“Trieste ha una scontrosa

grazia. Se piace,

è come un ragazzaccio aspro e vorace,

con gli occhi azzuri e mani troppo grandi

per regalare un fiore.”

(Trieste has a surly grace.

If you like,                                 

like a tough guy, ravenous and rough,

with eyes of blue and hands too large

to give away a flower.)

Umberto Saba described Trieste in this way, in his ode to this magnificent coastal city which has seduced poets and writers like James Joyce, Italo Svevo,  and  Umberto Saba. We can still meet them on the streets of Trieste, encountering their bronze statues on our morning walk, or as we are looking out to sea.

It is no wonder that this place inspires deep emotions. To truly comprehend its magic, you need to stand facing the Gulf of Trieste, like the Castello di Miramare, or spread out your arms in the Piazza Unità d’Italia to feel the sense of immense space you have, standing on the largest public square in Europe.

Leaving the city behind, you can take a walk on the waterfront of Barcola, and then take a hike on the trekking paths of the Natural Reserve of Val Rosandra, to admire the breathtaking panoramas designed by the torrents of the Rosandra river, a type of Italian Grand Canyon, with its magnificent cascades and waterfalls thirty meters high.

Friuli is a melting pot of cultures, its adventures and misadventures recounted by its capital city Gorizia, where every church, piazza, and noble home has a story to tell about the eternal love hate relationship between the Latin and German cultures that have lived here.

The karstic ravines and caverns are carved into the soul of this land, and to every visitor who comes here, they recount the atrocious clashes on the battlefields of the First World War, a wound that this land does not try to hide. You can still experience it, deep and bleeding, in the Park of the Great War, “Il Parco della Grande Guerra”.

A magnificent region of sea, mountains, lakes, forests, rivers, borghi and cities, Friuli Venezia Giulia has it all. At the end of your journey, you will find yourself wondering if you were dreaming, or if such a treasure chest of  glorious wonders does truly exist.