Club Visit to Trieste
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On Thursday 7th May 2015 a party of 41 Rotarians and partners accepted president Bruno’s invitation to join him on a visit to Trieste where he was born. Most of us flew out on the direct Ryanair flight from Stanstead to Trieste Airport where we conveyed by coach to our hotel. This was the Savoia Excelsior Palace which is ranked No 1 on Tripadvisor and which has an excellent location facing out onto the main harbour. On Friday morning we embarked by coach for a visit to the roman remains, the cathedral and the castle after which most of us walked back down to our hotel, stopping off on the way for a coffee. In the afternoon we visited the Castello di Miramare with its museum and gardens before having a free evening to explore the local restaurants. On the Saturday morning most of the party opted to visit the Mueso Revoltella whilst a select few of us were entertained to a most informative tour of the train museum. In the afternoon we took the ferry to the old fishing village of Muggia before moving on to a fish dinner in a local restaurant. Here we entered into a singing competition with the staff including singing a song in the local dialect which Bruno had taught us. On Sunday morning a brave few took the tram to join us above Trieste for a visit to a local vineyard. Here we learned how the grapes were grown and the wine produced before sampling some of their produce. We then moved on to a farm where we lunched on their home produced food and drank more wine! In the afternoon, in best bib and tucker, we walked to the opera house for a superb performance of Swan Lake, before returning for a dinner in the evening with members of the Rotary Clubs of Trieste. After free time on Monday morning we left by coach for the airport, stopping off for a fascinating tour of Illy’s headquarters where we learned how they produced their coffee and saw the full production process. All agreed that this had been an excellent visit and thanks must go to President Bruno and his wife Lilianne for all the work that they put in to ensure that it was such a success.