Italy Day Two

Today we had breakfast at the hotel.   We had some delicious croissants, which are called brioche here.  They had peach jelly type stuff in them and were the best croissants I’d ever had.   There were also different types of bread: crusty rolls that are popular in Europe but I don’t know what they are called, toast, and some regular wheat and white bread.   It was very good, but not like a breakfast in America.   There was no protein to be found.

Then we went into Trieste with Andy.  We took the bus.  The places in Duino that sell bus tickets were all sold out, so the woman at the coffee shop (called a bar here.  Everywhere you look is a sign for a bar, but it’s not what you’d think.), said to explain to the driver that the tickets were sold out and we’d buy them when we got to Trieste.  So Andy explained this to the driver, who said something that must have amounted to “that’s fine”, because we got on the bus, no problem.  When we got to Trieste, the driver motioned to Andy to follow him, and then took off at a trot.  The rest of us tried to keep them in sight, and eventually found them at the window to buy tickets.  Not only had the driver allowed us to ride the bus on the good faith that we would buy tickets when we got there, but he also helped us explain to the ticket lady what the problem was, and helped us figure out how to solve it.   It was very kind of him.

We walked around Trieste for a few hours.  We had a nice lunch at a small outdoor café.   Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve eaten inside since we got here.  Mike and I both had paninis and mom had a salad.  I’m not sure what Andy had.  Some type of raw meat and a side chopped up zucchini in a jar.

I bought a dress at a cute shop that sold a bunch of leather things as well as boutique-type things.  Nothing had a price on it, which was kind of intimidating.  When I finally asked “Quanto costa?” (One of the very few phrases I learned to say before we left.) the lady tried to tell me, but I hadn’t thought to learn how to understand her answer when I learned to ask.  So she wrote it down for me and was very nice about it.  Overall, my first Italian shopping experience went pretty well.

For dinner, Andy and Spencer took us to a restaurant right on the Adriatic coast.  It was beautiful there.  I understood what spaghetti and mezzalune were on the menu, and that was it.  If Andy and Spencer hadn’t been with us, we would never have been able to order.  They serve mostly fish dishes at the restaurants we’ve been to in Duino so far.  To be honest, I’m getting pretty tired of fish.  And shrimp with eyes still intact.  I had spaghetti, Mike had roast beef, and mom had grilled sole.  It was all delicious.  I don’t know what Andy and Spencer had.  I’ll blame that lapse on the view.  It was distracting.

Tomorrow, the festival students are putting on a concert at Castello di Duino, and we are going to that.  Then we plan to take the bus to Miramare, another castle that’s on the way to Trieste.  Lot’s more walking.  I hope the blisters I got today can handle it…    

Jenna