VIVA LA VITA

So here I am, on a tourist bus, taking a 7 hours trip to Italy.

It was my sister’s birthday and I treated her to a trip to Venice.

For the first time in my life, I actually used the services of a travel agency. Feeling like a student on a school trip, we boarded the bus early in the morning in Bratislava. Luckily, we had the best seats in the house and an unobstructed view of the beautiful landscapes ahead.

We drove through Austria, Slovenia and finally Italy.

It was a three-day trip, with two castles and Venice to see. The first day, the goal was to get to Trieste where we were going to see Miramare Castle.

The journey went pretty quickly, with only a couple of stops on the way – I bought a huge stack of magazines to go through and pilled up a bag of goodies to snack on during the journey.

It brings back a lot of memories on the good old days when your only worry was if you managed to finish your maths homework for Monday.

We drove through Trieste, a beautiful little Italian town. It was siesta town, so there was barely a soul on the streets.

The siesta in Italy takes two hours each day, they close down pretty much everything from banks to swimming pools (because a lifeguard needs a siesta too!).

The castle was set on the coast, with stunning views.

We walked along the coast, on a tree-covered street lined with tourists taking selfies with seagulls.

This place is something special. Look at those stunning trees, it looks like a fairy tale in real life.

There it is, the first glimpse of the castle.

It has a little “reception”gate.

The gardens are actually more famous than the castle itself. The whole courtyard is lined with this beautiful red pergola with ivy and wines climbing around it. Instagramers were in heaven.

The garden stretches all the way to a little forest from where you get the best view of the castle.

Only food option at the castle was an ice cream truck. No restaurants or refreshments. Just ice cream. I like this place already.

From the side of the castle you can get down all the way to the waterfront.

We did go inside the castle, but photography was prohibited, and to be honest there wasn’t anything that spectacular to tease your eyes with. Same old furniture, paintings, midget size bed for the king and pretty statutes.

I only wished they had a little restaurant to sit down comfortably and admire this beauty. Would it be too much to ask for a glass of wine in this royal neighborhood?

Miramare, you were absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to be back someday.