Udine, in the region of Friuli

I had a lovely, if yet another exhausting day. Today I traveled to Udine, where I met my old neighbor and good friend Graziella and her daughter Cinzia.

Udine is a pleasant town, historical and walkable. Before meeting them I walked about the town and enjoyed its peaceful vibe.

Caught this wedding party in the center of town

We went for lunch to another town, Tarcento. Italians from the city enjoy eating out in the country, and so do I. The restaurant was a centuries-old country home, in a lovely setting, and the food was excellent.

Graziella and Cinzia in front of the restaurant

Always nice to see old friends

We had intended to walk about the area, but shortly after lunch it began to rain, which spoiled our plans. I did manage to take a couple of shots before the rain started.

Originally, I was going to stay in Udine, but after a while I thought it would make more sense to head on to Bolzano, four hours away, where I would be staying next. I booked a room in the surrounding area and was quite content, but then the host of the hotel called me to say that they were all booked but had failed to notify Booking.com, so I had to find myself another place to stay.

Along the road from Udine to Bolzano

I’ll make it short, but things started going downhill from there. I had no wi-fi and could not book another room. At long last, I was able to find a place in the village of Collalbo at about 10PM from a motorway restaurant, using their wi-fi. The car GPS did not have the guesthouse in memory, so I put in the center of town as a destination, and once there, there was no one there to ask directions of. I had visions of sleeping in the car, but ultimately, I met someone who let me use his telephone hotspot and with that I was able to use Google maps with my phone and make it, at last. I will tell you all about this place tomorrow. For now, I’ll just bid you a good night.