Goriška Brda & Trieste - the Travelog
Bordering Italy, Goriška Brda is one of Slovenia’s several main wine regions . Thus, it is no accident that it’s basically a mini-Tuscany.
Since we only rented cars for trips, we tried to maximize each one. In this case we drove to Brda after seeing the Postojna caves and Predjama castle (subject of a future post), and hit Trieste on the way out.
Driving into Brda
On our way to Brda we passed the gorgeous Solkan bridge over the Soča river, which is the second longest stone bridge in the world! At only a hundred years old, it was actually destroyed in World War I just 10 years after construction (1906) and rebuilt ten years later (I would have exploded from frustration). If you stop next to it to get a good shot, you’ll also be able to see preserved WWI bunkers and kitchen of the many international soldiers guarding this bridge.
Following recommendations from our Slovenian friend Marko, we booked a tasting menu dinner at Kabaj - a winery, restaurant and inn (typical set up in this region). I’ll leave the food porn for another post, but the views from their balcony are truly gorgeous.
I would be remiss to not mention the wines at Kabaj here. I had a wine pairing with our dinner, and found the offering superior to the other three wineries we visited in Slovenia. In particular their ex-Tokaj (which they had to rename after 2004), the macerated rebula and, unexpectedly, their Merlot blend were all quite good. Unexpectedly, because the consensus is that red wines are just not generally appealing to the California palate here, while whites are much more so.
Brda R us
Happily, we stayed at a small B&B (are there other kinds here?) with its own beautiful views.
It was run by a lovely Austrian couple who made a fantastic breakfast, all the more impressive because of how different it was, centered around three delicious homemade jams and juices
Properly sated, we went sightseeing. Brda has two official attractions — the “view tower” in Gonjače and the historic village of Šmartno - a “midieval town with character.”
The tower is not for the faint of heart - especially when it wobbles - but, being on a hill, affords stunning views. Can you spot Alya and Masha bravely making their way up?
It also affords a good view of your other tourist point — Šmartno — given that it’s helpfully only a mile down the road
Šmartno is a tiny village with some buildings and fortress walls hailing from at least the 16th century. Over the past millennium, Slovenia and Croatia were a border area between different empires (Austria-Hungary, Ottomans, Venetians) and so are littered with castles and look out points like this one.
Today, though, it’s just a tiny cute village with several restaurants, a wine tasting center, and wine making museum.
We stopped for lunch at Hisa Marica pictured above, and while the service was predictably glacial (at least in light of our upcoming winetasting appointment), this $10 bowl of pasta made it all worth it
😁😁
We had some time to kill before our wine tasting appointment at KristAllen winery, so Masha said,
“How about some gelato in Italy?”
When we realized that we were five miles from the border, it was a no brainer. While we knew the official borders were deconstructed when Slovenia joined the EU over a decade ago, it was still odd - creepy? - to see these ghostly remnants of those times
Once on our way, we also realized we forgot our passports in the hotel, sending Masha into a spiral of panic that we would somehow get stranded in Italy. But — gelato. So we kept going.
Somehow this felt too easy, but still very satisfying
Back on the Slovenian side, we headed for the tasting with a firm appointment at 4pm. Except, when we arrived, there was not a soul in site. Calling the proprietor with whom I spoke before, he apologized and assured us his wife would be there in 15 minutes.
Indeed, she soon arrived and there commenced an hour of personalized tasting and discussion complete with a demonstration of their 200+ year barrel.
But while the wine overall was middle of the road, the food was spectacular!!
Fantastic olive oil
And phenomenal home-made prosciutto
The countryside around the winery was of course as beautiful as the rest
To Trieste!
The next day, with my cousin Gleb’s tale of a merry time in Trieste fresh in our minds (he went there a few days earlier), we opted to once again roll the dice on Italy.
Driving in urban Italy, however, presented some novel difficulties. This is pretty much the widest street we encountered,
leading to some wrong turns taken, leading to some heated discussions between driver and navigator.
Once we found a parking spot, had a spot of lunch, and were on foot, we started actually enjoying the cute streets
We headed to the highlights of Trieste, which as far as we could tell was 1) this plaza
And 2) Miramare castle (of the Habsburg family) about 15-20 min drive from the city
Unfortunately, at this point the temperature was pushing 90F, and our energy rapidly dissipated in the open sun of the castle grounds —
So instead, we went swimming in the Adriatic!
On the way to the castle from the center of Trieste, we drove past mostly cement “beach” (boardwalk) that seemed to go on forever; miles, swarming with people all over through the evening, sitting on cement, in hammocks, in chairs, hanging out in every way possible. It seemed like every last person in the city wanted to get a bit of the sea right then. For the water was lovely — aside from whatever bit Masha twice when we finally did take a dip after the castle.
Refreshed, it was time to head back to Ljubljana, but not before catching a few more amazing views of Trieste and the coast.
After two nights away, we were surprised how much coming home to our apartment in Ljubljana fell like coming home. We really are living here now. ..
