This trip to Italy was a lovely short break in August. We checked out the Friuli Venezia Giulia region just across our border. We entered from the north and our first stop was Venzone, an interesting fortified village and our first coffee spot.

Venzone

Cividale del Friuli

We continued on, passing Udine and stopped east in Cividale del Friuli, a quiet, small town situated on the beautiful river Natisone.

Lots of osterias, cafés and a lively town centre but the main attraction for us was the Devil's Bridge boldly suspended on the Natisone River.

Palmanova

We were staying close to Palmanova, which soon became our hub. The town is an example of star fort of the late Renaissance. The bird’s eye view of the town is especially awesome. It was Ferragosto at the time so lots of restaurants were closed and towns were generally empty. We liked it that way though. We found the most options in Palmanova and kept returning for coffee and food.

Trivignano Udinese

This was our home village for a few days. This is where Villa Maniago is located. Just a dog-friendly airbnb we found, which turned out to be so much more. The old villa had an amazing vibe and our hosts were super friendly. They have their own kennel and raise black and tan bloodhounds so we were welcomed by twenty-or-so dogs. At first we were worried but our Casey became a part of their pack instantly. She was free to run in their courtyard and had an amazing time socialising.

The village itself is clean and compact. Numerous old houses like our villa give it a special feel. The surrounding is also beautiful - vineyards and fields of sunflowers and corn.

I took my Fujifilm X-T3 on this trip. Paired with Fujinon XF 18-55mm f2.8-4.0 R LM OIS and Fujinon XF 23mm f2 R WR lens.

I got this bundle at Fujifilm Slovenija. Give them a shout and get a good price on your new camera gear.

Castello di Strassoldo

Just south of Palmanova is the village of Strassoldo and inside the Castello di Strassoldo, a fort-like complex with charming houses, gardens and watermills. Beautiful and completely empty at the time.

Aquileia

Aquilea is an ancient Roman city. It was one of the world's largest cities with a population of 100,000 in the 2nd century and is one of the main archeological sites of Northern Italy. We walked the Via Sacra among the cypress trees and ancient ruins where one of the Natisone canals and a port used to be. There’s a well preserved Roman forum and several housing remains. Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta is also supposed to be historically quite important and it has some beautiful 4th-century mosaics, however we did not enter.

We were really happy with our stay in Villa Maniago and the Italians treated us super nice in general. People on the street kept turning their heads over to our dog. An older man even yelled “Che bella bestia!”

Sergio was also helpful and gave us some advice on training Casey. He really loves his black-and-tans! Each dog from the latest batch is named after a dessert and you could hear Sergio yelling “Pancake!” and “Strudel!” in the morning to give them their daily eyes and ears wipe.

Gorizia

We stopped at Gorizia on our way home to meet a friend and have some gelato. It’s super close but I’ve never been yet. An interesting city, with a castle and everything. One could easily spend a sunny day here.