On 22nd February, I got a call from my boss asking if I was willing to go to Trieste to finish refurbishing a 140m superyacht. I obviously couldn’t refuse that offer. So, on Sunday morning, we were in the car on our way to Italy. Google Maps said it would take 12 hours, but it ended up being 14. That didn’t bother me, as I hadn’t seen Europe in a while.
We arrived around 2 a.m. that Sunday, and after searching for a parking spot for around 30 minutes, we actually managed to find something. We got to the accommodation and went straight to sleep. In the morning, we met up with our other colleagues, ran through the week's plan, and got to work instantly. For three days, we were doing 12–13 hour days. It was tough, but I enjoyed every bit of it. The last two days of the week, we only did 9-hour days. Bear in mind, I came with zero knowledge of how to do vacuum lamination, but after that week, I could do it on my own.
Vacuum Lamination Work we were doing.
Getting close to the Austrian Border
The Alps never fail to disappoint
We didn’t plan it this way, but during the same week we were in Trieste, the LHD Trieste (Navy Ship) visited the city. That also coincided with the return of the historic sailing vessel Amerigo Vespucci, which docked in Trieste on 1 March 2025 as part of its Mediterranean leg of the world tour. So, we had a lovely sunset while checking out not only the navy ship—which I’d never seen up close before—but also the square-rigger. A win on top of a win! We racked up lots of overtime hours and still managed to squeeze in some time to explore Trieste, AND.... not only visit Italy but Austria and Croatia that only happens in Europe. Reminds of Australia where were drove 12 Hours in one direction not only in the same country but in the same state.
Picture above is the highest point on the hill, we were parking next to a museum that week and so we had a good outlook every morning, the building on the right is also a beautiful Cathedral with Classical Concerts every week.
This is event was massive, people were everywhere and 3 jets were flying and painting the Italian Flag in the Sky. We only heard them when we entered out accommodation so i couldn't take any photos sadly.
My conclusion, Working Abroad is nice WITH the right people, we all had our jobs that we needed to complete if one did not complete his job we could not procced. Our weekly plan worked out that we even had some time to explore Trieste and therefore it was a fun experience, would i do it for 1 year straight... probably not but either way i will never forget that experience.
Anyway until next time,
Paul
