I completely forgot to post last Friday. Well that’s not entirely true. I remembered Friday night that I didn’t but I was already enjoying a cider so I said, “There’s always next Friday.” And it’s Friday again.
When we were in Trieste we heard one of the places we had to go was Miramare Castle. This castle overlooks the Gulf of Trieste and was constructed in the 19th century for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife Charlotte. Years later it was home to Emperor Maximilian I and Empress Carlota of Mexico. The castle had a turbulent history during the first half of the 20th century. During the First World War all the furnishings and pieces of art were removed to Vienna and weren’t returned until many years after the war. German troops used the castle as a school for officers in the 1930s. And the Americans, after the Second World War, used the castle as their headquarters for the American garrison Trieste United States Troops. Now the castle and the grounds are open for the public. No photographs were allowed inside. I did see many tourists taking photos but I just can’t do that.
Last week we went to an Arsenal match. Before the match we met a buddy for a drink at a place called The Junction. It’s not a pub but here are some photos anyway. I didn’t try any but their pizzas looked pretty tasty.
The weather was beautiful that night and I didn’t even need to put on my sweater at all. Since then the weather has been much colder. The match was a Champions League game against Galatasaray, a Turkish team. It turned out to be an exciting match with Arsenal winning 4-1 and Danny Welbeck had a hat trick. Right from the start there was a buzz in the stadium and the Turkish fans were fun to watch. They never stopped chanting, playing the drums, and waving their arms. I told The Better Half I wasn’t in good enough shape to be part of their fan club.
There was a moment of real excitement during the first half. Galatasaray was down by two goals and one of their players received a yellow card. This upset the visiting team’s fans and they reacted by throwing flares. I had never seen anything like this when in attendance at a match. I have seen it on the telly. To my knowledge no one was hurt and the game was stopped momentarily while the riot police came out. I don’t support behavior like this at all, but I have to admit it looked pretty, although a tad bit scary. In fact, when it happened I just stared and The Better Half said, “I can’t believe you aren’t taking photos.” So I started to take photos.
I finally watched the next movie, Sullivan’s Travels, on my list of top 100 films. I enjoyed the movie, but I wasn’t wowed by it. This 1941 movie stars Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake and it’s about a director who decides to become a hobo to learn about life so he can direct hard-hitting films, not comedies.
It took me weeks to track down a copy and I think this influenced me some. After searching for it I wanted it to be exceptional. It was funny, but not exceptional. Oh well. It’s off the list and Duck Soup is up next.
Happy Friday!
50 Year Project 
Wow, the castle and setting are gorgeous! I probably wouldn’t have taken any indoors either. And the flares at the football game look dangerous! Glad you got the images, however. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
I was shocked when the flares came out. Even at college football games in the States I hadn’t ever seen anything like that.
Wow, I have never seen anything quite like that at a public sporting event! People are getting a little crazy these days :). I love the castle photos because as we have discussed before, you just don’t find that type of architecture over here. I could also relate to what you were saying about inside photographs. I couldn’t believe how many people just ignored the no photography rules and happily snapped away anyway. No respect at all!! I just couldn’t do it, although I definitely wanted to.
I’m not sure I completely understand the reasoning behind no photography indoors, but when I see the sign I follow the rules. It’s there for a reason and yes, we should respect it.
Do you know what I found really strange? I always understand if it says no flash is allowed inside museums and castles because they think it could damage the artwork. However, you can use flash anywhere you want inside The Louvre. Weird eh?
I love reading your posts…pity he supports arsenal (Up The Spurs!)
Yep our buddy is a huge Arsenal fan. We’re Liverpool fans. This season is going to be long I think. Best of luck to the Spurs!
Miramare is quite the place, glad you made it. Here’s a 2011 post I did about Trieste with some good videos. Enjoy! http://afrankangle.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/thank-you-elsa-for-your-trieste-story/ … and your Friday means Pub Day!
Woot! It’s Friday again so pub day again!
Fascinating! I had to look up where Trieste was 😉 . What a lovely NE Italian city 😉
Loved your shots. TGIF.
It’s a charming city and I imagine a much different experience than visiting Rome, but I haven’t been to Rome yet so I could be wrong.
Given the location of Asenal’s ground, I would imagine there were were a fair number of Turkish supporters who live in North London at the match too. I wonder how many supported Arsenal and how many the Turkish team.
Autumn has definitely arrived, what a change in the temperatures. I am back in socks 😦
And Miles is wearing his sweater again and he hates it.
Gosh, is it that cold?
For him. He doesn’t have much hair.
Wow—what a match, huh? I can’t believe you weren’t taking pictures right away, too. But then I probably would have just been caught up in watching it in shock! Loved your photos as always. I have been awol for awhile but trying to get back into the blog reading thing!!
I was in shock and it really didn’t feel real. No apologies needed. I know you have a full plate right now.
Texas bound for 9 days today. VERY excited! 🙂
Woot!
Never got to visit Trieste, nearest was the two visits to Venice. Its Austrian feel pre-war was underlined by Antal Szerb in his ‘The Third Tower’ (reviewed at http://calmgrove.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/towers/) which makes it sound scarcely Italian at all.
Trieste has a lot of Austrian influences in the city. I can’t remember the date it became part of Italy. Early 1900s maybe.
Your photos always make me want to follow in your travellin’ footsteps 🙂 Thx!
I really liked Sullivan’s Travels, and it has stuck with me since. It’s one of the ones I have kept on the shelf. I bought it for my husband as a comedy, and he didn’t think it was funny. Duck Soup is a national treasure! It has that mirror scene, and “Hail, Hail Freedonia!” lol My husband is a huge Marx Bros fan, and we watch this one every so often. I hope you love it!
I so wanted to like Sullivan’s Travels and I know it’s a marvelous movie, but I just couldn’t get into it for some reason. I’m looking forward to Duck Soup and their antics.
I have never heard of people throwing flares at events either. Not cool. Did spectators have to go through security?
Good to see you posting again. 😊
We arrived a little late, but no, we didn’t have to go through security. At least I don’t remember doing that. And we didn’t have a bag so no bag check. I’m not sure I remember a bag check area though.
You covered a lot of things in one post 😉
That photograph of the riot looks great tho…but I can understand your feeling.
I don’t have enough time to break up the posts and write more than once a week so I’ve been cramming everything into one.
Same here 🙂
I know that over time comedy can go stale, but I think that “Sullivan’s Travels” is a very good movie about making movies. I also think it’s biggest star is the writer and director, Preston Sturges. He’s a legendary filmmaker who continues to exert influence on filmmakers working today. You might recall a film made by the Coen Brothers starring George Clooney called “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” In Sullivan’s Travels, that’s the serious film that the comedy director Sullivan wants to make. It’s based on a novel written by “Sinclair Beckstein” — no such person. He’s a Sturges send-up on great serious authors of the day: think Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck. That’s just a tiny snippet of what was going on in Sturges’s clever film and why it merits its placement in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. The Coen Brothers know their film history well. It’s natural that that clever duo would give a sly nod to the old master.
Out of curiosity, is “All About Eve” on your list? Milton considers it one of the most perfect movies ever made and I agree.
I actually haven’t seen that movie by the Coen Brothers which is surprising since I like their work. I need to add that to my list.
Yes, All About Eve is on the list, somewhere in the 20s so I have some time before I get to it. That’s high praise coming from Milton.
oh boy – flares, really? I am not sure if that is worse than live octopus on the hockey rink or not? well, the worst part of THAT is if you happen to be seated next to someone in the stands who has hidden one on their person. eeewww.
Oh the poor octopus. That would upset me greatly.
So many fantastic photos! I can easily see why it’d be scary to experience those flares in person, but they still manage to look pretty regardless. Thank goodness no one was hurt!
They are pretty and luckily no one was hurt. The field was scorched some, but it’s better than people getting hurt.
I have Duck Soup on my Netflix queue. I’ve never seen it and keep meaning to watch. Looking forward to your review.
Did you know that the Marx Brothers started out as a singing group? I just learned that fun fact this morning.
A singing group. I don’t think I knew that. What a delightful tidbit and I’ll keep that in mind.
Duck Soup huh ??? Can’t wait for that review.
Hopefully it won’t take as long as the last flick. I had to search for months for Sullivan’s.
Was there any explanation for why no photographs were allowed inside the castle?
I didn’t see an explanation. Just the image of a camera with a slash through it. There weren’t any guards though so I can see why people felt comfortable breaking the rules. I’m just not the type.
Those pictures of the castle and the waters surrounding it are pretty amazing. A lot of history going on there, makes me feel like that trip was definitely worth making. I love it when the place I visit has so much history and beauty that it makes me pause just to take it in…I think if I were to see this in person I would totally take a moment. Good pics bud. Oh! And I haven’t seen Duck Soup … Might have to look that one up.
It was a wonderful day and i’m really glad we decided to hop the bus even though it took some effort to find where to buy the bus tickets and then where to find the bus.
Those pictures are great. Not that the flares being thrown into the middle of a crowd was a good thing. But it did make for some great pictures. Hopefully everything settled down and nothing escalated. I’m glad your Better Half told you to snap some photos for us to see. Also, your adventures make me want to pack up my bags and go travel.
The flares did add some color and drama, but I don’t don’t want to witness it again. I hope you get to travel to all the places you want to see. Thanks so much for stopping by.