My homeland

My homeland! A weekend in the Friulian mountains to relax a bit! Friuli Venezia Giulia is a region that offers you everything: starting from Udine (my city), in an hour you're in the mountains, in an hour you're by the sea, in an hour you're in Austria, in an hour in Slovenia and in two and a half hours in Croatia! Whatever you need, you'll find it!! Beyond that, we decided to go and cool off in the mountains given the muggy heat of the city. Our destination was Tarvisio.

In winter the town is very busy since there are many ski slopes, but even in summer it offers plenty! The first day we went for an outing on the Lussari, reachable by cable car; it's beautiful because there's a fantastic panorama, the little road is full of small stalls and there are many little restaurants where you eat very well! Very important is the church, from which a famous procession sets off! The next day, instead, we went to see the Fusine lakes. To park near the lake you have to pay a kind of parking fee; right now I don't remember the amount, but it's around 2 or 3 euros a day.

When you arrive you find yourself in front of a beautiful emerald-coloured lake surrounded by a dense wood you can walk or cycle through; you can also hire a small boat and sit comfortably in the sun, rocked by the movement of the cool water! You can also stop for a bite to eat at the trattoria on the shore, but the most beautiful thing is that if you cross the little wood uphill you reach the smaller lake, at the foot of a great mountain, and all its scenery is reflected in its waters. It's wonderful; when you're there you really switch off and forget all your worries! Conclusions: the mountains of Friuli really have so much to offer! Tips: we stayed at the Hotel Nevada, tel. 0428-2332; it's right in the centre of Tarvisio and a good starting point, the rooms are very nice, all in wood with wardrobes painted blue with little flowers; we were happy there.

We had dinner and lunch in whatever trattorias we happened upon.