Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
POP-UP WINE SHOPS
Osmize
predate the trendy retail pop-up phenomena by a few centuries, care of an 18th-century Austri-
an law that gave Carso farmers the right to sell surplus from their barns or cellars once a year (the
term
osmiza
comes from the Slovenian word for eight, the number of days of the original licence). It's
mainly vineyards that hold
osmiza
today, and farm cheeses and cured meats are always on offer too.
While the Carso is known for its gutsy, innovative winemakers,
osmize
traditions still hold sway.
Don't try asking for a list: finding an
osmiza
is part of the fun. Look first, along Carso roads, for the
red arrows. Then look up, to gates or lintels bearing a
frasca
- a leafy branch hung ceremoniously up-
side down announcing that the
osmiza
is open for business. Don't forgo the chance to try the Carso's
native wines: the complex, often cloudy, sometimes fierce, white Vitovska; or Terrano, aka Teran, a
berry-scented red. Winemakers
Zidarich
( 040 20 12 23;
www.zidarich.it
; Prepotto 23) and
Skerk
( 040 20 01 56;
www.skerk.com
; Prepotto 20) do, in fact, announce
osmiza
dates, usually in
November and April, on their websites, and cellar visits can be arranged at other times.
Sights
Grotta Gigante
( 040 32 73 12;
www.grottagigante.it
; adult/reduced €11/9; 50min guided tours hourly 10am-6pm
daily summer, 10am-4pm Tue-Sat winter)
The area's big-ticket attraction is near Villa Opi-cina,
5km northeast of Trieste. At 120m high, 280m long and 65m wide, it's one of the largest
and most spectacular caves that's accessible on the continent. It's easily reached from
Trieste on bus 42, or by tram 2 and bus 42 in the other direction.
CAVE
Casa Carsica
( 040 32 71 24; Rupingrande 31; 10-11.30am & 3-5pm Sun Apr-Oct)
This house mu-
seum in Rupingrande re-creates life in the premodern Slovenian-speaking Carso. It also
organises the plateau's most important folk festival, Nozze Carsiche (Kraška ohcet
;
Karstic Wedding), held every two years for four days at the end of August in a 16th-cen-
tury fortress in Monrupino.
MUSEUM
Castello di Duino
( 040 20 81 20;
www.castellodiduino.it
;
adult/reduced €8/5; 9.30am-5.30pm Wed-Mon Apr-Sep, re-
duced access & hours Mar & Oct-Nov)
Fourteen kilometres northwest along the coast from
Miramare, this 14th- and 15th-century bastion picturesquely marches down the cliff, sur-
rounded by a verdant garden. The Czech poet Rainer Maria Rilke was a guest here from
CASTLE
