Filled up with breakfast, sun was shining but still cold, went back to
the old town to wander and take more photos. Walked up the hill to the
castle but didn't go in, we'd seen plenty of fortresses up to now.
Walked
to the bus station to buy tickets to Trieste on the next bus but were
told there was only one seat. I told Song I'd see her there.
Actually the guy said we could try to buy tickets on the bus which was due in 10 minutes so went and stood outside.
45
minutes later we were still waiting, deciding whether to continue to
wait and try our luck or to get a later one. We overheard an English
couple who were also trying to buy on the bus and as we were there
first made sure we were in front of them. All's fair in love, war and
European bus travel.
Eventually we decided we'd had enough of
standing in the cold so bought tickets for a later bus, and if the other
one turned up as we were walking away, tough.
Went back to the
hotel and they let us leave the bags, then bumped into the Chinese
couple we met on the lake trip the day before - they were also waiting
for a bus but were told there were delays of about 3 hours in Zagreb.
Hopefully by the time our bus was leaving it would be cleared
Wandered
back into the old town and found a restaurant that was warm. They had a
limited menu but we weren't fussy. Song had smoked Slovenian sausage, I
had potato goulash with smoked Slovenian sausage. Mine was ok, good for
a cold day. We sat in the restaurant for over an hour, it was quiet,
the owner playing dice with his friends, MTV classic on the TV playing
songs from the 80s and 90s, quite pleasant and relaxing. By the time we
left it had warmed up a bit to a balmy 11c.
Went back to the hotel,
waited a while in the lobby then to the bus station - the bus was on
time and was very nice, new, and hardly anyone on it.
The views weren't much, one over a valley, but when we turned a corner got some fabulous ones over Trieste.
There's
not a lot in Trieste really, but just a short walk away was the main
square, which was very impressive - some magnificent buildings and a
wide open area overlooking the sea.
Took photos, Song wasn't hungry
so went back to the apartment, I found a restaurant next to the canal
and was directed to a table. To say the staff were laid back is an
understatement - young and covered with tattoos they were happily
chatting among themselves for 5 minutes before I had to interrupt and
ask for a menu.
I ordered a burger (only the second of the trip,
quite a record) and a beer (lost count). The beer menu had bottles for
about 14 Euro, about $20, but luckily these were 'special' and I just
had a common one. There is no smoking in restaurants in Italy, but they
do allow e-cigarettes, which I find odd. So although there wasn't the
annoying clouds of smoke, there were annoying clouds of various flavours
of vaping from hipsters.
The waiter told me my meal would be a
while because the kitchen had been closed, which made me wonder why he
gave me the menu and accepted my order in the first place.
The sun was going down so ate the meal and waited so I could get some more photos of the square lit up.
I
also think I went to the most expensive burger place in Italy because
it cost $36. The beer cost $10 and I thought it was the cheap one. I
think the cheap part of the trip is over.
Took some photos then went back to the apartment.
