I slept in until 8:30 this morning. I found Katrina and Brandon snuggling under a blanket out on the balcony.
I had a few things to take care of at home. Brandon wanted to go for a bike ride in Parco di Monza, so Katrina took him.
Whew, its kinda of weird and interesting. I just called and talked to a hotel in Bacharach Germany. Thankfully they spoke some basic English.
Bergamo is a town of about 120,000 in the foothills of the Alps. It is considered by many to be one of northern Italy's most beautiful cities. Bergamo is also famous for its artistic treasures and its medieval charm. It is made up of two cities: Citta Bassa, the lower modern and busy city, and Citta Alta, the upper city of old architecture, art and history.
We left the house around 11:30 and drove to Bergamo. Its about a 30-40mn drive from our place.
Our goal was to find a parking lot near the funicolare station. We found one about 2 blocks away and walked up to the station to board the funicolare. The station is located in the 'new' city of Bergamo, at the base of the steep hillsides in which the old city is built.
Upon reaching to the old city, we slowly made our way up the crowded streets towards Piazza Vechia. The piazza was busy with tourists. There were several restaurants, a fountain, the Biblioteca, and at least 3 churches all facing the piazza.
Biblioteca Civicia Angelo Maj in Piazza Vechia
Duomo - notice how crowded it is, they just build structures overlapping other structures
Red Lion that holds up the columns at the entrance to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore - these lions are made of red marble and were built in 1351-53.
Brandon showing off the cobble streets of Bergamo
Porshe sitting in the old town. Katrina tells me all my car pics are for my male friends...they are, but I'm sure there are some female readers out there that appreciate a nice Italian car.
Beautiful frescos on the walls of the churches
Polenta Osai - small
Polenta Osai - medium...they get bigger
We have found that almost every town we visit has some sort of tasty treat that they are famous for and very proud of. It Burano and Bellagio it was their cookies. We have tried them and made it a fun activity to seek out and try the local treats. In Bergamo all the shops had Polenta Osai. We had to try one. Its a small cake with has a deep fried crust of polenta. OH MY GOODNESS!! Those were the tastiest treats so far. Very sweet, so you could probably only eat one. We shared a small one, though they come in various sizes.
We wandered up some side streets looking at all the amazing architecture. Its crowded. Its very old and decayed in areas. Its just amazing and beautiful. I can see it is such a big deal for architecture students to visit Italy while in college. There is so much to see and learn.
We rode a second funicolare farther up the hill from old Bergamo to San Vigilio, a lesser known but beautiful area. The views from up there are the main attraction. Once you exit the funicolare, following Via Castello takes you farther up the hill to the old castle ruins. The castle is the most important landmark and the highest point in Bergamo at 496 meters above sea level. Its strategic location offers 360 degree panoramas. You can climb up inside one of the old towers and explore underground passageways that hide remains of fortifications which were transformed and enlarged over medieval ruins by the Republic of Venice between 1550 and the early 1600's.
Views of old Bergamo with modern Bergamo below in the valley
Brandon and Katrina watching the funicolare. It rained lightly for a little bit.
Brandon climbing up the stairs inside the castle tower.
Views from the castle. Modern Bergamo in the distance.
On our way back down from the castle we decided to follow one of the walking tour routes on top of the mountain. We walked through the small village and into the countryside down some narrow lanes past villas and farms. It was quiet, peaceful and beautiful and non touristy. We love seeing all the highlights and famous Italian landmarks, but we also love getting away from it all and just experiencing the 'local' Italy.
The local countryside as we took a walking tour.
Example of a narrow country lane.
We returned to the funicolare and rode it back down the the old city. We strolled through down the main street looking in shop windows and stopping for gelato...of course. The gelato only made us hungrier since we had not eaten lunch yet. We made our way back to the bakery for some focaccia bread and a slice of pizza. We also stopped to buy some postcards for Brandon and a book, Bergamo step by step.
We finally arrived back at the first funicolare and rode it down to the lower city. Our next goal was Galleria d'Arte Comtemporanea. The museum has three floors of galleries. Its not all that large, but enough to be enjoyable. Katrina really like the first floor galleries where the permanent exhibits were located. The other two floors had temporary exhibits. There was a mixture of all mediums: sculpture, paintings, photography and a few other things. As is usually the case, I like some of the pieces of art and didn't like others. Of course, no pictures were allowed.
The street that the museum is located on. I noticed the variety of architectural diversity.
We left the museum as it was closing at 7pm. Tired and hungry, we made our way back to the parking garage for the drive home. As crazy as this sounds since we are in Italy, we had spotted a McDonalds in downtown Bergamo and were craving burgers, fries and coke. Unfortunately, it was not to be. We couldn't figure out how to enter the parking garage. It was on a one way street that we missed, so we circled around twice, getting stuck on dead end streets and one way streets taking us the wrong way. We finally gave up and headed to the autostrada.
When we were near home we got off the autostada early so that we could drive the McDonalds in Monza. This was almost not meant to be. We missed the parking entrance for this one as well. I was determined - we were tired and hungry. I drove around the the LARGE block and found the drive thru. Its rare to have a McDonalds with a drive thru in Italy. We got our food and it was delicious.
This evening we were tired. Brandon went right to bed. Katrina read and I worked on this blog a bit.
As I was closing the windows for the night, I noticed this sunset from our kitchen.
9 weeks gelato count: 60 gelate
9 week wine count: 9 bottles
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