Deep History and Dark Places: Exploring Beyond Trieste

Beyond the winding cobble stone roads, baroque buildings shining with gold leaf patterns, majestic coastal castles, and the thriving maritime culture of Trieste, lays a deep history and some very dark places.

Trieste, a coastal Italian city located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste and the Adriatic Sea, is home to more than 200,000 people. A culturally diverse city, it borders Slovenia and Croatia and takes pride in its blended heritage. Yet many travelers to Trieste may never see past the music festivals and large populated piazzas to the adventures outside the city that built the region’s vibrant history.

Only 22 miles northwest of Trieste, the remains of over 100,000 fallen World War I soldiers rest. The largest Italian war memorial, Redipuglia, sits solemnly on the west face of mountain Sei Busi in stark gray contrast to the lush green surroundings. Completed in 1938, the memorial is a lasting reminder of the bitter fighting that consumed the eastern front of the war.

As you walk up the stairs from the parking lot and around the corner, Redipuglia opens up before you. It is an amazing yet overwhelming first impression. The twenty two terraces, headed by 75-ton cube tomb, stretch up toward the sky, where three bronze crosses overlook the landscape. That first glimpse of the memorial makes you feel small and then the momentous realization sweeps through you of the thousands on thousands of soldiers killed in this single location.

The entrance to Redipuglia is marked by an anchor chain that is draped from each side. The rusted red and black chains lay on the ground as if the weight of the soldiers behind it was too much to bear. Behind the gate spreads out a flat opening approximately two football fields in length with two lines of 19 bronze plaques forming a path. Called “Ura Eroica” or the “road of heroes,” the plaques are each engraved with the names of the bloodiest battles of World War I.

The names of the soldiers slowly appear as you approach the first terrace wall. Listed in alphabetical order, the names of the 40,000 known soldiers who died at Sei Busi seem to stretch endlessly on each terrace. Looking closely at the names you can see dust lightly layering the stone face with finger prints left behind by visitors.

At the top of the memorial, after climbing the 44 cases of stairs that zigzag their way to the top, lay two common graves for the 60,000 anonymous soldiers who rest at Redipuglia. The graves are a silent reminder of the horrors of war and the horrendous number of families whose sons never returned home. Yet, as you stand at the top of the memorial and look out over the war zone that once covered the country side, the view of the open country side, small coupled towns, new growth ash green trees and overall beauty of the transformed land sweeps you.

Moving from one of the highest points around Trieste at Redipuglia to one of the lowest and darkest destinations is the Grotta Gigante. Located only 9.5 miles outside Trieste, Grotta Gigante is the world’s largest touring cave. The main cavern is 280 meters long, 65 meters wide and 107 meters high – large enough to fit the entire St. Peters Cathedral inside the cavity. Discovered by Antonio Federico Linder in 1840, Grotta Gigante is apart of the underground cave system of the Timavo River.

As you begin your descent into the cave, the damp air surrounds you and your whole demeanor changes. Everyone starts to use low voices and becomes wary of the wet stairs beneath their feet. The first fifty stairs or so take you though a narrow opening in the ground to the second discovered entrance of the cave. As soon as you hit the last tight turn in the stairway, the cave opens up in the main cavern. Over 500 ground and overhead lights illuminate behind the rocks, stalactites, and stalagmites, creating a dark, shadowy glow over the entire cavern. Beneath the electric lights grow small green fern-like plants; foliage that never would have existed without the introduction of light into the cave. Continuing down the 500 stairs to the base of the cave, the ominous glow accentuates the rough ridges and distorted shapes of the rocks from thousands of years of water erosion and corrosion.

During the 50 minute tour, the group pauses three times for information about the cave surroundings. While the tour guide speaks Italian, the information is repeated in English by a recording for foreign travelers. From the base of the cavern to the top hang two seismograph pendulums, 100 meters high, which the tour guide explains records the temperature, air conditions, and seismic movement in the cave. In contrast to the dark, rough nature of the caves, the scientific equipment seems out of place with its smooth, white lines.

Once you have reached the bottom of the cave and the moist, cold air has settled on your skin, the tour guide leads you up another 500 stairs to the original entrance to the cave at the opposite corner. Before turning the final corner of stairs out of the main cavern, a platform overlooks the 100 meters to the bottom, leaving a bird’s eye view of the silent cave in your memory.

By looking just slightly above and below and around the area of Trieste, you can discover a whole different landscape full of secrets and history. You can reach darker places for a new adventure and leave with a deeper understanding of the local area and its rich history.

Sidebar:

While Redipuglia and Grotta Gigante are the destinations, getting there is half the fun.

Redipuglia

The easiest way to get to Redipuglia is via bus. There is no admission cost so it is a great place to visit and take your time walking around and really exploring the area. You will want to make sure to bring a sturdy pair of walking shoes and a light jacket. Additionally if you are tired and thirsty after climbing the 22 terraces, there is a restaurant and restroom facilities at the base of the monument near the parking lot.

Grotta Gigante

From central Trieste to Grotta Gigante you take bus 42. The bus takes you up into the hills of the neighboring towns outside Trieste. The road is very narrow, yet provides clear views of the Adriatic Sea, Trieste, Slovenia, and Croatia. Talk to the locals on the bus if you are not sure where to exit. Most of the people are very friendly and helpful, especially the locals who travel this route daily. When you exit the bus follow the signs to the entrance to Grotta Gigante. The path will lead you down a quiet, rural neighborhood that is scattered with small grape farms and Italian cottages. At the end of the road is the information center, a small food vendor selling sandwiches, drinks, and pasta, and restrooms. You can buy the entrance tickets inside the information center. For Adults the admission is 8,50 euro. Also you will want to bring a light jacket and a good pair of walking shoes.

"American Boy"

Sitting outside on the concrete patio of what can barely qualify as a bar, I sip some Prosecco. The bubbles in the wine are refreshing to the taste after tap water all day and a hardly satisfying meal of again flavorless penne pasta with ragu sauce and some sort of mystery meat. I chat with my friends aimlessly at a four person table, while a group of 20 of more other American students attempt to rearrange all the other metal and plastic tables into a snaking line that resembles a massive family sitting down to a raging thanksgiving dinner of wine and beer.

I think to myself this isn’t an Italian experience. If I wanted to get smash drunk every night, I should have just spent the $120 for a fake ID in the United States and the other $1200 of my plane ticket on a new wardrobe. Yet as my spirits are getting down, and the other students are getting high on spirits of another kind, the song “American Boy” by Estelle, a British hip-hop star, comes on and the cultural irony kicks in with the tune’s catchy beats.

Studying abroad in Paderno, Italy, I expected an extreme culture shock – somewhere where I would be submerged in the Italian culture. Not understanding the language or traditions, I thought all the students would try to learn quickly and blend in. Oh, how I was wrong. Yet, slowly I have realized that the culture here in Italy is as affected by American culture as we are by the expectations and assumptions that the media has given us of Italy.

While the culture in deeply routed in its history and takes pride in its Italian heritage, everywhere you go, even in Paderno’s little town, is spotted with English and other universal signs. The Italian high school students on campus sport shirts that say “New York” or “Abercrombie” and in Venice there is a Blockbuster. Also in Trieste, I think I saw more stores with English names than Gucci bags.


Also, as if “American Boy” was not enough of an insight into the mix of influences on Italy, last night my advisory group for school went out to dinner. The 11 of us traveling by bus trekked to Bassano, which is about 30 minutes away, to a club called Panic Jazz. Climbing the stairs to the second story restaurant and club, we could hear the smooth trumpet of Miles Davis coming from the speakers. Jazz music was definitely one of the last types of music I expected to hear while I was abroad, yet even more of a surprise was listening to that American jazz music, while drinking Italian wine, and eating Mexican food! I had an amazing chicken burrito, filled with red, orange, and yellow peppers and shredded chicken that was moist and seasoned. Even though the Mexican food was not exactly the same as the American Mexican food that you get in the states, it was more fun to try the Italians take on another culture’s food.

Being in Italy is no longer about becoming as Italian as possible, but about accepting the culture and contributing to the mixing pot of culture that is growing in this area. It is about eating as much good food as possible, sharing a pitcher of Italian wine (even if we can’t hide our loud American, drunken selves) and getting to know the people, no matter their nationality, around you.

Orange Pants

Twenty eight hours and 45 minutes into my first “day” abroad, over 5400 miles from my home in Washington and with only thirty minutes of sleep, I found myself sitting at a dark bus stop outside of Venice Mestre with my travel partner, lost, and wondering if I will ever make it back to my hotel. This, however, I am sure will be only one of many lost and confused adventures during my three months of studying abroad.

The beginning of my journey, or at least the first twenty something hours, went amazingly smooth, with only a few late planes and sleepless hours. The adventure didn’t truly begin until we entered Venice.

I traveled with another student, Amy Santamaria, from the University of Oregon from Frankfurt, Germany to Venice, Italy, where we had booked a hostel. The plane landed late but both of us easily spotted our four bags of luggage and lugged it outside to an awaiting taxi. From the airport we went to our hostel, the Hotel Centrale, located in the center of Venice-Mestre, only a short bus ride from the island.

Even though exhausted, sweaty from the 90˚ weather, and starving for food that wasn’t served on an airplane tray, we decided to bus into Venice for the afternoon.

Before we left the hostel, the concierge told us to take bus #7 to Venice and to purchase the bus ticket from the driver. However, when we got on the bus the driver ignored us so we swiftly moved to the side of the bus and hoped nobody would notice that we didn’t pay. Luckily for us no one seemed to care, but before the end of the night, karma would make us pay.

After wondering the canals and pathways of Venice for a few hours and eating some delicious sour apple gelato and real Italian cheese pizza, Amy and I decided to return to our hostel and get some rest. This time we easily found the bus ticket booth and ask for two tickets for bus seven back to Venice-Mestre. Later, after paying, we realized that we were charged for a round trip ticket, thus paying for our way there in the end.

As we waited for the bus to leave, a German couple, staying at the same hostel, noticed out Hotel Centrale map and told us they knew where the stop was. So we joked with them about following them off the bus before they took their seats at the back of the bus. The older man of the couple wore bright orange linen pants with a white and orange Hawaiian print shirt, so we assumed it would be easy to spot him exit through the crowds of people huddled on the bus.

Around the third stop, Amy said she spotted the man with the orange pants exiting the bus. While I thought it was still too early to get off, Amy was already in the crowd pushing the way through to exit, so I followed. Disheartedly as the bus left and the man with the orange pants sprinted across the street, we noticed we were not at the right stop. Somehow, yet another man with orange pants and a white and orange stripped shirt had led us astray.

Now 28 hours and 45 minutes into our trip, late at night we sat at that dark bus stop and brainstormed how we would make it back to our hotel. With the last ounce of our energy, we decided to stay at the bus stop to see if another bus would come by. Only out of pure luck, I’m sure, another bus came about fifteen minutes later and we were able to navigate back to the Hotel Centrale.

While I wouldn’t describe getting lost in Venice as the best way to start a trip studying abroad, laying in bed in our tiny hostel room that night and laughing about our crazy first day, made all the difficulties drift away as we soundly slept for the first time in over thirty hours.

Buongiorno!

Buongiorno, shalom, jambo, salut, aloha, ciao! No matter which way you say hello, as William Arthur Ward said so clearly, “A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”

Hello! And welcome to my travel blog. My name is Kelsey and I am currently studying abroad in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. I am regularly a student at the University of Oregon in the journalism and anthropology department and a proud fan of the Ducks. For the next three months I will be in Italy as apart of CIMBA, a journalism and business educational international program.

Paderno del Grappa is in the Veneto region of Italy, approximately an hour north west of Venice. With a minuscule population of only a little over 2,000, we are in the middle of town and surrounded by truly the Italian country side and its unique culture. Just last night, I actually got the opportunity to talk with an Italian high school student, who also attends school at the campus, Istituti Filippin, in Paderno about the area. She said, roughly transposed to English that Istituti Filippin isn’t in Paderno but that Paderno is Istituti Filippin, to demonstrate how small the town is.

While I am abroad I intend to travel as much as possible, without hopefully spending all the money I have saved, and then sharing those travels with you. Through the program we are encouraged to explore Europe and learn and grow from those experiences and I am going to take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity that is slowly developing in front of me. I look forward to many exciting adventures that lead to new discoveries and great stories! Ciao for now!