by MK
When I moved to Trieste about three years ago, I thought “Wow, what a place to live!”. I loved the stillness of the sea, coffee smell everywhere and even the occasional bursts of bora. I started my discovery from Città Vecchia but after a while I was ready to move on to new neighborhoods, or “rioni” as they say in Italian.
So I wandered down (or shall I say up?) to San Giacomo! Standing proud on top of one of Trieste’s hills, it’s a city within a city. It gives you a vibe of being completely independent from the rest of Trieste. Here you’ve got all you need: cafés, bars, osterie, shops, supermarkets and even cinema, so it’s no wonder some locals never really come down to the city center. Start your exploration of this neighborhood from the grand piazza with a parochial church and go ahead and get yourself that capo in b (a small cappuccino served in a glass) at the renowned bar pasticceria Zenzero and Canella (they recently won an award for the best pastry called “bora”- a must try!).
Afterwards, take a walk down Via del Vento (yes, the “windy street”) where bora is said to feel most intensely which made this street the muse of many a poet for centuries. And of course, when in San Giacomo, do like the locals do, so after lunch at one of the local osterie, pick up a copy of Piccolo at the newspaper kiosk and sit down in the piazza while enjoying the sounds of Trieste’s dialect spoken from every corner, enriched by a variety of other languages. And as with many places that are hard to decipher at first, you will need to revisit San Giacomo a few more times to understand just how unique this rione really is.
Maria, my mom was born in Trieste and came to the US when she was 12. As you know the birth certificate is also the baptismal certificate back in the 1920’s.I have that. Does the church have a cemetery? Although I have actual pictures of gravestones, I cannot find a record of either my Nonna or Nonno’s family. I knew both. It is uncanny. Before they came here I can find no record that they existed. They are Austrian and Slovenian -Prestopnik and Yessenitscher. You can imagine what was done with those names. Any thoughts?