JulieVikmanis

Just recently returned from an 18 day trip?5 nights in Vienna, 3 nights each in Budapest, Lake Bled, Piran Slovenia and Venice. My husband and I traveled with another couple with whom we?ve traveled often and met up with our daughter and son-in-law (Candert, who has been posting his report under the title Four pastas, three fires, someone will wait) in Piran, Slovenia who then accompanied us also through Venice. I?ll try not to overlap with Candert. Apologies to those who dislike long reports and/or who are annoyed by lengthy descriptions of food?I just can?t help myself. I?ll try to break it up with headings so you can skip the parts of no interest to you.

Flight
Flew NWA business class courtesy of frequent flyer miles from MSP to Vienna with a 5 hour wait in Toronto and a 6 hour wait in Amsterdam. Couldn?t do anything but wait in Toronto but were able to go into Amsterdam for a bit of a walk around. Arrived in Vienna right on time.

Vienna
Weather?We arrived September 24 to a cold and periodically drizzly Vienna. I immediately piled on all the warmth I had packed and worried that if it got colder I wouldn?t have enough warm clothes. Not to worry. By the time we left five days later, it had turned sunny and was warming up.

Hotel Konig von Ungarn
We have been to Vienna several times but this was the first trip there for our friends. We have stayed previously at Romischer Kaiser, Hotel am Parkring, and Pension Pertschky. This time I searched Fodors for recommendations and decided on KVU based on the many glowing reports I found here. Thanks. We liked it best of all. We stayed in a two room apartment accommodation for 320 euros. Our friends took the upstairs room with a separate bath and we were downstairs with our own bath as well. The only problem with the arrangement was that though we had a closet in our room, the closets for the upstairs occupants were in the downstairs hall. Other than that, it was fine for us and would seem to me perfect for a family. Our room was large and comfortably appointed. The bath was well lighted and positively sparkling. But the best part of the hotel is its bar/sitting area. It is a two story atrium with nice ficus trees and bright orange sofas. Very tasteful and cheerful and a wonderful place to relax after a tough day of sightseeing. Hotel also has a nice restaurant which serves a fairly decent tafelspitz (the national dish of Vienna and the personal favorite of Emporer Franz Joseph with boiled beef and tongue served with potatoes and pureed spinach) and doubles as a breakfast room where they serve a very nice buffet breakfast. We will return.

JulieVikmanis

Sights
While in Vienna we saw the following:
Vienna Boys Choir?Ditzed about getting advance tickets for the Sunday mass, requested them too late and decided to wait for the standing room slots. Walked into a ticket seller in front of the Burgkappelle where they sing on Sunday morning before getting in line for the standing room tickets and bought them from her. I was a bit skeptical, but they were legitimate tickets and not more than what I had been expected to pay from the on-line service I tried to book through?around 30 euros per person. Turned out to be a bargain. I could never have stood through that whole mass and they really pack the people in tight. Spanish Riding School?did get these tickets in advance and they too were pricey. Worth doing once though I?m not much of a horse fancier and found the building with its ornate décor more interesting than the actual performance. You can see the building by waiting in line for cheap tickets to see the practice on weekdays.
Belvedere Palace and museum?my vote for possibly the most beautiful palace anywhere. The roof line alone is a stunner. Not squared off like most Versailles style palaces but with elegant swooping lines. The grounds are lovely and the art collection that occupies the interior includes lots of Klimts and Schieles, two of my favorite artists. Alas, however, my favorite painting ever was out for restoration?the Klimt Judith. This was to become something of precursor of how things would happen throughout this trip?intentions to visit various places only to be unable to for one sad or bizarre reason or another. More on that subject as we move along
New Museum quarter?It has been a while since we were last in Vienna, probably 1997 or so. So the wonderful Museum quarter was new to us. We were able to walk about it and see some of the wonderful buildings but owing to a change in our planned schedule we wound up there on Tuesday?the day of closing for the Leopold Museum which is the one I most wanted to see. The closing curse was with us.
Schoenbrunn palace
Musikverein?we took in one of the Mozart concerts there. Eat your heart out Walter Cronkite.
Design Museum/Weiner Werkstatte?This is a place that had been on my next time list for many trips and I finally got to go. It was even open. Unfortunately it wasn?t nearly as interesting as I had anticipated. The best thing there was a long hallway of bentwood chairs shown in profile behind a screen with lighting to make shows of the chairs. Nice presentation.
Hudertwasser Haus?This lived up to my recollections. It is a public housing project built by Hudertwasser, a fanciful architect whose creations have a kind of Gaudi-like quality with lots of color and mosaics, who, so it is told, once lectured at Vienna University in the nude.

JulieVikmanis

Kirche am Steinhof?This was the place I was most looking forward to. It is a church on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in the outskirts of Vienna, the last commission of the famous Jugenstil/Secessionist artist/architect Otto Wagner which is often called the epitome of that style which is my favorite. I had plotted the ambitious route to get there and carefully researched its opening times, etc. from countless websites. What I never found out, however, from any of them, is that it is currently closed for renovation and likely to continue to be for the foreseeable future. Lucky that the concierge at KVU knew this essential fact and passed it on when I double checked my travel plan for the day with him.
We, of course, also saw many/most of the standard sites of Vienna along our routes to and from these other sites but these were the ones we set out especially to see.

Food in Vienna
Besides the Tafelspitz we had at KVU, I had the dish a second time at Plachutta, a nice casual place we went to on suggestion of the concierge after the Mozart performance at the Musikverein. We found Plachutta a nice, casual and lively place with a good menu and a variety of standard Viennese cuisine. The Tafelspitz was excellent. Other places we went to and what I ordered are:
Drei Husaren?an old favorite of ours. Elegant, formal, expensive dining with a wonderful appetizer trolley with very upscale selection s. Besides the appetizers I had sweetbread soup and salmon with noodles. Good but probably not as good as I remembered or as we paid for it.
Ofenloch?a really cute place around the corner from the Vienna holocaust memorial. I had excellent oxtails. All in our party were happy with their meals.
Zum Weisserauchanger?the white.chimney sweep. We?d eaten there on a previous trip and I was pleased to see that it had charmed BTilke as well. A return visit did not disappoint. They were doing some kind of pumpkin extravaganza. We started with salted pumpkin seeds, had beef carpaccio with pumpkin seeds, ended with chocolate ice cream with sugar-covered pumpkin seeds, and were presented with complimentary bags of pumpkin seeds on our way out. In between all these pumpkin seeds, I also managed to squeeze in both veal and lamb carpaccio, the latter with balsamic and truffle oil and some very tender veal cheeks with noodles and a side of attractive vegetables. The place has nice little individual table areas set off in small rooms and a pianist who plays seemingly without breaks.

JulieVikmanis

Heuriger Mayer in Heiligenstadt?All of the above fairly upscale meals were very pleasant and tasty but the best food we had in Vienna may well have been at one of the little Heuriger places that surround the city in the Vienna woods area. Surroundings were very gemutlikeit (sp?) cute and the sturm (recently put up wine that is cloudy and still bubbling) flowed freely. My friend and I left the husbands and went to fetch food at the deli-like counter where the Austrian cousins of the cafeteria ladies from my school days dished up stuff that sure didn?t look like the mystery meat they served in school. We loaded up with pork in bacon, stewed tongue, brats, white asparagus in sour cream with dill, hash browned potatoes, cucumbers in a sweet-sour marinade and head cheese. This all filled two large trays with enough food to feed all four of us comfortably and cost 14 euros. While we were eating an accordionist in high pants and a violinist topped by and we invited them to play for us. They were fantastic. Did the requisite Third Man Theme, lots of gypsy stuff and even the Radetsky March, the sort of unofficial anthem of Vienna?the one you?ve heard at the end of the New Year?s Day concert from the Musikverein that Walter Cronkite always hosts. After my friend passed a cup around to collect tips for the duo from the Japanese tour group that was sharing our little room at the Heurige and listening to the music with us, the music-makers moved into the next room where a group of Russian/Ukranians where partying. A woman of some years but much energy there managed to dance with all the men in the party doing those foot stomping kind of dances Russians are so fond of. We were thoroughly amused and entertained by it all and bought some roses for the dancing lady. Not to be outdone, the men then paid for the whole bouquet of about 100 stems and presented them to her. It was quite a production. Great time.

Budapest

This was our second visit to the city having been there before in 1997, and the first for our friends. The city has been much restored since our earlier visit, but it still has a long way to go to become the beautiful place you can see it once was. We took the train to Bdapest. We had purchased tickets prior to leaving home and I posted a query here asking if we also needed reservations Patrick advised that we should arrive early for the train and there would be no need for advance reservations. Right he was. All worked out just fine and after about 3 hours and 4 stops (some as short as 1 min) we arrived in Budapest. We accepted the offer of a cab driver who had hustled to meet the train and got to our hotel, the Astoria with no problems.

Hotel Astoria
Last time we were in Budapest we stayed at the Gellert on the Buda side of the river. It was an interesting experience but their renovation must have been completed and their rates had risen, so we decided to look for a hotel on the Pest side. I debated between the Taverna and Astoria finally opting for the latter. It may not have been the wisest choice. The location is good. Pretty much in the middle of things. But the place is old and in need of a remodel. At 111 euros for a double, however, it was quite reasonable and the breakfast buffet was excellent, even including fried peppers and a couple of styles of sardines. If/when we return to Budapest I?d opt for another hotel, maybe splurge and go to the Four Seasons. More about that ahead.

JulieVikmanis

Sights in Budapest:
Central Market?one of the best and biggest covered markets in Europe. Giant carp swimming in tanks and lobes of goose liver everywhere. No California this.
Parliament?one of the most attractive government buildings ever
Sights on Castle Hill?the castle itself, Mathias church (unique painted interior), Fisherman?s Bastian?a lovely lookout, and of course the bridges especially the Chain Bridge lit up at night.
Dohany Synogogue?it has been restored, opened and beautifully cleaned since we were last in Budapest. It is the largest synagogue in Europe but alas though my guidebook said it would be open, it was not. Turns out it was a Jewish holiday. So another anticipated sight closed. So was the kosher deli in the neighborhood where I?d planned to stop for a snack.
Opera House
St. Stephen?s Cathedral?a happy surprise. It has been completely cleaned inside and out and it is absolutely beautiful.
Heroes Square with its fabulous statues of leaders of the Magyar tribes. Those guys are fierce.
Varosliget park and the Szechenyi baths
Gresham Palace?I didn?t even remember this place on the Pest bank of the Danube, probably because it was likely a mess when we were there in 1997. It is now beautiful, in fact, I think, the most beautiful building in Budapest. It was built by the Gresham Life Insurance people (led by Gresham, the man who gave us the axiom that ?Bad money drives out good?) in the early 20th century in complete Jugenstil/Art Nouveau style. It has been purchased and restored by the Four Seasons and I can?t even begin to describe how beautiful it is. All of the elaborate ornamentation of the original has been restored or reconstructed to original specifications, like the fantastic peacock wrought iron gates. Then it has been decorated in the most tasteful understated modern colors with fantastic floral arrangements at strategic places. Takes your breath away. We managed to have nightcaps there two of the three nights we were in town. Next time we?re in Budapest we?re staying there, hang the cost, which actually isn?t too bad at this point. May other investors of similar taste and means take up the cause of restoring Budapest to its former glory. There?s a cause I could get behind.

ira

Hi Julie,

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

JulieVikmanis

Eating in Budapest
We ate in some pretty nice places and had some pretty good food overall.
Albardos?on Castle Hill, in a lovely outdoor covered courtyard. Had some of the famous Hungarian goose liver pate followed by a vegetarian dish of potatoes with mushrooms and other vegetables.
Karpatia?in Pest, not far from our hotel. Interior decorated like the Mathias Church, columns, arched windows and painted décor in dark colors, mostly green, maroon, blue and gold. Really nice 5 piece stringed ensemble playing gypsy music, including that wonderful string harpsichord/piano-type instrument they play with cotton covered sticks. Anyone know the name? Had gnocchi with salmon and crispy arugula and Lake Balaton pike perch.
Udvarhaz?in the Obuda hills. Read about this place in Fodor or Frommer and thought it sounded wonderful for our friend?s birthday?a place with heaping platters of food, free flowing wine and gypsy music and dancing. They tell you that it?s a ways out of town but that doesn?t quite describe the over half hour cab ride through hills on small roads some even unpaved that it took us to get there. We were among a small minority of non-tour group guests and we were a bit concerned about whether our trusty cab driver would come all the way back for us when we finished our meals as he had promised he would. The food wasn?t great, but it was certainly ok to good and the merriment was terrific. The birthday boy danced in a gypsy conga line that bore a slight resemblance to the bunny hop. I think he?ll remember it for some birthdays to come.
Bagolvar?means the barn owl. It?s right next to the famous Gundel?s and owned by the same people. This one is ?manned? strictly by women to preserve the homelike cooking of the past. We were seated outdoors for lunch in a lovely rustic setting with flowers. I had more goose liver pate and a ball of something which our server sheepishly called ?fat.? Hey, it?s coming back in style. Also had lamb susages with peppers and potatoes. These folks serve pepper with everything?even breakfast.
LouLou?wouldn?t you just know it? Our best meal in Budapest was at a French restaurant. I?d wanted to go when we were in Budapest before and was glad I persisted and got there this time. It has two small, intimate rooms, one a bit more formal than the other. Had an excellent steak tartare followed by duo of duck, leg confit and breast with peach chunks in the accompanying mashed potatoes. Shared a flourless chocolate cake with my husband.

While leaving Budapest we had the first of three confrontations with the law. We were only two blocks or so from the auto rental place. Our friend was driving and thought he had a green arrow. Turns out it was two red lights and he ran both of them right in front of a police officer. Officer spoke no English so he radioed for an English speaker. They reviewed the situation, were not happy with our friend?s comment that the light system was ?crazy?, but finally decided to let him off with a warning and the admonition in somewhat broken English that ?Next time there will be a bus and there will be no survivors.? The other three of us could hear the exchange and had to hold our mouths to keep from bursting out laughing, something we were sure would have drawn the wrath of the officers and a ticket instead of a warning.

JulieVikmanis

Lake Bled

Vila Bled
Properly warned we left Budapest and drove pretty much the width of Hungary to Lake Bled where we installed ourselves for three days at Vila Bled. I was very excited to stay at this place. It?s a Relais and Chateau property that had been the summer residence of Marshall Tito who used it to entertain heads of state. It didn?t look like much from the outside, relatively modern and boxy. But it was beautiful inside as I had expected it to be. Our room for 220 euros was actually a two room suite with an entry way that was about the size of hotel rooms in Paris. This is a value hotel. You get way more than you pay for. The nicely appointed bedroom was roughly 20 by 14 feet with a sitting room of approximately equivalent size. The bath was enormous and luxurious and best of all our windows opened onto a view of Lake Bled, its picture perfect island and the castle on the distant shore through magnificent pines. The breakfast room and dining room were nice and the food was good. There is a separate, large but quiet room with relatively fast internet access. There was an oil of Tito in the bar. Not sure what to make of that but then, I guess it was his house.

The hotel has a newly installed spa and I signed up for the Cleopatra bath. I?m not really good at this kind of thing. It usually makes me more apprehensive than relaxed but every once in a while I give it a try. The Cleopatra bath begins with a yogurt massage and facial, then a wrap in saran wrap and hot towel. To a person who is mildly claustrophobic like me this was not an easy experience. I was supposed to be wrapped for 20 minutes but as I felt the rivulets of yogurt streaming down my neck I felt the panic mounting and managed to escape after 15 minutes. After a shower to remove the yogurt I was led to a soaking tub with colored lights that operated in time with music. Of course, it played Besame Mucho. I soaked in the bath with mares? milk and various scents and drank champagne with rosewater. Emulsified and glowing I rejoined my friends for more sightseeing.

I would certainly go to the hotel again and would recommend it highly to anyone going to Lake Bled. Not sure if I?d recommend the Cleopatra bath. Maybe ok, if you skip the yogurt part.

Sights in and near Lake Bled
Patrick (and others) have spoken on this forum about the beauty of Lake Bled and it is all they describe and more. It is completely serene as the little covered boats called pletans are rowed between the shore and the island. The church with its 99 steps from the water to the church grounds is lovely and has quaint little legends?like the man who can carry his new bride up the 99 steps will have a happy married life and the person who can ring the church bell will have her wish come true. The bell is being constantly rung.

JulieVikmanis

Hochestorwicz castle (sp?)?I had been in the Portschach Austria area previously but had never heard of this castle until I read about it in a post here asking which castles were posters? favorites. I can see why some have chosen this place. From a distance it is every bit as castley as Neuschwanstein or Burg Eltz. We contented ourselves with the distant view when upon closer inspection we saw the tiny, rickety funicular that raises people, probably one at a time, to the top.

Ljubljana?the capitol of Slovenia is a little gem. Actually it is not so little, about 200,000 people live there. It has great bridges, a wonderful open air market, and lots of attractive art nouveau buildings which are in nice repair. It made a nice day trip from Lake Bled.

Food in and around Lake Bled
Union Hotel in Ljubljana provided nice atmosphere and good food. Had raviolis then squid and an excellent light ratatouille.
Lectar restaurant in nearby village of Radovljik was very cute with tiny rooms and a working fireplace with branches and apples decorating the tables. Menu provided some interesting, even bizarre, choices like buckwheat with sour turnip mash. We opted instead for something called the anti-Dracula steak and an appetizer meat platter with tongue, various sausages, and more of that ?fat.?

Trieste
A place I?ve long wanted to get to and now finally did. We stopped enroute to Piran, Slovenia where we stayed for another three night stint. Trieste was all in preparation for a big Barcolana, some kind of international regatta. Too bad for them, I think the winds were really almost non-existant but the boats were beautiful. Toured the main square with its beautiful government buildings. It?s apparently the largest square in Europe that faces onto the sea. They have lots of pedestrian walking areas. One took us by a large Orthodox cathedral with incredible gold mosaics and their Grand Canal, the picture I?ve most frequently seen representing Trieste. We had a nice lunch beside the canal before resuming our journey to Piran. Enroute we encountered the same long wait described by Candert in his report to permit the passing of workmen with wheelbarrows. A major patience trier.

Piran, Slovenia

This is one of two or three towns on the north side of the Istrian peninsula just south of Italian Trieste occupied by Slovenia and mostly Croatia. Rick Steves describes Piran as ?the backdoor gem? of the Istian peninsula and I?d agree. The town is on the sea with a nice harbor and a lovely oval central square. It has some similarity to several of our other favorite small port towns like Cassis, Camogli and Portovenere. Unfortunately we did not find the rest of the Istrian peninsula to be nearly as attractive and interesting as Piran.

JulieVikmanis

Hotel Tartini
It?s one of two hotels in town and sounded like the best from descriptions?on the square with views of the sea. At 75 euros per night it was also very cheap. Rooms were acceptable if a bit lacking in charm. Best thing about it was its café/bar area directly across from the square where we could sit, meet our group of fellow travelers now swollen to 6 with the addition of Candert and his wife (my daughter Liz), and watch the story of the village enfold before us.

I?ll not go into detail about sights or food in this area lest I repeat info that Candert has already provided. I will, however, recount two more brushes with the law which we had while in Piran. One was while returning from a drive to Opatjia. My husband was driving and failed to decelerate timely upon exiting the freeway. The Croatian highway patrol had set up a speed trap and we were it. Should have paid a 70 euro fine but got by for 50 since that?s all the euros we had. We certainly had no Croatian Krunas, their preferred currency of payoff. The other was while parking our car on the square in Piran before exiting the town. We parked without a sticker in our window and were ticketed by the local police. I took the ticket into the hotel receptionist and asked how to pay it. She replied that it was silly and that she ?would fix it.? So I happily left it in her care. Hope we won?t be stopped at the border on a wanted list next time we try to enter Croatia.

Venice

We think Venice is the most beautiful city in the world. The opportunity to return for three days had us quite excited. It did not disappoint. It never does. Since Candert will be including it in his report, I?ll hit only the highlights that I think may differ from his.

Hotel Violino d?Oro
This is a gem. We?ve stayed in several places in Venice?Europa and Regina, Bauer Grunerwald, and the Flora. I?d rate Violino d?Oro best value to price. For 250 euros we had a nice corner room with windows out to the tiny square next to the San Moise church and to the canal beside it that empties into the Grand Canal. It?s right across the canal from the Bauer Grunerwald and at only about 1/3 of the price for similar views though admittedly smaller rooms. The rooms are nonetheless well appointed, the hotel only having been open about 5 years. There is a nice little breakfast room and the desk staff couldn?t have been more helpful. The area can be noisy but we found the windows to be good at keeping sound out. There is very good air conditioning.

Other highlights, mostly food related:
Finally the opportunity to eat at Trattoria alla Madonna. Had Sardines in soar, a sort of sweet sour sauce with lots of onions, yummm, eel and artichoke bottoms. My husband loved it and asked why we?d never eaten there before. I could hardly contain myself when I explained that I?d tried to get him to go there on several previous trips but that he?d always resisted because it was down an alley and not on the water. Vindicated again.

JulieVikmanis

The Rialto market?one of my favorites in all my travels and especially the tiny little wine bar across from the vegetable market called Al Marco that has wonderful offerings of good wines by the glass at cheap prices and cute, tasty little baguette type sandwiches with wonderful fillings. I had arugula, egg and shrimp. I can taste it now. Must return.

Corte Sconda?we?ve gone each time we?ve been in Venice to this little place off the riva degli Schiavoni hidden back several squares from there with its open courtyard, now well discovered by the New York Times and guidebook writers everywhere, but still very good. This time we approached not from the Riva degli Schiavoni but from the opposite direction?and got ourselves thoroughly lost even after asking may 6 or 7 people how to get there. Finally as I was about to see my plan for another wonderful meal evaporate, a woman walking by heard me asking someone directions and offered to take us there. Turns out she lives nearby. Lucky for us. We followed her for probably 10 minutes at a fast clip and would never have gotten there without her help. The food at this place is phenomenal. The offer 6 or 7 appetizer plates for 26 euros per person. This is the real highlight?spider crab pate, razor clams?the sweetest, tastiest seafood I?ve ever eaten, tuna slices marinated and served with celery root shreds, sea bream carpaccio on salad with pomegranate seeds. When that was done they brought out special another whole platter of razor clams grilled in oil and a third round of assorted cold fish and crab meat. Next for 13 euros per person came the pasta course. Candert and I had pasta in squid ink with some unknown white seafood. Liz and her father had anchovy pasta. For mains, priced somewhere between 10 and 20 euros which those with smaller appetites than moi (who does that sound like? And how apt is it?) can be easily skipped keeping the price of a meal at this place quite reasonable, we had a gaint platter of assorted grilled fish. Add to all of this, several bottle of slightly effervescent Corte Sconda private label white wine and a tiramisu for dessert and you have a recipe for pure foodie heaven. This place is truly worth searching out.

The only other place I?ll report on is Harry?s Dolci. This time the closing curse struck my friend. She had been thinking of little else than the gnocchi with tomato sauce that they serve there since starting to plan the trip. We arrived and sadly it was not on the menu. A major disappointment. The rain that drove us from the lovely green outdoor spot at the very side of the canal that looks back onto Dosorduro didn?t help to lift our spirits either. But what the heck, we were in Venice and we knew the orchestras would be playing and the champagne flowing when we returned to the Piazza San Marco and so we did. Venice is still the most beautiful city in the world. We were glad for the opportunity to return and to be there with our daughter and son-in-law and our friends. What more can you ask? Arriverdeci.

bobthenavigator

Great report Julie. We did Slovenia and Venice in 2002 and loved it. Thanks for sharing.

prue

What a great Report - so well written and set out. I do hope lots of aspiring Report writers take note -

anotherjudy

Thanks, Julie. I enjoyed your report. Neat trip!
Judy

mamc

Wonderful report! Thanks for giving us such a great picture of your trip.

Mathieu

Great report Julie. I remember your very good earlier Croatia one too. I still haven't finished writing mine. Thanks for sharing.

Landert

Rather than e-mail you Mom, I thought I'd post my reply here where I'm sure you'll receive it just as quickly. - Great report, you certainly have a knack for describing gastronemia. I think I spout almost as much detail when describing the wines - and good shopping. Thank you for posting and re-surfacing special memories. We like traveling with you too. - Liz

JulieVikmanis

Thanks all. Anotherjudy, I remember you from the Paris GTG. We're off for London then Paris again, leaving tomorrow. Will report back upon return. To those of you who made it through this report, I promise in future reports to find a way to get rid of those awful question marks.

Patrick

Hi, Julie. Thanks for posting. And I'm glad you enjoyed "my" Konig von Ungarn in Vienna and Union Hotel in Llubjuana.
Also glad you enjoyed Lake Bled.

SloJan

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, Julie. We have eaten at Lectar and it is very traditional. The buckwheat mash is true country food!

We were in Trieste the same day as you!
Cheers,
Jan