Olbia, Sardinia was an o.k. place for our 2-night stay. The airport there is small, modern, and easily accessible to and from the town center on the city bus so it sense to fly from there to Trieste. When we left the hotel, the manager admitted that Olbia has some updating to do, “maybe in 10 or 15 years it will be better,” he said. On our last evening there, the sunset was lovely.
Sardinia was a great place to visit with beautiful scenery, friendly people, and great food. Larry’s photo taken of one of our favorite places, Santa Teresa di Gallura, reminds us of the beauty of the island.
It’s always fun to explore a new-to-us place and we were happy with the cities that we chose to spend time in. But, it was time to leave for the next (and last) two spots on our itinerary – Trieste, Italy and Ljubljana, Slovenia.
EasyJet Airline doesn’t have a great reputation but we paid extra to get an assigned seat and to take our luggage with us onboard the plane. We were happily surprised that the one-hour flight to Venice went so smoothly. From the Venice Airport, we took a ride-share van (Go-Opti) for the 2-hour trip to Trieste.
Trieste is an elegant, multi-cultural place that was one of the major cities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, so it feels more Austrian than Italian. It lies just 5 miles west of the Slovenian border and 19 miles from Croatia, to the south. Larry took this photo below in the grand Piazza Unità d’Italia, where the Israeli flag is projected on the wall of a government building to show solidarity with Israel.
This is another view of Piazza Unità d’Italia.
Trieste has a large harbor, and near the water is a statue of James Joyce. He came to Trieste as a young man and lived here for a large part of his life.
We are staying on the top floor of L’Albero Nascosto (English translation: The Hidden Tree) – a nice hotel near the city center. We have lots of space and a small kitchen – it’s quirkily decorated and very comfortable.
We’ve spent the day walking along the harbor and wandering around the city. The temperatures here are quite a bit cooler than the summer temps of Sardinia. We’re doing well and hope that all is well where you are!