We're movin' on up!

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En route to Grado, Italy from Milstatt, Austria, we stopped for lunch in Udine, Italy. Driving from the autostrada to the center of town was a bit of a trick. In Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, the center of town is denoted on road signs as "Zentrum." When we got into Italy, this disappeared and I (correctly) deduced that a simple target symbol meant the same thing. We diligently followed the target signs which took us past a shopping complex, a sports stadium and into what we can only describe as looking like the parking lot of a Nordstrom's back home! None of the cities in Europe have freeways into the center of town - they may have an exit for "south of town" and "north of town" but never an exit that plops you right downtown like in the States. Seeing this helps explain to us the similar frustrating set up in Vancouver, BC!

At any rate, after about 30 minutes we made it downtown and found a parking place (not sure if it was free or not). The first pedestrian we asked for directions happened to be American, and she directed us on foot toward the main plaza and restaurant/shopping area. We arrived at about 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon and everything looked to be deserted. How odd. We found an outdoor cafe with no written menu where we ended up having the best meal of our entire time in Italy! The waitress described the meal I chose as "gnocchi with ham and cream sauce" when in fact the "ham" turned out to be the finest proscuitto I've ever had! J had a round pasta with homemade tomato sauce. The portions were just the right size. Sitting at the table next to us was a guy I swear looked right out of the Sopranos: everyone walking down the street seemed to know him, the waitstaff paid him extra attention, and he wore huge sunglasses on a cloudy day with a nice gold chain around his neck. While J was off in the WC, I was just admiring the architecture of the area when I suddenly heard "We're movin' on up!" - yes, an Italian man seated nearby had the themesong from the Jeffersons as his cell phone ring tone! I could not believe my ears and stifled a laugh when I discovered the source of the music.

After lunch, we went for gelato. At 1 Euro per scoop, we couldn't resist getting 3 scoops each. This became a daily afternoon ritual for us while in Italy. By this time it was about 3 PM and things seemed to really be coming alive in town - shops were opening, people were bustling in the streets, etc. We noted posted hours on several businesses included being closed from 1-3 PM similar to a siesta in Spain. We had never known Italy had a similar set up but found this to be the case in each town we visited.

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Photos

Palmanova
The traffic lights alternate the direction of the cars coming through the narrow gates of the city.