I was going to be a hot day. We were doing the top tourist attraction in Trieste – Miramare Castle that is on the coast a bit further north. We got the bus downtown and then another bus up the coast.

It was a 1.8 km walk from the bus stop to the castle along the ‘beach’ which is actually just the esplanade with stairs occasionally into the sea. There were bodies everywhere and also pontoons where you can pay for a deckchair.

The sea was very clear and blue – with lots of people in there swimming.

But then as we were approaching the castle with no esplanade and a large carpark the sea was locked down for a marine sanctuary looked after by WWF. No one was allowed to swim or fish there. The cormorants and seagulls were all here.

We walked through the gardens to the castle which set right on the sea.

It looks very elegant from the outside. We went to check it out.

It was built by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of the Hapsburg family and his wife Princess Charlotte of Belgium.

When they were married Ferdinand was appointed viceroy to Milan by the Hapsburgs and he made many improvements despite the people having prejudice against him being Austrian. He was bringing them round when he was removed from the post.

Ferdinand and Charlotte then built the Miramare castle to live in.

Ferdinand had ruled the Imperial navy so wanted his rooms to be wood lined to look like the inside of a ship.

The wooden marquetry furniture in the study is very impressive.

There is a huge library mostly dedicated to botanical studies. Ferdinand funded a round the world voyage to expand knowledge in botany.

All the rooms were very grand with huge chandeliers.

The formal dining room

The Habsburg throne room – not able to be used by Ferdinand.

The moving in ceremony

It’s the a sad story for the couple – which was not fully explained by any of the information panels. It was mentioned that he was shot in Mexico – so I had to look it up. Ferdinand was offered to be Emperor of Mexico by the Mexican conservatives as after independence they wanted to set up a monarchy. They were opposed by the republicans. Ferdinand was chosen as he had demonstrated his leadership and was descended from the Spanish king who ruled at the time Spain conquered Mexico. He took up the position, but only on the condition that the French supported him.

Due to his liberal policies the French stopped supporting him – and then the republicans overcame the imperialists. Ferdinand ended up being shot by a firing squad. He was only 34 and he had been married for 10 years.

Charlotte went mad after a few years and spent the rest of her life confined in palaces in Belgium and died when she was 86.

There was a dedicated room with the Mexican scepter given to the Empress Charlotte with their portraits and the table where Ferdinand signed to become the Emperor of Mexico.

The staircase was amazing. There was a lovely outlook on the way out.

The garden was also huge and impressive.

We had also included the modern art gallery in the ticket. I hadn’t expected much – but I was very impressed!

The theme was the natural environment.

These are amazing water pictures done in charcoal.

Pictures made out of beetle wings – not sure how environmentally friendly that is!

This Chinese artist painted himself and hid in his paintings – demonstrating using camouflage as protection.

We then went to visit the environmental sea museum linked to the aquatic reserve at the castle.

It had a mock up of underwater plants and creatures -and an audio guide to explain everything. It was the first time I have seen this.

There was a model of sea grasses including Poseidonia that we collect for replanting.

After that we walked back along the esplanade with lots of people using it as ‘the beach’ under the pine trees.

We luckily arrived at the bus stop just as the bus was arriving and we were soon back in town. We did a quick food shop as the shops are closed on Sundays in Slovenia where we are tomorrow and soon found a bus up the hill. It takes 20 minutes – as opposed to the old tram which takes 40. We saw it leaving to go up the hill at the same time.

We got back to the campsite and had a rest before tidying ourselves up to go for dinner at the campsite restaurant about 10 steps away from the van.

It is an excellent seafood restaurant. We had spider crab salad, octopus salad and shared a large golden fish particular to the Bay of Trieste. We ate the animals we had seen in the environmental museum.

It was excellent and then we had the short walk back to the van.