I was super excited to finally be on the road except that finally was about two hours later than we planned to leave. HB has been transitioning from two naps a day to one so we were unsure, but hoping, he would sleep on the car ride there. He did not. Well, technically he did fall asleep, right as we began to descend on the city center.
Due to our great success with iPhone GPS in Venice, we arrived with a sheet of paper filled with addresses and the intention to enter them in said GPS at the appropriate times. Our research revealed a nice pizza joint we were both excited to go to. Once we got close I put in the address and we hit the jackpot, the directions took us right to a giant parking lot in the shadow of this:
I assumed it was one of the castles we planned to see, but starving we headed directly in search of our pizzeria. The day was overcast and pretty darn cold but not windy so we were thankful for that. HB was nestled in what I can only describe as a camping bag for a stroller. Being from the south I'd never seen one of these ingenious contraptions before but it seems too keep him very warm and content and by some miracle he laid down and dozed while we made our way into the city.
To our complete chagrin, the phone GPS failed us. We ended up wandering up and down the streets doing what couples do when they're lost and hungry. Not fun. We found a restaurant that had a pirate outside and thought it was ridiculous but we'd give it a try. The place was empty and the bartender and, I presume, owner or manager by the way he was talking, made it clear he was unable to serve us because he couldn't translate the menu. Frustrated further, we left and at long last (which in reality was probably 20-30 minutes) I made the suggestion we return to a place I noticed that had a picture menu outside. We acknowledged this would not be the authentic Italian experience we were looking for but clearly based on the most recent interaction we were not equipped for said experience. We really just wanted to eat.
The restaurant was called Mille e Una Notte translated means "A Thousand and One Nights," an Arabian restaurant. I was so relieved they had pictures because not only am I unable to read Italian, I also have no knowledge of Persian food. The waitress spoke English and actually looked sorry for us. I never imagined eating out here would be such a challenge. I've taken for granted the "on demand" American way of life. Show up when you want and get what you want, how you want it. Here we are lucky to understand what's on the menu, much less order anything to our liking. Strike that, we are lucky to find a place open that serves real food!
When we sat down there was only one other person in the place. Zack had falafil panino and I had a toshka. The food was cheap but decent and, once sated, our spirits were lifted and we decided to get on with the outing. By this time HB was awake, fed (I brought yogurt and avocado), and unbelievably, happy. Our first destination was to be Casa Cavallini, a house made art museum. On our way, we stopped to enjoy the piazza we had been angrily traipsing through on our earlier quest for sustenance.
Belatedly, I realized that this was one of the places on our list we had planned to see, Piazza della Libertà . Since we moved to Italy, I've often thought it wondrous how people get to grow up and be surrounded by such history (we have some in America but it starts to become silly thinking about how a 200 year old house in Charleston is glorified while many forgotten structures here are more than twice that age). I wonder, "Do they appreciate it? Do they even notice it anymore? What does it mean to them, if anything?" At the precise moment this confrontation of realization and memory occurred, it dawned on me that I had been ignoring it. It had meant nothing to me and this sites was part of my reason for being here!
This made me sad and also ashamed of myself. It got me thinking, though, how much of life we miss because we are too angry, preoccupied, hungry, tired, stressed, overworked, lonely, or fill in the blank. Even under the most deliberate of circumstances we still miss the beauty and sanctity of the life we are living, we miss our reason for being here!
The piazza was beautiful and after we were able to pull ourselves together, Zack spotted these steps
which led to this
and upwards to this
And we found ourselves at the Castello di Udine. Now, there is only one castle in Udine, but stupid Trip Advisor has it listed twice with two different names. The legend behind the hill is in the 400s Atilla the Hun had his men build it by bringing dirt in their helmets, one helmet full at a time, so he could watch something Roman burn, Aquileia I think it's called. On top of the hill you can see the entire surrounding city. It was a gloomy day but still pretty amazing. The castle was built in the 16the century and from the outside, doesn't look like much, or what you'd recognize as a castle. I have no idea what that castle-y looking thing is but I intend to find out next time.
Since we made the climb to the top and knew our time was running short with HB not having a proper nap yet, we decided to stay and see the castle, rather than try to hoof it somewhere else, which boasts an art and history museum inside. Probably the best thing about going sightseeing on a Wednesday afternoon the week before Christmas is, you're not going to have a lot of company. This was great considering HB was starting to get pretty honey badgery. We were able to let him run around a bit... man he's getting fast! (And yes, he's tall but that's also a very short door, about 5').
The castle being large and HB being himself, we were only able to see the ground and first floors- artifacts and art. The art was mostly from the 1600's and while neat to see, I must say there were some ugly, inbred looking royals back then! The parliament room was AMAZING with its frescoes and flags. I wish I could have gotten a picture but there were museum employees loitering around us, I guess to make sure HB didn't go cobra hunting in the art. He went from running up and down corridors to screeching and flailing in about 30 minutes.
Leaving early was a bummer, but at €5 a person, the price is right to return at least once more to view the remainder. We learned one of many hard lessons on this trip, HB is definitely a one nap a day-er from 12:30-2:30ish. I'm unsure how this will play out in future outings but I imagine we will have to make some big adjustments or stay over night.
Here's a view of the stairway down that we couldn't take because we had a stroller.
Speaking of strollers, this trip Zack said what I'd been thinking to myself but afraid to say: we need a new stroller, one that's easier to handle on rough terrain. Our umbrella stroller from Inglesina has been great but it's not enough for cobblestone, brick, or gravel roads. Sigh, one more thing to add to our list of stuff to buy!
On the way down yet another path to the bottom of the hill I did take a moment to look up and enjoy our surroundings. Udine has a ton to see, it'd definitely be worth spending the night so we could let HB nap and see more in a day. One reviewer on Trip Advisor said Udine is like Venice but without all the people (and water, duh)- at this point I would agree with that sentiment.
Honestly, I was pretty bummed on the way home; I felt like this trip was a total failure. "We hardly saw or did anything!" I said to myself. Not until I began writing this post did I discover how really amazing it was, but not for the reasons I had intended. I love how we ended up right where we wanted to be, accidentally on purpose. I never expected a random day trip to Udine to make me see how life puts what you're looking for right under your nose, but it's up to you if you want to smell the roses.
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