Trieste..anyone been there?

Pick someplace else. It has historical interest, a bit of roman stuff, a fairly new castle that isn't worth seeing, a couple of churches, an unremarkable cathedral, and a stark but impressive main square. It's largely a commercial/industrial city.

Blah.

Jackie - We did a side trip to Trieste when we were in Slovenia. It's mostly a port city with a nice square, but we probably could have found a better use of our time. I agree with Ed - it was 'blah'. I love Italy but I could have skipped Trieste.

Jackie:
I have not been to Trieste, but came across an article this evening that might interest you. See: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/top-travel-trends-of-2010/5. Maybe it will be your "back door."

Laurel

It was also featured in one of the fall issues of wine spectator. There must be something going on there..... :)

I disagree with the "blah" sentiment. After living in/ traveling Italy for two years solid, a lot of the cities can really start to blur together. Of course they're all charming, old, romantic, etc, but I really enjoyed Trieste. It's a bit of the tangible (lovely square) and intangible as well. And I thought that the Miramare castle was quite memorable. The way that the interior was modeled after the ship that Maximilian sailed on was very interesting. Of course it's always going to vary based on people's different interests. (I also believe that a lot of travel hinges upon the people you meet/interactions you have, and that can influence how much you like a city too.)

I'd second what Tamara said - the Max stuff is interesting, but tend to agree with the others. If it were me, I'd day trip up to Slovenia, and see all the caves. Only another 45 mins or so, and well worth it! (Postojna, Predjama, Skocjan).