Introduction to the city of Trieste
A plaque for Joyce in Trieste with a quotation in which he states, “My soul is in Trieste.”
Turning specifically towards Trieste, I have to focus on my particular area of interest, literature. The Anglophone literary history of Trieste is consumed by one giant of the 20th century: James Joyce. He worked for Berlitz giving English lessons and lived in the city for a collective 15 years between 1904 and 1920. Joyce also worked on many of his most famous works here, namely, Dubliners and Ulysses. There is a small Joyce museum, but it mostly contains manuscripts; therefore, I would just stop by the statue for a picture by one of his very centrally located houses on the Piazza Ponterosso.
With a statue of Joyce near the Grand Canal in Trieste
In other 20th century news, Trieste and the surrounding region was instrumental in both World War 1 and World War 2. In fact, Shelley, one of my best friends and travel companion to regions such as Sardegna, Basilicata, Tuscany and Campania, is a history teacher at my international school, and has organizes an annual 8th grade trip to Trieste. The trip has been exceptionally well-received, and it is an interdisciplinary effort between grade level teachers, particularly, history and science. Regarding history, the city of Trieste boldly refused to fight under the Austro-Hungarian flags, which foreshadowed the annexation of Trieste to Italy at the end of the First World War in 1918. The history of the First World War comes alive on the battlefield of Caporetto, which the eighth graders all get the opportunity to study and visit. Therefore, if you have a vested interest in the history of the World War I, I encourage you to follow suit. The Battle of Caporetto is known as “the greatest defeat in Italian military history”. Aptly, in Italian, the phrase “è stata una Caporetto” is quite common, and it literally means that whatever happened was an ‘epic failure’. Before moving to the role of Trieste in the Second World War, I have to drop another literary connection. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is semi-autobiographical and addresses the Italian retreat from Caporetto during the year 1917. As mentioned, I took a nice road trip from Rome up to Trieste over Thanksgiving weekend and listened to the audiobook of A Farewell to Arms during the journey. I highly recommend this as a way to get motivated and intellectually prepared for a trip! Choose a culturally relevant audiobook and listen in the car or even on the plane. (I also listened to James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man while taking an early morning jog along the waterfront in Trieste, but I realize this might be a bridge too far for many people.)
Moving forward in time, it is interesting to note how many additional changes took place between the end of World War 1 and World War 2. Unfortunately, the legacy of World War 2 in Trieste is related to the most tragic part of the history. The Risiera di San Sabba (ricemill of San Sabba) was converted to a concentration camp in 1943 under German Occupation. As articulated in the Atlas Obscura online guide: “Many of the occupants kept at Risiera di San Sabba later went on to the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Historians estimate that over 3,000 people were killed at Risiera itself, often by cremation and gassing.” The ricemill is free to visit and open every day from 9AM-5PM.
We also stayed in an excellent AirBnB. The hosts were kind and available. The large modern apartment was impeccably clean, tastefully decorated, and spacious. Street parking a bit problematic during busy hours, but the apartment is a close walk from the central train station. We were able to find parking; it just took a few times of circling the vicinity and some patience. This is a common experience in Italy, but for visitors in a rental car, it can be stress inducing.