We left the ship in the usual unceremonious fashion at 8.30am.  Checkin time at our apartment, less than 10 minutes walk away, was 3pm.  How to kill 6.5 hours in Trieste?  Our luggage could be dropped at 11am so that was something.  Ian found some shady bench seats in a small, quiet piazza, so we took up residence for a couple of hours.  We had a nice breeze coming off the water, and even some buskers playing gentle morning music. 

Time passed, as it does.  We dumped the suitcases, wishing we could stay in the apartment, which looked very welcoming.  No such luck – it was back out onto the streets for another 4 hours or so. It’s now been 4 weeks solid with temperatures above (often well above) 30 degrees every single day, and nothing cooler than about 24 degrees overnight. The constant heat is certainly energy sapping.

We visited many of the main sights, starting off with the Roman Arch, just around the corner.  More on that another day.  Then on to the huge Piazza della Unita, the largest sea-facing piazza in Europe.  More wandering brought us to the Grand Canal – the Venetian influence was evident. 

Ian spotted a park on Google Maps, so we decided to get something for lunch and head there to sit and eat.  Only one obstacle lay between us and a seat in the shade – the Giants Staircase.  It was certainly Giant and it had a LOT of stairs.

By the time we reached the top, I was done in.  I’d hit the wall.  My legs had nothing left.  Ian felt the same.  We were shuffling about like a pair of centurions (and I don’t mean Roman soldiers).  Not even food revived us.

We managed to make our way to the entrance of the massive San Giusto fort, whose enormous stone walls abutted the park. Adjoining the fort were some Roman ruins – like most Italian cities, there are Roman things all over Trieste.

Collapsing in the shade of a café favoured by cyclists who were rewarding themselves for conquering San Giusto Hill, we sat out the remaining hour.  All we had was a downhill stretch between us and respite.  Finally we checked in and I promptly spent the next 2 hours asleep on the bed.

Sensibly we declared a rest day for tomorrow.  Ian has ventured out to various supermarkets and found lots of gluten free food – Italy being coeliac heaven – and the Roman ampitheatre.  He has route choice – take the direct route up and over the hill, or the longer flatter route by the sea.  Or just go to the little Co-op round the corner (which as it turned out was just as good as the larger, more distant supermarkets).

Trieste seems nice.  Motorbikes tear down our street around the blind corner just up the hill, but they stop to let us cross.  Touch parking is de rigeur.  The apartment is blissfully quiet. I’ll let you know more when I resurface. See you in two days.