Osmizza

Friday morning the sky was blue and the sun shining like a spring day. We had advanced finance this morning, and then this afternoon we went to an osmizza near basovizza, close to slovenia. An osmizza is a particular kind of restaurant/agriturismo found in this region. Osmizze roughly means 8 in Slovene - the name hails from the tradition that these places used to be only open 8 days in a year. The tradition comes from the excess production of farmyards and vineyards - allowing the proprietors to sell their extra produce in an unlicensed restaurant tp public that are in the know. One of the ways that you find Osmizze is through the guide book to seasonal osmizze - the other is to look out for frascas - the wreaths of flowers and leaves that are arranged to point the way from the road to the premises - culminating in a red-painted wooden arrow to the door of the place. You can normally get beer, wine and salumi - assorted slices of meat.
We tried one place near Longera, where we used to play volleyball and where Lovro and Kristina live, but it had unfortunately closed on the Monday before. (The osmizze tend to be seasonal - they can now open for a maximum of 30 days a year - my kind of business!)
The pic shows the meal - basically Rifosco - the local red wine - with slices of cooked ham with horseradish, sausages, raw ham, cheese and bread - delicious! It was lovely to sit and soak up the winter sunshine - if a bit chilly!
Giulia's boyfriend Roby arrived on his motorbike to join us. He works as a train guard for Trenitalia, the rail service, and has the week off in order to enjoy Halloween - so he took me for a spin - with thanks to Nicoletta from whom I borrowed the helmet an gloves. It was great fun - if a little fast!