Day 7. Sunset over Western Europe.

 
Now with our GPS working well, we are on the move east. Our last stop before leaving Italy is the north-eastern Italian city and seaport of Trieste.  We say Italian, but Trieste in the past was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and continues to be influenced by its Slovenian neighbours. Similar to Venice, Trieste grew wealthy as a trading port, a shipping centre and as a financial hub.

Trieste’s past becomes more evident as we marvel at a glorious ancient relic called Arco di Riccardo (Richard’s Arch). This amazingly preserved Roman treasure dating back to 1BC owes its name to a much later English king who visited the city as he returned from the Crusades.

On a late Friday afternoon the locals enjoy the end of their working week and we join them by strolling around the old town. Trieste boasts that its piazza is the largest in Europe to face the sea. It is indeed very grand and quite beautiful. The Grand Canal does not quite fit its name but is instead rather quaint. A bronze statue of James Joyce, who lived and worked in Trieste before WW1, is located at one end of the canal. Billboards advertise the exciting Olive Oil Expo, which is due to start the next day, and more importantly a visiting chocolate market has already began. Out of cultural sensitivity we decide it is important to embrace this visiting treat and we are delightfully rewarded.

For dinner we buy some homemade vegetable lasagna and baked potatoes from a butcher (go figure) and head back to

 the comfort of our centrally heated apartment.

On the way home we notice the cameras and tripods are plentiful as the sun sets across the Gulf of Trieste and literally over Western Europe. It remains cool but the late winter sun seeps into our bones and warms our hearts.