Our time in Trieste, Muggia and Slovenia was so sweet. Our entire trip to Italy revolved around O coaching a football camp in Triesta and this first portion of the trip was completely planned out for us. As a super planner when it comes to traveling, I had an embarrassingly hard time not knowing the details of where we were staying or where we’d be eating…just letting my flaws hang to here. I have to say, it was such a wonderful blessing to show up and just plain enjoy a trip. I’d been to Italy twice before for extended periods of time but honestly, I’d never heard of Triesta before. It’s such a hidden gem!!

Since I didn’t know anything about the area or our hotel or our activities it essentially just felt like surprise after surprise each day. Our first hotel was in Slovenia and I will say, I spent the Slovenia portion of the trip locked up in the hotel room trapped during Keogena’s naps. I can’t report back too much on the scenery, although everyone went to a breathtaking castle our first day there and the photos are unreal. They were out in the crisp air overlooking the crystal blue waters while I was laying on the bed in the pitch black room listening to white noise. It’s fine. I’m over it.

After two days in Slovenia we made the hour drive to Muggia. Muggia is a tiny provence in the super south part of Trieste and the only port town in Istria. If you’ve ever driven on Highway 1 in California, the drive down to Muggia reminds me pretty much exactly of that. Thankfully, the stunning water views that give you the hope that the windy-road battle will soon be over. Pulling up to our Hotel actually gave me butterflies! We stayed at Hotel San Rocco which is right near the marina and literally sitting on the water. Oshiolema about lost it when he saw the hundreds of boats outside our hotel!

Each day O, my dad and my brother  would spend the entire day our coaching people who had traveled from all over Europe to learn American Football. The kids and I would enjoy a big breakfast and then head out to explore local parks, walk along the water or enjoy the pool with Grandma and Grandpa. We always spent the kids afternoon naps in the hotel so they could both recharge before a very long evening.

One thing we really had to get used to was just how late Italians eat dinner. I knew this, but I never experienced it with kids before. We’d all load up in the van with the other coaches and head out to dinner, whether near or far, and I felt safe when I saw the local coaches’ wives and little babies. “Phew! We’ll be home for bedtime.” I miscalculated…Italian babies are little magicians that all fall asleep at the exact same time and will stay dead asleep despite any clanking of glasses, clashing of plates and clamor of conversation. I was amazed. My own sweet babes, however, start to turn into different humans come 10, 10:30 and in one case when we were still at the table at 11:40 we just needed to go outside for a dance break. It was so fun to have a surprise dinner experience every night though and getting our little crew outside it’s comfort zone.

I loved this precious time and thought it was the most perfect first stop on our trip to Italy. It was really relaxed since we had the entire day free and more full in the evenings-this set us up perfectly for the opposite scenario in our next stop, Rome.