Italy 2018: Thursday, April 26: Day 10: Trieste-Gorizia (part 2)
We hang out in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon until it is time to visit the synagogue at 5 pm. It is pretty easy to drive in the city ... the streets are well marked and for the most part straight and not narrow.
photo from the internet - www.turismofvg.it
Inside the synagogue, we are met by the woman who is the caretaker and two Italian tourists. The caretaker asks if we want a English speaking guide and we say we do. The Italians also agree so the the woman goes off to get her son. While waiting, we talk to the Italians ... their English is quite good. They tell us that they are from Crema and are surprised that we are going to be visiting there later in the trip.
The guide -- Lorenzo -- turns out to be excellent. Both he and his mother are not Jewish but he has learned an amazing amount about the Jewish religion and the history of the Jews in Friuli. The Italians, who are also not Jewish, are very interested and we end up having a long conversations about the synagogue and then Italian politics.
NOTE: Here is a short description of the Gorizia Jewish community ... it dates back to the the 14th century and by 1900, the Jewish population was close to 1,000. The total dwindled to about 183 in 1938 but by the end of World War II, only two return. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/gorizia
We remember the synagogue very well ... it is now only used once a year to keep its status as a religious building.
Every Hanukkah, a group comes from Trieste with the rabbi and they have a service. Occasionally, families may hold bar mitzvahs here but there is virtually no Jewish community left in Gorizia.
The woman who is the caretaker volunteers to take us over to the old Jewish cemetery which is actually across the border in Slovenia but only ten minutes away. The cemetery is maintained by the city but a lot of it is in disarray and it's located right under the elevated autostrada.
We walk around a bit and take some pictures. It is a sad place.
We have a very interesting and delicious dinner at a very lovely restaurant called Rosenbar.
There are few diners this evening but the owner welcomes us warmly and tells us that his wife Michaela -- the cook who speaks better English -- will come out and take care of us. We have an excellent meal -- Diana has mixed plate of local appetizers -- meatballs, vegetables, etc., a filet of orata with potatoes and asparagus (overcooked as usual) and a delicious pear cake. They are out of clams but my spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs is terrific as is my "fritto misto" -- tempura-like fish and vegetables. The wine is the house white and we have no trouble finishing the bottle.
There is a problem with the credit card machine when we go to pay the bill and we get a chance to talk more about Gorizia; it is not doing as well economically as it was when Slovenia was Communist and lots of business came from over the border. The Italians have not adjusted to the challenge of the vibrant Slovenian economy.
Once the machine fails again, we say we will come back for dinner tomorrow and pay then and Michaela says that is fine. We say our goodnights and drive back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will visit the Castello overlooking the town.
Jim and Diana
P.S. from Diana. Here's what I've been reading.
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Vinegar Girl is a rewrite of The Taming of the Shrew as part of Vintage’s “Hogarth Shakespeare”, marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Kate's father wants her to marry his assistant Pyotr so he'll be able to stay in the US. At some point you know he's going to say: Kiss me Katya. Enjoyable but not really worth it - from a novelist I usually love.
Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas E. Ricks
A terrific, very readable book. Sorry to have missed my book club's discussion - hope they liked it. Having seen the recent Churchill movie, Darkest Hour, on the plane, as well as having seen the movie Dunkirk, I was ready for more detail and analysis and Ricks provided it. I knew less about Orwell and Ricks' connecting the two sometimes seems problematic. But they both confronted uncomfortable truths, eloquently, and Ricks writes about them with great admiration and skill.
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman
A short novel by a writer I like very much about a subject that proved totally engrossing. A cloistered Carmelite nun, Sister John, is faced with a diagnosis of epilepsy and recommended surgery, and the possibility that her religious ecstasy is not spiritual but attributable to her medical condition. The forthright dealing with issues of faith, the descriptions of the nuns and their daily life - all fascinating. Almost a page turner that can be read in one sitting.
We hang out in the hotel for the rest of the afternoon until it is time to visit the synagogue at 5 pm. It is pretty easy to drive in the city ... the streets are well marked and for the most part straight and not narrow.
photo from the internet - www.turismofvg.it
Inside the synagogue, we are met by the woman who is the caretaker and two Italian tourists. The caretaker asks if we want a English speaking guide and we say we do. The Italians also agree so the the woman goes off to get her son. While waiting, we talk to the Italians ... their English is quite good. They tell us that they are from Crema and are surprised that we are going to be visiting there later in the trip.
The guide -- Lorenzo -- turns out to be excellent. Both he and his mother are not Jewish but he has learned an amazing amount about the Jewish religion and the history of the Jews in Friuli. The Italians, who are also not Jewish, are very interested and we end up having a long conversations about the synagogue and then Italian politics.
NOTE: Here is a short description of the Gorizia Jewish community ... it dates back to the the 14th century and by 1900, the Jewish population was close to 1,000. The total dwindled to about 183 in 1938 but by the end of World War II, only two return. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/gorizia
We remember the synagogue very well ... it is now only used once a year to keep its status as a religious building.
Every Hanukkah, a group comes from Trieste with the rabbi and they have a service. Occasionally, families may hold bar mitzvahs here but there is virtually no Jewish community left in Gorizia.
The woman who is the caretaker volunteers to take us over to the old Jewish cemetery which is actually across the border in Slovenia but only ten minutes away. The cemetery is maintained by the city but a lot of it is in disarray and it's located right under the elevated autostrada.
We walk around a bit and take some pictures. It is a sad place.
We have a very interesting and delicious dinner at a very lovely restaurant called Rosenbar.
There are few diners this evening but the owner welcomes us warmly and tells us that his wife Michaela -- the cook who speaks better English -- will come out and take care of us. We have an excellent meal -- Diana has mixed plate of local appetizers -- meatballs, vegetables, etc., a filet of orata with potatoes and asparagus (overcooked as usual) and a delicious pear cake. They are out of clams but my spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs is terrific as is my "fritto misto" -- tempura-like fish and vegetables. The wine is the house white and we have no trouble finishing the bottle.
There is a problem with the credit card machine when we go to pay the bill and we get a chance to talk more about Gorizia; it is not doing as well economically as it was when Slovenia was Communist and lots of business came from over the border. The Italians have not adjusted to the challenge of the vibrant Slovenian economy.
Once the machine fails again, we say we will come back for dinner tomorrow and pay then and Michaela says that is fine. We say our goodnights and drive back to the hotel. Tomorrow we will visit the Castello overlooking the town.
Jim and Diana
P.S. from Diana. Here's what I've been reading.
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Vinegar Girl is a rewrite of The Taming of the Shrew as part of Vintage’s “Hogarth Shakespeare”, marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Kate's father wants her to marry his assistant Pyotr so he'll be able to stay in the US. At some point you know he's going to say: Kiss me Katya. Enjoyable but not really worth it - from a novelist I usually love.
Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas E. Ricks
A terrific, very readable book. Sorry to have missed my book club's discussion - hope they liked it. Having seen the recent Churchill movie, Darkest Hour, on the plane, as well as having seen the movie Dunkirk, I was ready for more detail and analysis and Ricks provided it. I knew less about Orwell and Ricks' connecting the two sometimes seems problematic. But they both confronted uncomfortable truths, eloquently, and Ricks writes about them with great admiration and skill.
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman
A short novel by a writer I like very much about a subject that proved totally engrossing. A cloistered Carmelite nun, Sister John, is faced with a diagnosis of epilepsy and recommended surgery, and the possibility that her religious ecstasy is not spiritual but attributable to her medical condition. The forthright dealing with issues of faith, the descriptions of the nuns and their daily life - all fascinating. Almost a page turner that can be read in one sitting.
I need to find that Boston gelateria! 
