Trieste: My Habsburg Dream

We walked off into Piazza Unità d'Italia – the biggest square opening directly onto the sea in Europe, grand cafés on three sides, the city hall glowing at sunrise. We had coffee at Caffè San Marco – James Joyce and Italo Svevo wrote here, the waiters still wear bow ties, the cappuccino is perfect. Miramare Castle 20 minutes away – white on a promontory like a fairy tale, Maximilian and Carlota's tragic home.

We had lunch at Buffet da Pepi – boiled pork with horseradish and mustard that tastes like tradition. In the afternoon we wandered the Borgo Teresiano – canals, Serbian Orthodox church reflecting in the water, the smell of the sea everywhere. The pros: sophisticated, uncrowded, and deeply soulful. The cons: almost too perfect, like a secret you want to keep.