THE TRIESTE WAY OF LIVING
	The Scalinata dei Giganti (Giants' Staircase), built by Arduino and Ruggero Berlam, links the Piazza Goldoni to the colle di San Giusto (San Giusto hill). The Piazza, an extremely important road junction in the heart of the city where a leper hospital had been erected in the Middle Ages and, since the end of the XVII century, there had been a colourful market-place, has gradually taken up its present features. This process started in the second half of the XIX century, when buildings outlining its perimeter were successively constructed: first of all Casa Caccia, forming a corner with Via Mazzini, and then Casa Piller, Parisi and Tonello, which has housed the offices of the newspaper "Il Piccolo" since its foundation. Cafés, pubs and buffets are traditional places in the life of Trieste. Cafés are actually parlours were it is possible to stop and read the national and international press. They used to be cultural, ethnical and political meeting points for writers, artist and Irredentists in the late XIX and early XX century. The "Tommaseo", which is one of the dearest to the heart of the people from Trieste, is now undergoing restoration works, while renovation works have already been carried out in the "Tergesto" in the palace of Piazza della Borsa which bears the same name, the "Caffé degli Specchi" in Piazza Unità d'Italia and the "Stella Polare" in front of the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio (Sant'Antonio's Church). The "Caffé San Marco" in Via Battisti, on the other hand, is ancient and wonderful: it keeps its old atmosphere and is still the meeting point for men of letters, art-loving people, poets and learned men of all ages. The complex historical events which marked the life of Trieste have also had consequences on less conspicuous, but not less important, aspects of the town habits. Traces of the Venetian, French and Austrian dominations can therefore still be found in the dialect. Similarly, the contact with different (Austrian, Slavic, Hungarian, Greek) ethnic groups has brought about gastronomical customs which cannot be found elsewhere in Italy. The "rebechin", a traditional Trieste snack which can be eaten standing in one of the many buffets scattered around the town, is perhaps the most peculiar among these customs. In general, this snack consists of hot "porzina" (pork meat) with mustard, "kaiser-fleisch", sausages, hot Prague ham, "goulasch", tripe, or other dishes, with a glass of good "terrano" wine or a jug of beer. In this gastronomical context, confectioners' offer the typical Central European cakes, among which the common krapfen and strudel, as well as cakes such as the "Sacher" cake originating from Vienna, the "dobos" and the "rigojanci" of Hungarian origin, the "putizza" and "presniz" of Slovene origin.