Destinations We Revisited in 2017: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy

By: Kate Little-Paradiso, BVT Sales & Travel Specialist

2017 took me to a number of fascinating destinations. This past year I had fun taking the historic train around Mount Etna in Sicily, attending an opera in Paris, enjoying a late October swim in Positano, visiting the Biennale art exhibition of Venice and venturing to the Canary Islands for the first time. The traveling highlight of the year though was being able to cross my 20th, and final (embarrassing after nearly 30 years of living in Italy), region of Italy off of my ‘to see’ list

Friuli Venezia Giulia is an often overlooked region in the far north eastern corner of the country. Above Veneto (the region where Venice is located), and sandwiched between the Italian Alps, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, FVG (as you’ll see it referred to frequently) is a hodgepodge of cultures, dialects and cuisines- yet uniquely and unquestionably Italian.

I spent five days touring the eastern part of the region and was absolutely blown away by everything I experienced. The month of May was a perfect time to visit: the city piazzas were abuzz with open-air cafes and restaurants and the vineyards were bright green with their spring leaves. The days were pleasantly warm, something I hadn’t expected. Even though FVG is one of Italy’s northernmost regions, the weather is mild. The many beaches along the Adriatic coastline were being prepared for summer visitors.

While my days were filled with one pleasant surprise after another, there were definitely some experiences that stood out. Here are my top 10:

• Prosciutto di San Daniele. Food is an enormous part of my life. I’ve studied it, I cook it, I love to eat. Yet I had always pooh-poohed San Daniele ham. Visiting the tiny village of San Daniele di Friuli and enjoying their prosciutto was an epiphany – I’m a convert.
• Cividale di Friuli. You could not imagine a more charming village than this. Set on the edge of a river, the town not only dates back to Roman times, but it also has Celtic ruins that you can visit.
• Palmanova. This small village is completely encircled by perfectly maintained 16th century fortress walls in the unique shape of a 9 pointed star. Instead of walking the perimeter of the walls, I opted for an aperitif at the Caffetteria Torinese, a stylish cafe on the town’s main piazza (which just happens to have a large selection of San Daniele hams). Definitely worth a visit.
• Frico. Let’s return to food. If you love cheese, you will love FVG and you will adore frico, a snack that you can find most anywhere in the region. Frico can be crispy (grated cheese melted in a pan and then left to set until it’s like a big cheese chip) or soft (LOTS of grated cheese mixed with grated potatoes and onions cooked in a pan until it’s almost omelette consistency). The cheese is always the local Montasio- blended in different stages of aging so that the taste of the frico is complex. That leads to…
• Montasio. You haven’t eaten Montasio cheese until you’ve eaten Montasio in FVG. And make sure you eat the frico (see above). I’ll just leave it at that.
• Udine. FVG’s second largest city (after Trieste) is a lively university city with easy access to wine and ham country. Though the population reaches almost 100,000 people, the atmosphere is laid-back and friendly. As in all of FVG, the city is extremely elegant and spotlessly clean.
• Trieste. Majestic Trieste, located on the easternmost point of Italy, is representative of all of the peoples that have passed through FVG over the centuries. You can get lost in history, from wandering through the various elaborate religious sites to finding the cafe where James Joyce would meet with his literary friends, or visiting the gorgeous Castello Miramare. The strategic location of the city lended itself to hosting the rich and famous of each era of its past. Illy caffe (probably Italy’s best large-scale coffee producer) is located here so coffee, and café culture, is of great importance here.
• Wine. Who knew that this tiny region produced such fantastic wines? Of the 30-plus varieties (both indigenous to FVG and international), that are grown and produced in the region, the ones that I liked the best were both whites, made from Ribolla Gialla and Friulano. That probably had to do with the fact that the tasty cool whites were perfect for the sunny May afternoons and that Friulano, in my book, is a perfect pair for my now-preferred ham, Prosciutto di San Daniele.
• Aquileia. This town was once one of the richest cities of the Roman Empire and today, it hosts impressive archaeologic ruins along with one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, the Basilica di Santa
• Maria Assunta. I love mosaics and this church has the largest floor mosaic of the western hemisphere. Though you cannot walk on it, you can walk along a plexiglass walkway which allows you to view this impressive artwork from above.
• The people. Italians are known for their friendliness and hospitality but little FVG, proud of its heritage and eager to show visitors how great their region is, is extraordinarily welcoming.

I could go on and on about the area (and remember, I only saw a part of it on this trip!), its beauty, culture and great food and wines but why not see it for yourself? FVG is close enough to Venice to easily include in a northern-Italian itinerary but charmingly off the beaten path and well worth a visit.