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"Trieste is ours" , were the slogans at the time of the "Trieste Crisis". In 1947, the "Free Territory of Trieste" was established, after in 1945 the wider territory of Venezia - Giulia was, after the fall of Italy, under the protectorate of the Allies
Part of it was under the control of the partisan army of the new state in the making, FNRJ. The crisis lasted from 1945 to 1955, when the situation was resolved by the Treaty of London. SFR Yugoslavia and the Republic of Italy signed the final agreement on the border around Trieste only in 1975. Until the breakup of the SFRY and the establishment of new democratic states in that area, Trieste was our capital for shopping for anything and everything. Trieste drew its strength precisely through the offer of a wide range of goods and services aimed at the residents of the then SFRY. Due to the change in the geopolitical situation, Trieste falls into a new crisis, because "Trieste is no longer our" main trading city.
Admittedly, Trieste has been developed as an important port and industrial center since the time of Austrian rule. Towards the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the city faced the challenge of transformation. A failed attempt to revitalize the retail offering with different products from China lasted until it was overshadowed by large shopping centers across the wider region. Today, that segment has been reduced to a minimum.
Trieste today
Trieste today, with its approximately 207.000 inhabitants, a strong port activity, an industrial zone and an increase in tourist traffic, is one of the more interesting cities on the sea in the immediate vicinity. The war in Ukraine made Trieste the gateway to Eastern Europe. Thus, in 2022, 877.795 containers, 320.327 trailers for attachment to trucks or railway convoys were unloaded in the port of Trieste. Large quantities of metallurgical products were unloaded with a growth rate of 30,38%, followed by cereals, lime, minerals, construction materials also with a growth of 13,63%, all loaded on 9.536 freight trains and an unknown number of trucks, and 90% of the goods were not intended the Italian market.
Palmanova yesterday and today
We are interested in Trieste as a city interesting for short stays. In order to gain insight, we "shortened" our working Friday until 13:00 PM and headed for Italy. It takes us about 2 hours from Krk, a little less if there are no traffic jams on the way. Of course, the first destination is the famous IKEA center in Villesse, because we always need something for the house. Good coffee, quick shopping to order and heading to Palmanova.
After the "trade decline of Trieste", in the nineties of the last century, Palmanova was the destination of the first famous shopping center with everything for the home, household, with a good range of food products... But that time has passed. Today, Palmanova (otherwise a beautiful medieval town) is best known for the "Outlet Village". Again a walk from store to store, again excellent coffee and a couple of good "happenings" on the "sconti".
Dinner race
After that, finally to "our" Trieste. The night is approaching, we have to choose between going to the apartment or going to dinner, because we may be late. We park somewhere near the accommodation, go down to the city center on foot in search of a free table for dinner. The first couple of attempts were unsuccessful because a reservation is required for every better restaurant.
We won't take any more risks, we decide on a pizzeria. The decision was good, as was the food with a couple of antipasta, great pizza, a little dolce, beer, water... The price for 4 people is just under 100 euros. There is no longer any difference in prices in favor of Croatia, we have already made sure of that.
Live on Friday evenings
A walk through the center of Trieste reveals a vibrant, pulsating tourist town that has really successfully transformed itself into a desirable destination. Instead of the former "magazines", shops with everything and anything, now in the area from the marina to the Ponte Rossa, visitors enjoy the offer of a hundred different restaurants, cafes, pastry shops, fish shops, snack shops, pizzerias... The streets are full of people on Friday evenings, as are all the terraces, you can hear music, live, from the DJ desk... Lots of young people, chatter, conversation, enjoying good old wine with good food... balm for the ears after a completely different soundscape at that time in Rijeka, for example.
An apartment in a residential building
The apartment is located in a residential building, parking on the street as in Rijeka. We booked through the booking.com platform, received instructions for entering the apartment/apartment. Nothing particularly attractive, but again it has everything you need. There are no "categorization" marks on the facade. Two comfortable rooms and one children's room, kitchen, dining room in the corridor, shower/toilet, small balconies on both sides of the building. The price is 200 euros per night for 4 people, the tourist tax is paid separately, 2 euros per person.
In the same building, on the ground floor, there is a good cafe, the Italian way, with all the offers that the local population and the four of us use for breakfast. The atmosphere is excellent, homely, the caterers are friendly, the feeling is very good. Nobody called us names, asked what we were doing here, we didn't meet a single tenant of the building, nobody bothered us and we just slept, tired as we were, speechless.
I have a feeling that this could soon change in Croatia. It is possible that from next year the tenants will "lay an ambush", check if someone is a tourist in the neighbor's apartment... Everything could be different than it was for us in Trieste if a restrictive law is adopted according to which tenants give (or do not give) permission each other to rent an apartment to tourists.
Casual Saturday
Saturday morning, after a good breakfast in "our" building, is reserved for shopping in Trieste. Now they are slightly different stores, there are more and more original Italian products, and the biggest step forward is certainly the already internationally spread concept https://www.eataly.net/eu_en/stores/trieste.
Under one roof, the former port warehouse has found its place an excellent concept of a market, restaurant, wine shop, ham shop, cheese shop, butcher... with a huge selection of wines from all wine regions of Italy, but also all other original branded Italian food products. We have already visited one such "Italian center" in Stockholm. This one in Trieste is in a fantastic location, is open all day and is extremely well attended.
We had lunch in a Neapolitan restaurant next to Ponte Rosso, a former "flea market" and today a beautiful, neat place of a new Trieste. Good food, good wine, water, appetizer and main plus dessert, somewhere around 40 euros per person.
Our 24 hours in Trieste have passed. We have to go home. On the next occasion, we will extend those 24 to 48 hours to catch Saturday evening. Trieste offers a great break from everyday life, which is why more and more people from Rijeka practice this habit. "Trieste is ours" again. https://www.intrieste.com/
Author: Nedo Pinezić, www.nedopinezic.com
Author of cover photo: Severin Herrmann/ Pixabay
