How do we get to the Castle?

Good morning.  Today was another easy morning of sleeping in and a relaxed breakfast.  We do not have a guide today and the major thing to see is the Miramare Castle.  It was a little way away and Carla did her research and found out that we could take a train to the castle.  After asking 2 seemingly well-informed people about the train, it was discovered that there wasn't a train to the castle, so our next option was to take the #6 local bus which Karen felt was a little dicey.  Karen wanted to go with option #3 and take a taxi but she was overruled so we started walking to the train station which was where we were told the bus would be.  After asking a few people in the train station we located where to catch the bus but did not know where to buy a ticket. 

Picturesque walk to the train station.

We thought you could buy a ticket on the bus, but after asking a few people waiting for the bus, we found out we could not buy a ticket on the bus.  

Where do we get the bus ticket?

Sooooo, Karen won out and we quickly walked back to the train station and immediately found a taxi with a very nice driver who drove us to the castle.

The castle overlooks the sea and consists of 54 acres of beautiful gardens.  It was built in 1856 by Maximillion.  Maximillion was the brother of Franz Joseph the Emperor of Austria.  Maximillion was appointed Emperor of Mexico in 1864 and was only there briefly as he was executed in 1867.  He and his wife Charlotte had two daughters.  The castle was richly restored especially the wood ceilings and walls.  Pictures are worth a thousand words - 

The entrance gate.

The Castle

Ceilings, doors and walls in beautiful wood designs

After touring the castle, we enjoyed the gardens.

We were told that we would not easily find a taxi to take us back to the city from the castle, but as we walked out, we saw a taxi drive up and drop off some people and the driver was only too happy to drive us back to our ship.  We were back in time for lunch. PS.  We did find out that there was a train to the castle, but we would have had to wait much longer for it than the taxi ride.

The city of Trieste is where we are docked, and it is about 40 miles from Venice.  We could not dock in Venice since the city has banned cruise ships from docking in their city (we can understand why - too many people!).  Trieste has beautiful buildings and large plazas, and we docked right up to the city so we can walk off the ship and into the city whenever we want.  

Bill and Karen took a little walk among the city's beautiful buildings after lunch aboard.  We stopped to hear the bells ring at one of the large clocks with two figures who looked like they were going to ring a bell at 5 pm, but we were disappointed that the figures did not move and there were only 5-bells to make the time. 

And Bill had to have a gelato - of course.

Never pass up gelato while in Italy.

Tonight, our last night on the Oceania Marina, we had reservations at Tuscana, the Italian specialty restaurant on the ship. As always, all the food onboard is and has been 1st class.