Trieste Day 1 and 2

On Saturday Sept 26th 2026 we bid farewell to Grado and boarded a boat to travel to Trieste. The boat runs during the summer season between Trieste, Grado and Lignano. The transit time from Grado to Trieste takes about an hour and 15 minutes.

Our day started off with a delightful breakfast provided by our small hotel hosts and then we packed up our gear into our backpacks and wandered off towards the ferry dock not far from the hotel. With a bit of time to kill we stopped at a local cafe next to the Grado canal and watched the local volunteer divers bring up debris from the canal lagoon. Since the canal has no guard rails you could literally walk off the edge into the water, it appears the area accumulates some random debris. We saw them bring up a bicycle that was covered in seaweed and other random things like bottles etc. We sipped cappuccinos in the bright sunshine while watching the divers work and others walking by. With our morning cappuccino fix completed, we headed off towards the ferry dock to catch our boat. Along the way we noticed a group of older gentlemen sitting under a tree at the canal entrance. We saw this same group of locals yesterday when we walked over to the dock to see where the ferry landed. It seems this is there local hangout to shoot the breeze and watch the boats go by. Perhaps they are a group of older fishermen, or just locals under a shady tree only they know but they seemed to be enjoying life and the company of each other watching the world go by.

Soon the boat arrived and we were off to Trieste. The boat ride was smooth with no wave action and we arrived in Trieste right next to the big cruise ships. Easy peasy.

Having a bit of time to kill before checking into our Trieste apartment, we headed towards our accommodations and found a Greek Restaurant where we had a delightful grilled chicken lunch.

Once we got access to our apartment we quickly took advantage of the washer/dryer and got a load of laundry going and then headed out to the grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast. With those chores done we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the apartment. While we have had a few rest days along the way on this adventure, we didn’t have the luxury of a couch to sit on. Oh the simple things in life.

On Sunday, we booked a walking tour of Trieste where we learned about Trieste history, some of the architecture of the city and various other sights. The city was bustling with a weekend flea market, a car show and a small science trade show going on plus cruise ships so things were quite crowded. We plan to get out early on Monday to see a few places before the crowds show up so we can take a few more pictures etc and visit some of the more historic coffee houses etc.

After our tour we had lunch/dinner at a pizzeria and under estimated the portion size of the pizza and salad. So we ended up taking the salad home for lunch tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day doing more laundry (as the washer/dryer is a single unit) and just chilling here in a quiet space.