Montrupino, near Trieste, Italy

A limestone plateau rises abruptly to the east of Trieste.
The ancient church above at Montrupino was built into a limestone cliff.
The karst geology below leads to unique vegetation.

The American lady above was trying to get back into Trieste from the small town.

Below, looking north to the Dolomites and the Alps of Slovenia.

Natural Habitats and Native Plants near Triest

Woodland savannas above and below have native grasses and naturally occurring smoke bush, (Cotinus genus).

Dense woodland forest of hornbeams (Carpinus).

The limestone area is used for growing grapes in cultivated areas.

The Barcolana, and the Adriatic Coast of Trieste

The Barcolana happened as we arrived in Trieste; certainly one of the largest sailing events in the world with 1,500 sailboats.
The water and its changing colors and moods would have been entrancing, even without all the boats...

Grado, Old Roman Town on the Adriatic

This church has Byzantine frescoes, Venetian lions carved on the Moorish inspired pulpit, ancient mosaic floors below - and it is still actively used, second below.

Grado was a magnet resort for Romans - and it still is.

We cycled on, heading for the Italian east side of the Adriatic, bordered by the high limestone plateau of Slovenia, below.

The Roman Basilica of Aquileia

The mosaics above date to the third and fourth century. The altar carving below looks almost Celtic.

On the Road in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia

Alan admires the old Roman basilica in Aquileia above.
Coming into town below.

Pordenone Silent Movie Festival

'Le Giornate del Cinema Muto' (The Days of the Silent Film) is the biggest and most important silent movie event in the world. 2011 will be the thirtieth anniversary of the event, which is held in Pordenone (Friuli-Venezia-Giulia) Italy. It is about 100 kilometers north of Venice and takes place the first week of October.

Pordenone is very well equipped to handle the movie festival and does a wonderful job of providing a great venue.

Most of the films are screened in the modern Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, below.

They are accompanied by live musical performances.

There are also lectures and master classes. Jean Darling, below, is interviewed on stage by David Robinson, Director of the festival. Jean is still performing in her 90's, and was in the original 'Our Gang' movies.

The Enchanted House We Stayed in

During the film festival we were able to stay with a wonderful host family.

The house had artesian springs around it and gardens constructed around 1900.

The Hills of Asolo and Beyond

The hills above are near Asolo and the landscape shows what we biked through at the foot of the mountains in the provinces of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia going east.
This south facing area, protected by the Dolomites to the north and watered by streams and rivers, is a major grape area. The wonderful Pro Secco is produced in this area.

Many battles were fought in the area, especially in World War I. The monument to war dead below commemorates Italian and French losses fighting together in WWI.

Scenes from Padova Italy