Venice, Italy

Trieste, Italy

Famous People from Trieste, Italy

There are many famous people who are from or have lived in Trieste, Italy.  Irish novelist James Joyce lived here for ten years prior to the start of the First World War.  There is a statue of him in the park across the street and a plaque on a building where he lived a couple of blocks from where we are staying.  I had a coffee at nearby San Marco Cafe, that has been in operation for over one-hundred years, where I sat visualizing Joyce having a coffee and a drink (or two) at the same location.

The only other names on the Wikipedia list that I recognized were "British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, a fencer, and diplomat," Richard Francis Burton, who served here as British Consul, and actor George Dolenz, who  was the father of Micky Dolenz of the Monkees.

There is also an indirect family connection to Trieste, as my sister-in-law Pat has roots here.  When I let her know that I was going to be in the neighbourhood she responded with the following details on her ancestors:

    "His name was Andrew (Andrea) Lorenzetti and he was born in Trieste in 1833.  His father was Pietro Lorenzetti, born in Rovigno, Italy (Croatia) and his mother is listed as Catherine Esbizada.  No info on her."

Although there was no Lorenzettis on the Wikipedia list of famous writers, actors, and politicians, they were still here in Trieste just the same.  In my extended family that makes them just as famous, if not more.

Italian Birthday

Over the years I have celebrated birthdays in Canada, the U.S., England (twice), New Zealand, Indonesia, Tibet, Mexico, Germany and now Italy.  This year's will be memorable not because it made me eligible for retirement or put me into a new age group category should I start doing triathlons again, but because my present was Cranky the Crane from the Thomas the Train toy series. Hopefully this will contribute towards Alex's understanding of the concept of sharing.

More photos from Rome

Rome

We almost skipped visiting Rome.  We were a bit turned-off by the crowds in Florence and recognized that many of the best times during our trip were spent in smaller places.  However, with three weeks remaining in Italy and no obvious destination in mind we decided to go to Rome.

We visited many of the popular sites, either together or individually while one parent entertained Alex.  St. Peter's, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Vatican museum (by Thipp), Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the  Spanish Steps were all checked-off our list.  Alex and Thipp also visited the zoo and we managed to find one crappy playground.  There were plenty of tourists, but it wasn't terrible.

After being treated to some very nice apartment rentals using AirB&B we hit a bit of a dud in Rome. It wasn't terrible, but the neighbourhood was uninspiring, the living room was tiny, and the sirens and traffic noise at night guaranteed a disrupted sleep.  Consequently, being tired in Rome was as much due to poor sleep as to sightseeing.

Our week spent in Rome was definitely long enough for us and we were happy when the time came to move on.  I had been in Rome one-third of a century ago and I can't say that the 2000 year-old ruins had changed too much.  Still, it was still worth going to Rome as Thipp was able to see several famous sites for the first time and Alex got to see his third zoo of this trip.

The Forum and various other Ancient Roman Rubble

The Vatican

Colosseum - Rome