A gourmet valley in the Dolomites  - Alta Badia and Val Gardena

Tucked into such a north-easterly corner of Italy as to feel it belongs to a world apart, Trieste – once Tergeste and now known as Vienna by the sea - is elegant, aristocratic and highly original. Boasting an impressive seafront, lined with striking neoclassical buildings, its main square is the meeting place of this cultural hub. Piazza Unità d’Italia jets onto the sea in such a sleek fashion that emotions run high when gazing at the blue expanse in front of you.

For six hundred years under the Austro-Hungarian domination, Trieste was annexed to Italy in 1954. The Habsburg made the city a free port in 1719 and spared no expense in developing this pivotal harbour centre, welcoming trade and business from the Mediterranean. These days, you’ll be spoilt for exciting places to visit, from an ancient Roman theatre – hosting up to 6.000 spectators in its heyday – to one of the tallest lighthouses in the world, the 68-metre high Faro della Vittoria. Sit in one of Trieste’s elegant coffee bars and reminisce about the past: it is said that Joyce penned his famous Ulysses in one of these places! Admire the beauty of the sea from the Rilke trail, a 2-km coastal path that starts from dreamy Duino Castle, loved by Rainer Maria Rilke and Paul Valery, and reaches the Bay of Sistiana; sitting right on the seafront, the castle is privately owned, but visits will show a collection of artworks and terraces that open onto the sea. Noble, romantic 19th c. Miramare Castle can be seen from a distance: strikingly white, it dominates the gulf of Trieste with its ethereal beauty. Do not miss its programme of interesting exhibitions, laboratories and activities for children and adults. Get lost in its lovely gardens, decorated with fountains, statues, rare botanical species and imposing trees, all living in perfect harmony. Above all, however, Trieste is a city that will strike a chord within your heart, inviting you to explore and dig longer into the city’s mesmerizing aura. 

Wines of delight

No gourmet meal feels complete, unless you enrich it with a glass of delicious wine. There are several excellent wine areas across the world, but Italy clearly ranks among the finest for the variety of its stellar production. Looking up close, only a small percentage of wine production comes from South Tyrol, and yet the quality of its labels is astonishing. You will find over twenty grape varieties on an area covering nearly 5,000 hectares of land, with full-bodied Lagrein or character-rich Cabernet and Pinot Noir varieties, for red wines, splendid Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon, Sylvaner or Kerner for a fresh approach to aromatic, white wines.

The 150 km-long South Tyrol wine route goes over sixteen villages and touches on seventy wineries, from Salorno to Nalles and Terlano, with a detour to Bozen. What makes this wine production so unique is the variety of soils and exposures: the fact that vineyards are cultivated at 200m and equally at 1,000m, contributes to a complex mosaic, covering several micro-climates and soils for unique blends and tastes. Admiring the vineyards – clearly tasting local varieties along the way – means enjoying diverse landscapes and sceneries, with serene hills being surrounded by the stunning Dolomites. Organic wines are also a hot trend that has seen a niche market growing in appreciation over the past few years. Closely following the ideas of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, among the several practices you will find the use of herbs for special treatments and the respect of lunar phases for harvesting and growing method. True to this system, and pretty much everything else in South Tyrol, is the search for balance and harmony with nature, the undisputed queen of this stunning area. 

The Legend of King Laurin

Laurino was king of the Dwarfs and his reign,hidden among the rocks of the Rosengarten, was full of marvellous roses. One day, Prince Hartwig decided to marry the pretty Similda. He invited all the noblemen in his reign to take part in a joust, except for King Laurino, who decided to join the festivities nonetheless. When he saw Similda at the joust, her beauty struck him and he fell in love with her, taking her with him. Hartwig then asked the King of the Goths for help and they went in search of the pretty lady, ready to fight for her.

King Laurino had become invisible but, alas, he was detected as they could see him moving among the roses. Laurino blamed the roses, who had betrayed him, and cast a spell on the mountains: from then on, nobody could admire those marvellous peaks during the day and night. He had forgotten sunsets and sunrises, and so from then on, the Rosengarten is bestowed with exceptional rose-tinted colours at dawn and at dusk. Every legend contains some truth… The exceptional Dolomites hues, which stand against the sky and set the scene aflame, are unique.

When will you discover the magic?