Exploring Italy's Northeast: Udine

Finally we took off to begin our 5-day exploration of the northeast corner of Italy. A high-speed Frecciargento train took us first to Mestre, just outside of Venice, where we changed to a local train to head to the lovely small city of Udine which was to be our base. Udine is located in the Friuli-Venezia Giula region of Italy, between the Adriatic sea and the Alps, and less than 25 miles from the border with Slovenia. Udine was settled by the Romans and then annexed by the many different groups that conquered and settled the region (Huns, Venetians, French, Austrians) until it officially became part of Italy in 1866. During WW1 and WW2 it was once again subjected to Austrian and German rule. But now it is a peaceful, beautiful and clean city presenting the beauty of Italian aesthetics over-layed with an Austrian sense of order.

Our interests were four-fold: to get to know Udine (about which we had heard so many good things), to explore the famous wine regions in the Friulian hills, to explore the Basilica of Aquileia, and to visit Trieste. Along the way we would sample the very different foods, pastries and wines of the area. And so we arranged our four days on the ground to visit all of these very different sites.

Our first evening, of course, included the requisite introductory aperitivo in a lovely piazza, followed by dinner in a simple but traditional restaurant, Il Vecchio Stallo (the old stall) where we tried many of the local specialties: cjalzons (a type of ravioli), polenta, frico (a type of cheese fritter with onions and sometimes potatoes), cevapcici (a grilled dish of minced meat), etc..

World-famous Gubano

Lee had done much research on what we should be trying, and so we were eager to sample Friulian cuisine and especially the local treat called a Gubano made of a twisted pastry dough filled with raisins and nuts. We even carried one back to Florence to share with our friends during morning coffee at the bar in Piazza Santo Spirito!

Map of old Udine

Our first full day focused on Udine and so we rented head-sets and began roaming the city with the help of an audio guide. Udine is made up of many small piazzas with charming streets connecting them all within a ring road which used to be the city walls. Legend has it that Attila the Hun selected Udine as his base when besieging the religious center of Aquileia and constructed a high round hill in the center of the city for his castle and base.

Udine has a small but excellent modern art museum, and so we punctuated our walking tour with a visit to the gallery which contains not only local artists (totally unknown to us) but also major works by De Chirico, De Pisis, and Guttuso.

 One of the loveliest features of Udine is the the small canal system which weaves through and around the city. The following photos show some of the prettiest areas of the town and several of the architectural styles ranging from Venetian (reflecting the time the area was under the control of Venice) to Liberty (art deco in Italian).

Art deco design (called the liberty style in Italy)

Note the Venetian style

More in the Venetian style

Dinner that night was at Alla Tavernetta, a restaurant also featuring local cuisine, where we were able to sample even more Friulano specialties and wine, and fortify ourselves for day 2 exploring the wine regions in the hills generally lying east of the city, centered around the town of Cormans.

Home Again to Florence - September 2014

Here we are again back in Florence. After a smooth flight to Rome and an easy train trip to Florence, we are established in our Italian life once more. It is always interesting to see what has changed over the past three months and to reconnect with friends and our favorite local merchants (Marcello and family, the fruit and vegetable people, Massimilliano and Leonardo the butchers, the cheese shop and, of course, the Mercato Centrale). As always a great joy is to return to our favorite bar, the Pittimingoli, on the Piazza Santo Spirito, to meet up with Nikki, Charles, Connie and other friends for coffee and discussions ranging from shoes to local gossip to the state of the world in general, and that of Italy in particular.

We were barely back when our friends from Greve, Francesca and Uli, insisted we meet them for dinner at Eataly, which opened last spring in Florence (http://www.eataly.com/global/ ). It is fair to say that we would never have selected Eataly, an Italian and New York chain of sorts, for dinner. And so, expecting a rather casual evening, we joined them in front of the shop. 

We were whisked up to the top floor of the palazzo to a beautiful, intimate dining room with frescoed ceilings and soft music to enjoy a dinner worthy of a Michelin star. Two of the pre-appetizers are shown below. Then followed the appetizer, two other courses, and pre-desert and then desert. All creative, bursting with flavor, and yet somehow light.  And so we left several hours later, with wallets a bit lighter, but very happy with the amazing time spent with our friends. The food alone always makes us happy to be back in Italy!

Our next adventure was to go to an outdoor sculpture exhibit in the newly opened Forte di Belvedere (yes, the very same location that was the site of Kim and Kanye's wedding which was all the buzz in June) with our friend Kate. Built in 1590 to strengthen the city's defenses on the south side of the Arno, it sits above the Boboli gardens, and is incorporated into the city walls. The Forte now hosts major exhibitions, and presents amazing views of the city looking to the north and of the hills of Tuscany looking to the south south.

The sculptor, Giuseppe Penone, presents his works under the title "Prospettiva Vegetale" and the translation is difficult to explain. He has created work in marble and bronze and all are quite intriguing. 

Lee and our friend Kate

Our first week came to a lovely close on Saturday evening, when we went to the Festa de l'Unità - a month-long local festival along the banks of the Arno celebrating the end of summer, dined on home-made Tuscan pasta, and then stopped by for some intensely fruit-flavored granita from Carabé, a gelato artisan from Sicily with shops and a school in Tuscany.     


Che la vita è bella a Firenze!