Pero Učkar took me to Monfalcone this morning. It was a joy to take the ride past Trieste, but the only reason for it was my search for Jew’s harps (“Small, Medium, and Large Jew’s Harps.” April 29, 2014). Small ones, to be exact. As luck would have it, the only shop with musical instruments Pero knew in Monfalcone had only two Jew’s harps I wanted. They had a few large ones, but I was not interested, for I already had a bunch of them at home. I bought the two small ones on offer at once. But we were told that we might have better luck at Cervignano some way toward Venice. Going past the international airport at Ronchi dei Legionari, we got there in no time. And I bought eight more Jew’s harps of the right size. Returning to Motovun with no less than ten instruments close to my heart, I felt outright blessed. And then Pero drove back to Motovun through Ćićarija, the rugged region bordering on Slovenia. Jelovice, Vodice, Dane, Brest, Slum… Long time ago, people used to take their sheep to this stretch of uplands in the summer, and then to the lowlands in southern Istria in the winter. Transhumance, as the term goes. The right country for the Jew’s harp, too.