Saturday June 1, was a beautiful warm, sunny day with a high of 21C. We decided to see if we could buy some fish at one of the two fish stores we had seen near the Piazza Unità D'Italia. They seem to close around 2: 00 p.m. and don't reopen (if at all) until much later in the afternoon. Everyone was out at 11:00 a.m. having coffee.
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| Small fish store where we had a wild sea bream filleted. Very nice guy- very fresh fish and they were almost sold out (they open very early in the morning). |
The street with the fish store had a number of other food shops and small salumerias where people were eating outside.
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| Small store with fruit/veg outside |
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| The chocolate shop we stopped at on Friday |
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| Bakery-- strudel is found everywhere in Trieste- the Austrian influence |
We wandered a bit and then headed back to the apartment to drop the fish and other food purchases.
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We noticed this wall sculpture on the top of the stairs going up to the floor above ours-
such a well-kept building |
We headed out to catch a bus near the train station (about 5 minutes away) to head to Miramare Castle (Castello di Miramare) and Historical Park.
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| Looking up a nearby street |
We bought bus tickets from the tobacco shop in the train station (the shop near our apartment was out of bus tickets, or we could have caught a bus almost in front of our apartment). Tickets are just 1.45 euros each and it had been suggested that we buy two tickets each, to ensure that we have them for the return trip.
It was about a 30 minute trip along the coast out to the Castle.
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| The Adriatic |
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| Looking back at Trieste |
The last bus stop is about a 15 minute walk to the Castle. While cars are parked along the side of the road, it appears that busses have to turn around some distance from the Castle.
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| As we got off, we noticed the sign to Venice- just 148 km away |
We had a pleasant walk to the Castle-- You can see the tower on the promontory overlooking the Bay of Grignano.
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| Passing folks tanning and swimming |
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| Looking back at the city |
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| Approaching the Castle |
Miramare Castle is an elegant ivory-white building on the tip of the Karst promontory of Grignano, a number of kilometres from the city of Trieste. It is made of Istrian stone and designed by the Austrian engineer Carl Junker. The building was constructed between 1856 and 1860 to serve as the residence of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Belgium. It is a mix of Gothic, Medieval, and Renaissance elements. The park of Miramare is 22 hectares. It was Maximilian's project and he transformed a Karst area on the rocky Grignano promontory which had been almost devoid of vegetation.
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| The castle |
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| Alonso- just before we went in |
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| View of the Adriatic-- incredibly beautiful spot |
The Castle features more than 22 rooms inside; the ground floor originally used for private living quarters has an intimate, domestic character, while the first floor was used for the celebration of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and reserved for illustrious guests.
Ferdinand Maximilian was born in Vienna in 1832, two years younger than his brother Franz Josef, who ruled the Austrian Empire from 1848 until 1916. In 1854, Maximilian became vice admiral of the Austrian navy. In 1857, he married Charlotte, the daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium. In 1859, he went back to Miramare where he devoted himself to botany, studies and travel. In 1864, he became Emperor of Mexico. He was shot to death in Mexico on June 19,1867. Charlotte died insane in a Belgian castle in 1927.
There were a number of family portraits in the Main Atrium leading to the ground floor apartments.
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| Maximilian |
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| Stairway up to the first floor (our second)--- we started on the ground floor with the family apartments |
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| First room of the Archduke's apartments. He wanted his bedroom to be a replica of the cabins that were assigned to him aboard the ships. Low ceiling and wood-covered walls. 1866 Portrait of Charlotte. |
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| Bathroom |
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| Novora Room- like his study on a ship of the Austrian navy. |
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| View of the sea |
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| Fabulous library- the original volumes that belonged to Maximilian and Charlotte are still preserved in their original order. There were four marble busts of Homer, Shakespeare, Dante and Goethe commissioned by Maximilian and sculpted between 1858-59. The Library had over 7000 volumes and it was a library to be used, not a collection of rare books. |
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| First room of Charlotte's private apartments. The wooden decoration is replaced by blue tapestry. |
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Charlotte's drawing rooms. She would retire to these rooms to play music or paint.
They were restored in 1955. |
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| The bedroom- the bed was a wedding gift donated by Milan on the occasion of their marriage. |
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| Another view |
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| Charlotte's dressing-room |
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| There was a room devoted to books from the library on botany and botanical arts. |
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| From the library |
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| Beautiful books that were inspirational in creating the gardens. Maximilian cultivated a true passion for botany from an early age. He went on a research expedition to Brazil between 1859 and 1860 and published his results that earned him a certain fame in the world of botanists. Charlotte also cultivated an interest in botany over time. |
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| The Chapel- 12 Apostles on the back wall. The red curtains with the Mexican eagle were also commissioned by Maximilian after he was appointed Emperor of Mexico. |
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| Amazing views of the Adriatic and gardens from many rooms in the Castle |
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| Room of the Seagulls- used as a dining-room during winters. |
We then went into the very large Throne Hall, which has been recently restored on the basis of the original decorations.
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| Throne Hall |
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| Painting of Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico. |
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| Family Tree |
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| Historical Hall--- picture of Mexican delegation offering the imperial crown to Maximilian in 1863. |
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| The Oriental Salons- decorated in Japanese and Chinese styles- these rooms were reserved for smokers. |
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| The audience hall |
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| Sovereigns' Salon |
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Small round table on which Maximilian signed his acceptance of the Mexican throne. The table was a wedding gift from Pope Pio IX and has mosaics of Roman monuments.
After Maximilian's death in 1867, the castle was visited for short periods by members of the Hapsburg family. In 1929, after Trieste became part of Italy, the castle was opened to the public. In 1943, it was occupied by German troops. From 1945 until 1954, it was used as a seat of representatives of the military allied governments. In June, 1955 it was re-opened to the public upon completion of restoration works and the placing of Maximilian's furniture in the original positions. |
For a period of time, Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, lived in the east wing of the castle which was significantly remodelled in 1929. He lived in Miramare continuously from 1931-37, while the duchess and their daughters stayed there occasionally up until mid 1943.
We walked a bit more and found ourselves at the Castelletto. The "Little Castle" is situated on a viewpoint overlooking the Bay of Grignano. Designed by Carl Junker in 1856, it was the first building to be constructed in the area. It was occupied intermittently by Maximilian and Charlotte until 1860, while they waited for the construction of the castle to be completed. In later years, it was used for the couple's distinguished guests.
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| The lovely "little castle"- now a gift shop |
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| View of small harbour in the Bay of Grignano, with many sailboats. |
We walked back down a hill to the main castle.
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| Another shot of the castle and the Adriatic |
We headed back to the bus stop, passing a few spots were people were tanning and swimming.
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| Many more folks out now- just before we caught the bus. |
This time we got dropped just across from our apartment. We had read that one of the best gelato stores was just down the street. Gelateria Zampolli was a very buzzy place.
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| Alonso had his favourite pistachio and I had a peach sorbetto in a small cup. |
After the gelato, it was definitely time for coffee and a walk in the sun. We decided to visit Caffè San Marco one more time. On our travels around Trieste, we have noticed many signs with historical information in both English and Italian. In Piazza Oberdan, named after Guglielmo Oberdan, a Triestine patriot who was hanged there in 1882 after a failed attempt on Emperor Francesco Giuseppe's life. During WWII, one of the buildings was the headquarters of the SS and a place of imprisonment and torture of those who were then taken to the Risiera di San Sabba, the concentration camp just outside Trieste.
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| One of many info plaques in town |
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| The larger building on the right was SS Headquarters from 1943-45 |
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Memorial plaque to those imprisoned and tortured in this building -
plaque was put up on April 25, 2000. |
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Statue in centre of the buildings on the square- Marcello Mascherini, the Song of Songs (1990),
a symbol of love. |
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| Another Assicurazioni Generali (Insurance) building |
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| Beautiful art nouveau paintings on the top part of this building |
We had a coffee at Caffè San Marco. There are bronze coffee leaves on the arches and ceilings.
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| Much quieter at around 5:45 p.m. |
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| Alonso at San Marco |
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| I was able to get a photo of the empty bar-- the masks and coffee leaves decoration are amazing. |
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| Clown mask in the bookstore section |
We walked back on the other side of the street and dropped into a beautiful Salumeria to pick up some sheep cheese.
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| Such tempting windows |
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| Lovely cheeses |
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| Picture of the family (back in 1968). |
We noticed a bizarre fountain on a street just off the one we were walking on.
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| Strange fountain in a square |
One of the streets off the square was lined with cafés with umbrellas. Everyone was out having coffee or Aperol Spritzes. We took a detour to walk down the street and back.
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| Saturday late afternoon gatherings |
We had a wonderful day visiting Miramare Castle and Park and wandering in Trieste. We were so glad that our visit to the castle corresponded to great weather and blue skies. Then it was back to the apartment where Chef Alonso made a fish dinner of sea bream, potatoes, zucchini, green salad, a glass of red wine and strudel for dessert. Perfetto!
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