TRIESTE

SOMEWHERE TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

With a relaxed café culture and inspiring architecture, it’s easy to see why Trieste is the place James Joyce called his “second country”. Words by Vesna Maric. Pictures by Rafael Estefania

WHAT’S the worst thing that could happen to you on arrival in a foreign city? The answer, as James Joyce discovered when he stepped off the train at Trieste’s Stazione Centrale in 1904, is to get arrested.

Having travelled to Italy to teach English, on arrival Joyce instead found himself interpreting for a bunch of rowdy British soldiers who were having a bust up with the Italian cops. He was promptly thrown in the slammer.

Luckily for fans of the writer it didn’t put him off this beautiful port city – where he wrote most of Dubliners, all of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and significant portions of Ulysses – and after being quickly released, he stayed for the next 11 years.

Today there are Joyce festivals, a museum dedicated to him (and one to fellow novelist Italo Svevo), a hotel, a street named after him and a whole course about him at the University of Trieste. A walk through the city via Joyce’s favourite cafés, bars, homes and schools he taught at is the perfect way to discover the real flavour of Trieste and the writer. You’ll find heritage plaques dotted around the city and the University’s resident Joyce expert Renzo Crivelli has even written a guide, James Joyce: Triestine Itineraries, to help you out.

Situated on the border with Slovenia, Trieste has always been a meeting point for culture and trade. The city flourished as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 1867 to 1918, and was one of Central Europe’s most prosperous ports. It was a kind of Adriatic Dublin but far more multicultural, with a large Greek Orthodox population and an influential Jewish community, as well as hundreds of sailors and merchants from far-flung places all mingling at the harbour. This multicultural character is one that Trieste retains, albeit to a lesser extent, today.

Joyce spent more time drinking away his money than earning it and, as a result, was forced to avoid angry landlords by fleeing from one apartment to another, so it’s easy to visit Trieste via his many haunts. He was everywhere. His various lodgings in neoclassical buildings are well worth a visit and include Piazza Ponterosso 3, Via San Nicolò 30 and Via Giovanni Boccaccio 1. On a small bridge by Piazza Ponterosso, a life-size statue of the bespectacled, mustachioed Joyce gazes towards his apartment on the square.

The figure is well placed, as this is where Joyce would do most of his daily business. He taught at the Berlitz School (Via San Nicolò
32) and drank at Caffè Stella Polare (Via Dante 14/Piazza San Antonio 6), which is still trading quietly on the corner. Dotted with antiques and art nouveau lamps, Caffè San Marco (see p72) is always busy and is where Joyce and his brother would meet friends and discuss politics. A small stage at the back hosts weekly poetry and theatrical performances.

Caffè Tommaseo (see p72) is decked out with plush antique chairs and settees, and there’s a wacky piano player who warbles ancient songs. Da Pepi (see box, right) is an osmizze (a Germanic meat ’n’ beer diner) and a Trieste institution since 1897. Joyce himself probably tucked in, while contemplating the next page of a novel.

Indeed, the food that Joyce enjoyed 100 years ago is the food that Triestians today claim is Italy’s best. Being a port city, the fish and seafood is exceptional. Equally good are the pizzas and meticulously prepared pasta dishes, best accompanied by carafes of local wine grown on the city’s terraced slopes.

In the Città Vecchia (old town), there are delicatessens along the narrow Via di Cavana that will make you pledge undying love to fresh mozzarella and delicious slices of prosciutto.

A sight to behold is the Romanesque cathedral of San Giusto, whose feast day of 2 November Joyce remembered all his life. Giuseppe Verdi opera theatre is where the writer spent many an evening and where today’s performances still squeeze tears out of their audiences.

Joyce famously referred to Trieste as his “second country” and it’s easy to see why.

Though artists don’t flock to live here, the city’s architecture – defined by an elegant turn-ofthe-century decadence – and romantic cafés resonant with Sunday morning piano music inspire artistic reverie. The main square, Piazza Unità d’Italia faces the sea, welcoming ships with its majestic architecture. As in Joyce’s time, several languages fill the streets.

On the town’s outskirts you’ll find decent beaches for dipping into the Adriatic, as well as three windswept castles to explore: Castello San Giusto, Castello Duino and Castello Miramare. The latter was built in 1860 by Archduke Maximilian, who left in 1864 to become Emperor of Mexico, only to be executed in 1867 by a republican firing squad.

Trekkers can enjoy the wonders of the Carso hills and a visit to Grotta Grande, the largest tourist cave in the world – big enough to fit the whole of St Peter’s Church inside.

But what really sets Trieste apart is that it’s not an obvious holiday destination and you can walk around a beautiful Italian city without feeling like a tourist – such a rare joy! The shops are elegant and busy, and Triestians are friendly, well dressed and always up for a chat.

As Joyce discovered, this is a city where it’s easy to make friends. For fans of literature, Trieste is the best place to get inside the writer’s head, over and above Paris and even Dublin. Just make sure you don’t get arrested when you arrive.

Trieste talk

GETTING THERE

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Trieste from London’s Stansted Airport. When you arrive, take bus 51 to Central Station (€3, 45 minutes).

WHERE TO SLEEP

Urban Hotel (Androna Chiusa 4, tel: +39 040 302065) is a sleek-lined boutique hotel, behind Piazza Unità d’Italia. It’s attached to a lovely b&b, James Joyce Hotel (www..hoteljamesjoyce.com).

WHERE TO EAT

Riva Grumula is lined with top restaurants like Osteria Istriano (Riva Grumula 6, tel: +39 040 306 664), which serves up fantastic seafood.

ON A BUDGET?

Da Pepi (Via Cassa di Risparmio 3, tel: +39 040 366 858) has meat and beer galore. Vegetarians and pasta lovers can eat well at Neapolitan Aumm Aumm (Via Economo 1, tel: +39 040 300 612).

WHERE TO PARTY

Circus (Via San Lazzaro 9b) is full of chic locals, good music and saucy cocktails. California Inn (Viale Miramare 303) is perfect for lounging on the terrace in summer.

WHERE TO REFLECT

Take the tram from Piazza Oberdan to the hills of Opicina (€1).

Get off at the Obelisk and enjoy a stroll and sea views. For walks in the Carso Hills, visit the tourist office at Piazza Unità d’Italia (open daily).

Cream of the cafés

Where to hang out and read a book, or even write one

As Joyce discovered a century ago, Trieste’s cafés are where everything happens in the city. In fact, he was one of the famous aficionados of Trieste’s café culture, along with writers Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba. It’s a culture that involves not only imbibing plenty of coffee – prepared in a number of ways – and delighting in delicious desserts, but the discussion, as loudly as possible, of politics, art, literature and philosophy. Must-taste sweets in Trieste include Putizza, Strucolo de Pomi and Palacinke.

CAFFE TOMMASEO
The rooms are decorated with mirrors, the coffees are plentiful and the Triestine sweets and cakes are to die for.
Piazza Tommaseo 4/c, tel: +39 040 362 666

CAFFE DEGLI SPECCHI
Here you can truly feel the ambiance of fin de siècle Trieste. The coffee to try is the Vienna, topped with chocolate and whipped cream.
Piazza Unita d’Italia 7, tel: +39 040 365 777

CAFFE TERGESTEO
Known for its lively crowd and stained-glass windows picturing different episodes in Trieste’s history.
Piazza del Teatro Verdi 2, tel: +39 040 360 018

CAFFE SAN MARCO
Svevo, Saba and Joyce drank here, but today it’s a haunt of university students reading, studying and getting their caffeine hit.
Via Battisti 18, tel: +39 040 363 538

PASTICCERIA PIRONA
Another Joyce hangout and the place where he began writing Ulysses.
Largo Barriera Vecchia 12, tel: +39 040 636 046