Friuli-Venezia Giulia In Winter

Cividale del Friuli Ponte Del Diavolo

       It's been a goal to see all 20 regions of Italy and also to experience Italy in every month as it's high on my list of places to move abroad to for a few months, or maybe a few years... So using my strategies with setting price alerts on websites like Kayak or checking flights on Google, when a $600 flight to Italy sprouted up in late January I knew I had to investigate further, it was a flight originating in my city PHX, to London, Heathrow and then a connection to Venice. I still had to explore Friuli-Venezia Giulia for my bucket list and decided it would be a great last minute winter trip! 

     At this point I have extensively traveled through Italy, I speak the language as well, so going to Italy on last minute trips doesn't tend to be difficult as I'm very familiar with the culture, trains, formalities etc. I of course wanted to see Trieste the capital city of the region, but also wanted to make smaller trips to Cividale del Friuli, Miramare Castle, and the Grotto Gigante. Oh, and a bonus side trip to Slovenia, why not when it's so close!?

Here were some of my favorite things and spots about this less traveled region of Italy:

• Cividale Del Friuli Ponte del Diavolo, this was really the highlight of my journey here. This is another general Italy advice, Google will mislead at times with trains, especially for the smaller less traveled regions. I like rome2rio.com, but sometimes you get to the nitty gritty and have to just look at old school train maps to figure out if it's possible. I landed in Venice then took Trenitalia, the main line to Udine station, then took the region train to Cividale Del Friuli.... It took me about 15 minutes to walk to my Airbnb, then 1 minute to the bridge....

• After that it was off to Trieste for my home base to explore the region.
  
  
• Trieste was a great little city to spend the winter time, I will say this, of the 19 regions I have been to in Italy (I haven't been to Calabria yet), it was the least Italian region. This is of course still Italy, but architecture, hearing a lot of German, and of course delicious regional plates were not the same as prior trips, but of course still deliciously Italian. 
  
  
                         
  
  
• Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia is top rated in most search engines, its a great place to start the day or finish the day, and I'm sure during events it's great, but definitely wasn't my favorite part.
  

  

  Caffe Degli Specchi
  

  
  
  
  
• I'll note here also there was a lot of hype that this region is the coffee capital, all Italian coffee is great, I didn't really notice anything different here from a normal cafe in a bar to the elegant fancy coffees I had, regardless, still delightful.
  
  
• The Grand Canal was more my style, very scenic, mandatory to take the classic tourist photo, and much more wider selection of bars, restaurants, or cafes to pass the time. Then of course a nice walk on the Lungo Mare to digest some of the food.
  
  
                               
  
  
• Off the tourist grid for fitness enthusiasts, John Reed Fitness. This by far was the best gym I've ever trained in located in Italy, and honestly one of the best ever period.

• Grotta Gigante made for a good day trip, a giant cave to explore the depths of Italy. I wish I knw going in the tour guide may ask you to sing! I'm not a singer per say, but definitely like to belt out a good song here and there, had I known I would have had one come to mind, but as always on the spot I couldn't think of one! Great pizza at a restaurant right next door when you leave.

• Night life was pretty standard for Italy, I would say winter didn't close anything besides the beach clubs. Most of night life was outdoor dining or comfy indoor bars, I did dip into one night club, but didn't stay long as I was the oldest there by at least 10 years.

• Miramare Castle is another great day trip. Or half day, small and easy to see quickly.

• Dark history, Risiera San Sabba is the site of an Italian concentration camp. I visted the sight for a few hours.

• While we are on dark history, I also toured Kleines Berlin. A bomb shelter from WWII. If you are a history buff check the hours. This place had odd days and times open. I was fortunate that a random history event took place during my visit and I snagged last minute tickets.
  
  
  
• You don't have the colosseum but you do have The Roman Theater Of Trieste!
  
                  
  
  
• The best views were by far from San Giusto Castle

• But those views of course didn't compare to my quick visit to Cividale Del Friuli Ponte del Diavolo.

                                 

      So you can go either way I think with this special part of Italy, for a lot of people it is a stop on a cruise, and plenty of great options to tour at least the Trieste City part. But if you have more time the region holds so many beautiful gems, of which I'm sure with all of Italy, I only touched the surface.

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Martinique, My Kind Of Layover

I can't just see this from the plane and leave!

      I had done a trip to the Forgotten Corner of South America in March of 2024, Guyana, Suriname, and ending in French Guiana (why do they spell it different than Guyana???), my last stop had been Cayenne. I had to figure out how to get back to the USA. My initial forum sources and tour company sources recommended taking an 8 hour bus back to Paramibmo, Suriname, or to fly to France and connect back to the USA! Neither seemed like a cozy option so instead I opted to do my own research. 

     There are several websites you can use for this, I believe I had used www.flightconnections.com to research where I could actually fly from Cayenne. I was fairly certain they were right about no direct flights to the USA, but I had faith that I could find a connection somewhere in the Caribbean, and maybe even make a layover trip out of it. And suddenly there it was, a flight to FDF and back to MIA.... And I ALWAYS make a layover of Miami, as it's one of my favorite places in the USA. But FDF.... I had no idea where that was in the Caribbean... A quick google search told me Martinique... A place I had loosely heard of, but didn't know too much about it... That quick google search also told me it was definitely going to be a layover trip!

     I rented a car, and covered a lot of the island in two days that I made the layover... I planned on spending more time hiking and at the beach, but to be completely honest I was super sun burnt from South America, so I had to limit my outdoor time to the morning when it wasn't too bad out yet! I live in Arizona, so the heat I was used to, the power of the sun on the equator I was not!

Red skin with red swim wear!

Here's my go to advice to make the most out of Martinique on about a 36 hour layover, or Martinique in general!

• Rental car was easy, plenty of options from the airport, I chose enterprise which was a bit of a walk from the terminal with no shuttle options, no big deal for me, but if you were heavy on luggage something to consider.
  
                           
  
  
• I narrowed my search down to two spots on where to stay, Le Diamante, or Pointe Du Bout. I opted for Le Diamante as the Airbnb had a great view and the beach was better there. It was also a weekday layover so I wasn't too concerned with nightlife. However I will say....
  
  
• On my day trip around I stopped at Pointe Du Bout and think the night life there would be better. Not many night clubs, but definitely a good selection of bars.
  
  
  
  
  
• Speaking of not expecting night life on a weekday, it was Easter week, which is big here. So my Airbnb had a huge pool front/beach front party.... How could I say no???

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  This view in the morning took care of the mild hangover!
  
  

• Ok you got your rental car, my first stop on my road trip was the Anse Cafard Slave Memorial, a great monument to pay respects. Street parking was relatively easy.
  
             
  
  
• Go head next to the Les Anses-D'arlet church, to not go is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. Parking is easy if you go to the huge lot a little east. Also some dining options here for a quick bite. The beach is very nice and if I had more time and wasn't a lobster I would have spent more time there.
  
  
  
  
  
• There are COUNTLESS beautiful spots to stop along the road. I had no system other than heading to Point Du Bout along a loose Google Maps route. If it looked like a nice spot, I pulled over for a look or quick dip... Again that sunburn!
  
  
  
• French! I thought about learning some basic French when I went to Paris in 2012ish, I was already learning Russian for the same trip so I skipped French, thinking... it's a short part of the trip, when else am I gonna use French. This was my maybe 6th or 7th French speaking country, luckily I knew the basics, but wish I did maybe a week or two of tourist phrases.... 
  
                                                         
• Pointe Du Bout! Besides heading to the main city Fort De France, this was my spot to get some shopping unsuccesfully done, but also to get a nice cocktail, ice cream, and ice coffee!It's a more lively spot of the island outside the capital. So shopping I will note:
  
     
  
  
• I was looking for head phones, willing to pay tourist price, and to buy wireless or wired, to no avail. It was that moment I noticed electronics overall were scarce, so if you needed a phone charger etc, you would have to go the city for it. Just something to be mindful of.
  
  
• After some more beach hopping it was back to the hotel to catch the sunset....
  
                    
  
  
• Then dinner, I wanted the last meal to be a good one, I wasn't sure if I wanted French, Island food, or whatever I could find, the receptionist at the Airbnb led me to La Kaz’a Demus. I usually don't like to recommend dining on this blog, as my articles are sometimes written years later and the restaurant industry is so ever quickly rotating, but this was a must. She told me I had to try the burgers, I thought maybe this was because I was American but I ran with it.
  
  

  

  Its an lamp light in the background, but I also feel like its a somewhat heavenly divine light of the food Gods.

  
  I decided to go with it because there was not a lot nearby. I wasn't expecting much but I knew it was going to be somewhat good from her and online reviews, little did I know it was going to be one of the best burgers I ever had in my life! The staff was amazing, I did the cheesy appetizer if they still have it which was great. The burger itself was excellent, they had a cheese on it I've never had before with little bacon bits, the side salad itself was a delicious meal as well. I definitely recommend this place! Perfect last dinner to a beautiful layover.                 
  
  
• I had some locally bought Champagne when I got back and got a good nights rest. The next morning my Airbnb had an awesome dock to jump off so I did one more quick dip in the Atlantic, and a quick swim in the pool as well.
  
                          
  
  
  
• I headed to the airport with ample time and wanted to do breakfast along the way if I passed something. I should have used maps because I didn't pass anything. I ate at the airport which was ok. And I got my headphones I needed for airport pricing.

     As with all layover trips, a few more days would have been nice. I would say 4-7 days would by ideal for Martinique, maybe an extra two if you are scuba diving. But as always I was so happy I did this layover trip and got to experience a small part of the culture there. So one of the only phrases in French I know... Merci beaucoup Martinique! 

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