LITTLE ITALY

The lesser-known north-eastern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia boasts unspoiled vistas and sail-friendly waters

- HANNAH BRANDLER

Each time we rounded a blind corner on the Strada Costiera – the spectacular coastal road that winds around the Gulf of Trieste, where sharp cliffs drop into the turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea – our driver would sound his horn three times. “For good luck”, he told us; a tradition of the Triestini community in this north-eastern enclave of Italy.

Little did we know, as we took in the vista, that just a few months later, that luck would run out. Initially the European epicentre of COVID-19, Italy has seen more than 35,000 deaths, though the highest number of cases were located in the northern region of Lombardy, miles from Trieste. Following a strict early lockdown and subsequent contact-tracing and safety measures, the country has bounced back, opening up in May and, at the time of writing, witnessing a low rate of new infections. Tourism will be crucial to its economic recovery, and it is hoped that autumn will replace the lost summer of 2020.