București. January, Friday 17th

Stavropoleos monastery | mănăstirea Stavropoleos

Bucharest could be a beautiful city. my friend Anna {the pen behind green holiday italy} warned up with these words, when M. and i arrived in the capital of Romania {flew there with Wizz Air, about 2 hours from Treviso}, where she and her mate hosted us for a lovely weekend. it could be indeed. such a culture's crossroad, with one foot in europe and the other still in the former soviet union, with a latin language, russian words, balkan food and middle eastern influences. but not yet.

there are charming corners, as the Stavropoleos monastery. all that remains from it is a little church, which looks lovely from the outside {first picture} but is way better inside: velvety atmosphere, hand paintings lit by candles, dark and gold. it was the first thing we stopped to see while sightseeing in the historic centre.

Lipscani district

Lipscani is the heart of the city centre. it used to be the most important commercial area of the city. many streets still bear the name of their trade, as can be seen in many european cities. looking at the old buildings {a nice mix of art nouveau, neoclassical, near to medieval memories}, it seems clear why, in the interwar europe, Bucharest was nicknamed little Paris. nowadays Lipscani is recovering from a long period of degradation and neglect. most of these buildings need to be restored, but the whole recovery of the district seems to be going towards the creation of a modern noisy area of bars, strip clubs and cheap shops, without any vibes, any traditions. i think it deserves better.

neoclassical building detail

women near Biserica Curtea Veche

the best moment of our day in Bucharest was a visit to the old princely court church {Biserica Curtea Veche}, the oldest of the city. it started like a normal visit of a tourist site, but we soon realized that there were a few tourists, and most of the people was in the queque, waiting for praying in front of holy icons. with fervor and emotion, they lit up dozens of votive candles, kissed the icons, then went away, in silence. the most authentic moment of the day. 

we had just one day to visit Bucharest, and i'm sorry we didn't have the time to see two museums which seem quite interesting: the museum of the romanian peasant {muzeul tăranului român} and the national village museum {muzeul naţional al satului}, but our weekend continued with a roadtrip to Transilvania, which i can't wait to share with you!

p.s. good news! i diari della lambretta has been shortlisted for the Italy Magazine blogger awards, category best travel ♥ so, if you like it here, that's the link to vote!

osmize in Carso. August, Thursday 15th

for august short break marco and i decided to take a 4 days roadtrip by lambretta. it was our very first trip by lambretta headed abroad, to our neighbor Slovenia. anyway, our first stop was still in Italy, very close to the state line. the Karst Plateau {Carso, in italian} is a plateau area extending in both Italy and Slovenia. 

for a very long time, the first thing that pop up in my mind when it came to Carso was First World War and its memory and legacy still very linked to the territory. but, since last year when a friend introduced me to that, i have a new (and better) feature to think about -and love- about this place: osmize. 

an osmiza (or osmica) is a restaurant opened temporarily from a farm to sell its products. it's typical of Trieste's surroundings and all the Carso area. originally, the opening period was eight days, which in slovenian is said osem, so they're called osmize, even if the opening time is longer nowadays. 

for me, the most fascinating thing about osmize is that they're not easy to find. they're mostly located in the backyards of the farmers homes in tiny villages, and a result of their temporary opening is that you're never sure if they're open until you go there. 

{websites like osmize.net and osmize.com, which host an updated calendar, are an huge help!}

the bright side is that there are so many osmize that if you're wandering around Carso sooner or later you will see an arrow hanging above a bunch of leafy branches: it's a frasca, it indicates that an osmiza is near you.

a frasca, which indicates a near osmiza

it's like entering a secret garden, but full of delicious food. the atmosphere is the same you feel when you're at a family lunch: informal, intimate.
many kinds of salami and cheese are usually the main dishes on the menu, with a side of hard boiled eggs, pickled vegetables, olives and, of course, local wines.

simple food, very (very) cheap price.

osmiza Gabrovec - Prepotto

hard boiled eggs 

visiting Carso again, looking at the bright gold of its summer landscapes, relaxing in a couple of osmize was just the perfect beginning for our roadtrip.

osmiza's tables in a home courtyard

ready to continue our journey towards Ljubljana

{nikon f-801 + fuji superia 200}

i know i've been slow in posting lately, september has been crazy!
i didn't stay out of the web writing completely, though. you can find these photos and more info about osmize on my post for Cosebelle Mag here (italian only), and i did a guest post on Green Holiday Italy, a lovely blog about responsible travel in Italy (in english!). thanks again for the opportunity, dear anna.