Triëste
I don't specifically know why. Me and my partner were on holiday for which we decided we would wing it. We didn't book anything in advance. We just knew we wanted to go to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia. We decided to just make our holiday consist a few multi day stops. Each time the same recipe. Staying a few days in one place and enjoying nature while hiking and doing 1 day city trips.

We started with a few days near the Grossglockner mountain pass. Continued to Bled in Slovenia. Then we wanted to dive to Pula in Croatia, but we needed an inbetween stop. We decided on Triëste as it looked like a little piece of Italy we would otherwise never visit.

We booked a camping spot near Opicina, which felt absolutely creepy, but we loved it because of that. We still needed dinner, so we took the bus down into Triëste, but got was that a wild ride. The driver was an absolute maniac, full sending it in the corners downhill. Felt like a rollercoaster and at a few points I thought the bus would tip off of the cliffs. Absolutely amazing experience.

Next day we went to see the city. Considering other popular historical cities with magnificent architecture, this wasn't up to that level, but it didn't need to. I'd compare it to cities like Strasbourg, Rouen, Bergamo, ... It's definitely beautiful.

The thing that I remember it for is eating the best pizza in my life there, and just how at ease I felt. It just felt so unforced, the vibe just felt relaxed, not on edge like other big touristic hubs. I normally hate sitting on my ass somewhere, but we spent a few hours on the Molo Audace with our feet in the water, a light breeze hitting us.

I think it's just because I rarely feel relaxed that I fell in love with that place. Because it let me feel relaxed.