After the great day in Venice, I thought about a Sun/Mon overnight trip to Trieste or Lubijana. That changed when I awoke to find a tooth crown had come loose and was barely hanging on. The dental clinic on base was closed until Monday. Just in case I could not get seen there, I was also on the phone with my insurance to get a network referral. Wanting to get this taken care of first thing Monday morning made me recalibrate. I set out to see some local nearby towns on the bus routes.
The most interesting was Maniago, a town famous for it's cutlery, but also nice being situated at the base of the mountain range. I wandered around, lingered over a porcini mushroom lunch, and enjoyed people watching. The Small towns are all similar; the people know each other and enjoy a coffee or a wine or a cigarette together. There's lots of smoking here though expensive. On the other hand, wine is very cheap. I've enjoyed many a glass of decent house red wine for about $2. Many towns have such narrow old streets that are one way, or no way, for cars. Mail is delivered thru a fleet of motorcycles. At a cafe or restaurant one should not ne completely surprised by a hole in the floor, if you know what I mean!
