Chasing the sun, Wed, 22 Sep 2021 | written by Jemma
Jemma and Simon at a Castle, City, Ruins/Excavation, Temple in Europe, Italy

We woke up to amazing views of the Gulf of Trieste. Park4night is an awesome map and has helped us find so many great parking spots. This spot was just outside Prosecco, on the slope down to Trieste.

Our first stop of the day was at Miramare Castle. This stunning 19th century castle is built right on the rocks, looking out to see (as the name suggests), by the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Charlotte of Belgium. The majority of the castle’s interior is a mash-up of neo-gothic, neo-baroque, oriential and nautical styles, with all the pomp and grandeur. Part of the castle was also decorated in a simpler, art deco style, as between 1931 and 1943, the Italian government assigned Miramare to the family of Duke Amedeo of Aosta.

The gardens surrounding the castle are also great. There is a small harbour with a pier and a genuine Egyptian sphinx at the end, taken during Maximillian’s travels. Later in the evening we were reading about the history of Maximillian – we knew he became the Emperor of Mexico and was later shot, but we hadn’t realised that he was offered the position and supported by Napoleon III, who later withdrew his support, as President Bentio Juarez continued to assert his leadership of Mexico and fought against Maximillian. Eventually Maximillian was captured as he tried to escape and was executed.

After Miramare, we drove into Trieste and parked up in town. It turns out that some towns in Italy require you to pay for parking in coins, even when it’s really expensive. We needed 7 euros in coins, so Simon had to go off to find somewhere to get the change whilst I waited with the van. He turned 10 minutes later with raplidly-melting gelato and enough coins for the meter.

Roman theatre

Castle

Cathedral

Last pizza

Churches

Drove to slovenia

Equinox sunset and dip

Finding somewhere to park