Welcome to Ricmanje

Now that we have moved to a small village in Val Rosandra, our life has changed. While we live about five minutes away from our old apartment in the periphery of Trieste, it's like we moved to a new planet.

Today I want to tell you a little bit about my new village: Ricmanje, or San Giuseppe della Chiusa, as it is known in Italian. The fact that it has two names gives you a sense of the place. It has a split identity and the name you choose to use with people says something about YOU (hint. with Slovene speakers say Ricmanje).

Here are some other fun facts!

1. Ricmanje has a unique  sign on the Bike Path that cuts through it. It looks like someone designed and made it in metal shop class during their lunch hour. There is no other sign like it on the bike path. It catches your eye as you pass on your bike or you huff through on foot. 

2. Ricmanje is part of the Comune of San Dorligo, which means it is in Val Rosandra, so it's on the prettiest part of the bike path (not to brag!!)

3. It is 124 meters above sea level. From here you have a view of Cattinara hospital (isn't that everyone's dream?) and the gulf of Muggia (just in case you thought, like I did, that you had to live in Barcola to have a sea view!)

4. If you live here you do not need a watch. The church bells tell you everything you need to know. During the week they even ring at 6am (first chime of the day, time to start waking up) and 7am (too late!)

5. The village has two symphonic bands. I guess there used to be just one but there was a split at some point. Isn't that crazy? I live close to the place where they practice. This summer it was like having a free concert every night.

6. There are two actvie Osmizas here. There used to be 15.

7. San Giuseppe is full of cats. If I were a photographer (which I am not, as you can tell by this blog) I would make a poster and profile each one and call it "The Cats of San Giuseppe" in the style of "The Doors of Dublin" my mom used to have hanging on her wall. Feel free to steal that idea. I will buy a copy of it and put it on my wall!

8. The houses here were built around the church and the ones closest to the church are about 1000 years old (although our house had its last face lift at the end of the 1970s, doh!)

9. The church here is famous because a miracle happened here in 1749 the Priest is an Exorcist. I am not kidding. All well documented.

10. When locals order pizza delivery, if they want their pizza to be hot when it gets here they order from San Dorligo, the only pizza place that knows what questions to ask to be able to find your house which is NEVER "what is your address?" Houses are numbered  in the order they were built. The question to ask when you make an appointment in San Giuseppe is "where are you in relation to the church?"

If you want to come up, take the number 41 bus from the Station. Check the schedule, though. There are few busses during the day and the timetable largely reflects the old train schedule that took people to work in Trieste in the morning and brought them back to San Giuseppe in the evening.

My house is on the street below the church. If your back is to it, hang a left. If you go around the big curve, you have gone too far.