The Nowhere Place

Jan Morris says she has written her last book - Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere, which I bought and Mike and I both read - and made us change our hotel booking in Venice to one in Trieste, so here we are, after a long day of travel.

Early flight from Lisbon to Venice, with TAP, such a good experience, apart from quite a lot of turbulence. Comfy seats, space, screens with endless entertainment, including wine quizzes and learning Portuguese. 

Then a bus from Marco Polo to Mestre, where we had excellent pizza (what else??), and then the train to Trieste, all round the top of the Adriatic Sea - rich countryside at first, and then dramatic limestone cliffs into the water.

Dumped our bags, and wandered out - we are two blocks from the Grand Canal (no comparison with Venice), overlooked here by the Catholic St Anthony church, and the Serbian Orthodox St Spiridione to the right, its golden icons shining in the light.

It's not even dark, but we're back at the hotel, and bed beckons.

Gratefuls:
- safe travels for us, and for Julia, Tom and Eden as far as Lisbon, now on their way over the Atlantic to Fortaleza in Brazil...
- the most amazing red sunrise from the plane, and then the snow covered Alps, what a privilege!
- getting to see a new place on our way to Croatia for the conference
- best of all, just heard that Ermelinda's nephew opened his eyes today and recognised his parents, so they're all more hopeful