An Excellent—and Very Entertaining—Introduction to Trieste
I
Giovanni Baccara gave us an excellent—and very entertaining—introduction to Trieste this morning.
Rather than simply marching us from monument to monument and reciting dates, Giovanni gave us a wonderfully varied look at the city—its complicated history, literature, economy, architecture, and the remarkable mixture of cultures that has shaped Trieste. He has a particularly good way of explaining how the city’s past continues to influence what you see around you today.
One of the highlights was Giovanni’s use of old photographs. He would pull out photographs showing what a particular street, building, or neighborhood looked like in the past and then stand there with us looking at the same place today. It made the history unusually tangible. We weren't just hearing about old Trieste—we could actually see it.
Giovanni also clearly enjoys the quirky details of his city as much as the grand history. At one point he demonstrated how to operate one of Trieste's old water dragons, turning what could have been an obscure bit of street furniture into a memorable lesson.
But the undisputed mechanical star of the morning was the shutter hook. Giovanni explained—and demonstrated—with considerable amusement how its two configurations are, shall we say, anatomically suggestive: male when erect and female when reversed. It is difficult to look at a nineteenth-century shutter hook quite the same way after that.
That combination is what makes Giovanni such a good guide. He has the historical knowledge, but he doesn't take himself—or Trieste's history—so seriously that he misses the fun. He brings the city to life through stories, photographs, architecture, local customs, and the little details that most visitors would simply walk past.
If you are visiting Trieste and want more than a standard checklist of sights, I would highly recommend taking a free tour with Giovanni. You will come away understanding much more about why Trieste is such an unusual city—and you may even learn something about plumbing and window hardware that you never expected to know.
dd