Travel solutions: Trieste, Italy

Time Out samples the laidback delights and sensational cuisine of this Italian town on the fringe of Eastern Europe

Miramare castle

There is no beach to speak of in Trieste. This hillside town in the north-east corner of Italy, bordering Slovenia and looking out over the stunning Gulf of Trieste, has waves that crash ceaselessly against its sea wall; a traffic thoroughfare runs right along the front. This doesn’t stop the locals – Triestinis, as they call themselves – from sunbathing. Their love of the sun is much joked about and, come the first rays in February, they lie in rows on the tiny strip of tarmac between motorway and ocean. People get hurt. Not the sunbathers, generally, but young men on scooters who get distracted by all the bikinis.

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It says much about the city’s character that the other local obsession is just as languid: sitting down for a coffee in one of the countless cafés, having a (bloody loud) chat. All around the central Piazza Unita d’Italia and the canalside Piazza Ponte-Rosso, alfresco tables sprawl out from minute coffee bars; Caffe Tommaseo (Piazza Tommaseo, Riva III Novembre 5; 00 39 40 362 666) is particularly attractive. They’re filled by jabbering, gesticulating friends, students and academics, tourists, and serious old men surveying the crowds, deep in thought. James Joyce was once one of them; he lived in Trieste near the end of his life, spending most of his time over a coffee with the like-minded in Caffe del Specchi (Piazza Unita d’Italia 7; 00 39 40 365 777) and the Caffe San Marco (Via Cesare Battisti 18; 00 39 40 363 538). There’s a small statue of him on Via S Spiridione, looking up at his old flat.

The canalside Piazza Ponte-Rosso

Even if you speak Italian, you’ll need to learn the local lingo. Here, a ‘nero’ will get you a black coffee (everywhere else this would be red wine); a ‘macchiato’, a huge vat of coffee and milk (what we know as a ‘macchiato’ is a ‘capo’). This is a small but significant example of the divide Triestinis like to maintain with the rest of Italy. Once part of the Austrian Hapsburg empire, Trieste was ceded to Italy after WWI. Geographically the city is still apart. Competition with Venice is strong (‘They copied that from us’ is a frequent tour guide refrain) and many of their most lauded historical figures are Austrian.

Principal among these is Maximilian Joseph, brother of Austrian emperor Franz Joseph and later Emperor of Mexico. His castle, Miramare (Viale Miramare; 00 39 40 224 143), north of the main town, is arguably the town’s most beautiful attraction. The castle is perched dramatically on a cliff edge. It is said that Maximilian fell in love with the cove when he was shipwrecked there. Later, it became the fortress of invading Nazis; later still the base of New Zealand liberators, and site of many a raucous party. These days, summer concerts take place in the courtyard, possibly one of the most stunning music venues in the world.