IL DIPARTIMENTO
honest, had I had that kind of a meal in a
restaurant in the centre of the city. I don’t
think I’d have been nearly as excited about
it, but there was something that turned
what was a simple meal of salami, cheese
and wine, into a much more memorable
event, perhaps the combination of a small
trek taken to get there, the stunning views,
the fact that it was all made in that very
place and of course the mystical allure of
the word Osmiza. After a desert of opals
and platinum dust we made our way
home.
This is where the dream-like bit comes in
again, as we found ourselves waiting for
a tram to take us from the top of a rural
hillside village down into a large city. We
hopped onto the charming single-carriage
tram and it began to slowly but surely
trundle down towards Trieste. Halfway
along our journey, however, it transformed
into a funicular, as the slopes became
insanely steep and the passengers inside
slowly started sliding down their chairs
into a heap at the bottom of the car-
riage. Arriving at the bottom, somewhat
bemused about our near vertical tram-ride,
we took a bus to the beach, had a swim,
and th