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Published: September 16th 2019
Faro della Vittoria from the bus to Prosecco
It is an active lighthouse in Trieste, Italy, serving the Gulf of Trieste. It is located on the hill of Gretta (Poggio di Gretta), off the Strada del Friuli. At a height of 223 feet (68 m) it is one of the tallest lighthouses in the world.We took a bus up to the Victoria Faro (lighthouse) this morning, having packed our swim suits for a trip to the "beach" afterwards. We got off at the Faro, realized that we couldn't walk around it because it was a military zone, and decided to wait for the next bus, and see where it took us. We ended up Prosecco, of wine fame, riding a bus packed with high school kids going home for lunch. Once in Prosecco, we realized we would have to take a bus back down the mountain to get to the coast. This was fine, since we only got glimpses of the spectacular views on the way up.
We changed buses on the coast, and got off at Barcola (if you have been paying attention you will remember that this was the site of the immense Roman villa whose tiles floors were featured in on my first blogs from Trieste!) We had a drink and sandwich at a very cute stand on the "beach", where they were playing Jack Johnson, and then I went swimming. The beach consists of a concrete walkway, huge riprap rocks, and ladders to climb down to the water...It's very popular
Faro della Vittoria
The idea to raise a monument in the vicinity arose during World War I, following capture of Kobarid in the Battles of the Isonzo and following the Battle of the Piave River. The location eventually chosen was the hill of Gretta, due to ideal height (60m above sea-level) and the solid foundations of the former Austrian fort Kressich, built between 1854 and 1857. The lighthouse plans took shape following the end of the war, in December 1918. It was designed by Triestine architect Arduino Berlam. One of the reasons for building such a high monument was the desire to build a victory monument higher than the Berlin Victory Column, which was 62.3 metres (204 ft) high at the time. Work started only in 1923 and ended on May 24, 1927 with the inauguration in the presence of King Vittorio Emanuele III. and the water is crystal clear...I am beginning to love these concrete beaches...no sand in towels, and you are immediately in deep water...no wading out!
Next, it was back home to pack and nap, before heading for the cafes along the Piazza Unitia d'Italia. Before 1919 it was known as Piazza Grande, or Great Square. The local
Slovenes still refer to it as Veliki trg (Great Square). Located at the foot of the hill with the castle of
San Giusto, the square faces the
Adriatic Sea. It is often said to be Europe's largest square located next to the sea. The square was built during the period when Trieste was the most important seaport of the
Austrian-Hungarian Empire and includes the city's municipal buildings and other important palaces.
We sat at a cafe and had a spritz:
The drink originated in
Venice or
Padua while it was part of the
Austrian Empire (see
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia), and is based on the Austrian
spritzer, a combination of equal parts white wine and
soda water; another idea is that the name of the drink would be linked to that of a typical Austrian wine
in the region of the
Wachau.
Spritz was born during the period of the
Habsburg domination in
Veneto in the 1800s. The soldiers, but also the various merchants, diplomats and employees of the
Habsburg Empire in Veneto became quickly accustomed to drinking local wine in the taverns, but they were not familiar with the wide variety of wines from the Veneto, and the alcohol content was higher than they were accustomed to. The newcomers started to ask the local hosts to spray a bit of water into the
wine (spritzen, in German) to make the wines lighter; the real original spritz was composed of sparkling white wine or red wine diluted with fresh water.
The first evolution of Spritz arrived in the early 1900s, when siphons for
carbonated water became widely available and made it possible to make a sparkling Spritz using still wine. This development introduced the Spritz to new types of customers, such as Austrian noblewomen, who, with the drink's touch of glamour, could now afford to be seen drinking a soft drink. Over
the years the drink has "grown up" with the infinite variety of possible additions such as a sort of liquor (
Aperol,
Campari, Select, Jardesca California Aperitiva) or a bitter as the China Martini or
Cynar with a lemon peel inside. wikipedia
The people watching was great: lots of families, tourists (still not one American spotted), and local couples out for walks. After an hour or so, we looked for a restaurant and had dinner. There was a sizable police presence in the nearby piazza, and found out after dinner that was because a group of immigration activists (trying to help immigrants) were leading a discussion and showing a film. We spoke with them briefly.
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