The reward for your walk up the hill will be a unique panoramic view over the entire region. It is no surprise to find there is a tradition that Attila had the hill raised to enjoy the spectacle of Aquileia burning. The rather less dramatic truth is that the feature’s origins are natural. However, the sheer beauty of the view from the top has kept the legend alive to this day. 
    The traditional osterie, or hostelries, are also one of Udine’s treasures. And to make sure this heritage is not lost, a Comitato Friulano per la difesa delle Osterie (“Friulian Committee for the Defence of Hostelries”) has been set up with the aim of vigorously defending freedom of choice in this regard. It is a freedom to continue observing a ritual that is part of Friuli’s history and culture ­ going to an osteria. For these are not mere bars. Indeed, from the outside, they often look like private houses. There are no neon signs or eye-catching furnishings. A time-worn counter, a dresser, a few tables in a single room and ­ inevitably ­ a pack of cards for a game of “briscola”. 
    That’s the basic equipment of a typical Friulian osteria. But osterie have always been places where you can find firm friendships and good conversation. They are almost mythical places. On reflection, the gurus of the new economy, those experts who preach the end of toil and industrial civilization as a post-industrial era of leisure is ushered in, might even find potential for innovation in the osteria friulana formula. 
    For the time being, changes seem to be going in the opposite direction. There are fewer and fewer traditional hostelries.

In their place have sprung up new retail outlets, offices and commercial centres. But with the osterie have disappeared the values that underpin the culture of living together as a community. That’s why the “Friulian Committee for the Defence of Hostelries” is fighting to safeguard, promote and revitalize traditional osterie, encouraging young people as well as older  generations to use them. 
    On any tour of Udine’s churches and museums, a visit to a traditional osteria is by no means out of place. Indeed, it is the ideal way to enjoy a break, enjoying the time-honoured ritual of sampling good food and drink. To visit a hostelry is to plunge into a world where time passes more slowly, and whose memory has not faded in Udine and Friuli. Mario Quargnolo in Caffè e osterie di Udine (“Cafés and Hostelries in Udine”) and Enzo Driussi in Vecchie osterie friulane (“Old Friulian Hostelries”) have sung their praises. And historic figures have passed through some of them. In 1822, the “Cavallino” ­ later the Roma hotel ­ sheltered Silvio Pellico on his way to his prison in the Spielberg. “Here stayed in chains, and were comforted by heart-felt farewells, those whom Austria had condemned to the torments of the Spielberg, 28 March 1822”, it says on the plaque that commemorates the event. Today, the Roma is no longer standing. Which is one more reason for including some traditional hostelries on your itinerary as you stroll around the centre of Udine. 

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