From Slovenia to Italy

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May 30, 2018

Today we left beautiful Lake Bled in Slovenia and traveled to Italy. I really wish I had more time in Slovenia. I read the section in my Rick Steves travel book about the Julian Alps (named for Julius Ceasar) which are in the NW part of Slovenia. This area is very close to the Italian and Austrian borders and had many battles during WWII. And it seems to be very beautiful too.

Before I move on to discussing Italy I want to say a few things about Croatia & Slovenia. I always felt safe there, it's clean, the only graffiti I saw was in Split and Ljubljana, the people were always nice, never rude, and the places we visited were beautiful. Cars always stopped to let us cross the roads (not so in Italy). Now that I'm in Italy I have to be more "on guard" than before.

Onward to Italy: new country, new language, same euro currency. Watch out when crossing the street - no one will stop for you.

Our bus driver took us toward Trieste in Italy. There are 3 important ports close together here: Trieste in Italy, Koper in Slovenia, and Pula in Croatia. Trieste has an interesting history because it almost became part of Russian but the U.S. Navy exerted their influence and it was voted part of Italy. Remember that Italy was on the "wrong" side during the war and the Russians and allies beat the Italians. Russia needs a warm water port, and Trieste almost became it.

Here's the Wikipedia description:

The Army command Trieste United States Troops (TRUST) was established 1 May 1947 in accord with a protocol to the Treaty of Peace with Italy which created the Free Territory of Trieste as a new independent, sovereign State under a provisional regime of Government and under the direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council.

According to the protocol, when the Italian peace treaty came into force, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yugoslavia were each authorized to station 5,000 troops in the Free Territory of Trieste. British Element Trieste Force (BETFOR) was the UK organization in the free territory.

The area which would become the Free Territory of Trieste had already been divided into two zones as a result of agreements shortly after the end of hostilities in Europe. The United Kingdom and the United States were administering Zone A, which included the city of Trieste, through a military government. Yugoslavia was administering Zone B, an area which included most of the Istrian peninsula. The borders between the two zones had been established by the Morgan Line.

After ratification, the Italian peace treaty provision for establishment of the Free Territory of Trieste was implemented 15 September 1947. The new boundary between Italy and Yugoslavia followed the already established Morgan line with minor modifications. Similarly, the Morgan line, with minor modifications, divided the Free Territory of Trieste. The United States and the United Kingdom continued to administer their Zone A through a military government.

We had a short tour of Trieste and then went to the castle. Here's the description from Wikipedia:

Miramare Castle and its park were built by order of Ferdinand Maximilian (1832–1867), of the House of Habsburg - younger brother of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria. In 1850, at the age of eighteen, Maximilian came to Trieste with his brother Charles and, immediately afterwards, he set off on a short cruise toward the Near East. This journey confirmed his intention to sail and to get to know the world. In 1852 he was appointed an officer and in 1854 he became Commander in Chief of the Imperial Navy. He decided to move to Trieste and to have a home built facing the sea and surrounded by a park worthy of his name and rank.

According to tradition, when the archduke was caught in a sudden storm in the Gulf, he took shelter in the little harbour of Grignano and he chose that bare rocky spur of limestone origin as the setting for his home. The whole complex, purchased for the first time at the beginning of March 1856, was called Miramar, after the name of Prince Ferdinand of Saxony’s residence in Pena, Portugal.

After the death of Maximilian I in Mexico in June 1867 and Charlotte’s departure for Belgium, the castle and the park continued to be a place where the Habsburgs spent short periods.

After our visit to the castle we went to Venice. Our bus driver leaves us here - he was delightful. He's on to his next tour. We had a boat taxi take us to our hotel, and the luggage arrived later. One thing I like about this tour is that the luggage is brought directly to our rooms, and they pick it up from our rooms & bring to the bus. Clare & her Dad Gary and I roamed around the island we are on (which is the island across from the one with San Marco square). We had some drinks, walked more, then had dinner. I had several lemoncello's and felt tipsy on the way back to the hotel. Tomorrow is the last day with the group and everyone goes their own way on June 1. This group has been fun to travel with. We are a compatible group and always on time. I've enjoyed traveling with them.

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