building on the Piazza Unità d'Italia:

And this is the Fontana dei Quattro Continenti.

It could translate to "Fountain of Four Continents." It could translate to something else. You decide.

Here is a statue of an important Hapsburg royal.

Charles VI. This is the Colonna di Carlo VI di Trieste, the Column of Charles VI of Trieste. The statue was done by a republican who was anti-royalty. But he received a commission to do a statue of a royal who he loathed. What to do.

This:

From this angle, it looks like the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI is holding his erect manhood in his hand. That is not an optical illusion. It is intentional.

Speaking of insulting Hapsburgs with statuary. This is ostensibly the sculpted head of an Ottoman Turk.

These "severed head" statues of Ottoman Turks were common throughout Trieste, as a warning to potential Ottoman invaders. Well, this particular "severed head" was done by an anti-royal republican. The ostensible Ottoman severed head pictured above is the spitting image of one Franz Ferdinand, the notorious Archduke Ferdinand, who was assassinated by Princip on the Latin Bridge in downtown Sarajevo 1914, sparking the start of World War I.

He warrants a mocking. Speaking of mocking:

A mock Roman amphitheater. The Teatro Romano di Trieste.

There was a Roman amphitheater on this site. It fell into ruin and was buried in rubble. Only the exterior wall in the back is original.

The rest is being rebuilt by stone found wherever, or by bricks, or by any building material available. It looks real. But it's mock.

Now, after the free walking tour of Trieste -- it was supposed to be an hour but the extremely fast walking guide spent 90 minutes on the tour -- which was very welcome -- it was time for a real Italian supper in real Italy. And what to drink? A Campari soda, of course, which is a carbonated soft drink that tastes just like Campari, the liqueur.

Mmmm. Bitter.

But what was not bitter was the salami pizza.

When you are in Italy, you have to eat pizza. Isn't it the law?

One cool/interesting about the restaurant, other than the deliciously bitter-tasting Campari soda, was the bathroom sink. The water is turned on and off by hot and cold foot pedals under the sink.

You travel and you see things you've never seen before. This is one.

Soon it was dark in Trst.

Comune di Trieste. Trieste City Hall.

And the Grand Canal at night.

Buona Notte, Italia. Arrivederci.