Beautiful Bergamo - a new love

Yesterday morning the girls got up and went to work leaving me to rest in bed.  At around 8.15 I got up and made myself an espresso (bellissimo).  After savouring that for a I while, I went about and did some chores and put a load of washing on.  I then made myself another coffee and enjoyed that too with a brioche for breakfast.  I then decided I would go out and do some grocery shopping for the girls.  It was the least I could do.  So I left the apartment and headed in the general direction where the girls said the central part of town was.  I soon saw a supermarket and I got things like toilet paper, dish washing liquid and the like.  I also bought them a tin of illy coffee which I was astounded to find was only 6€.  That's half the price what we pay in Australia.  HALF!

I walked back to the apartment and dropped the shopping off, and went back out for a caffe latte, at a little cafe around the corner.  Went back to the apartment and waited for Sabrina and Claudia to come home.  Needless to say they berated me for going shopping, but I was pretty chuffed that I could finally do something for them.  We had lunch and then Sabrina and I left for the afternoon for her to show me around Bergamo.

We walked to the central part of town, and on the way we stopped at a specialty coffee shop where we had an espresso flavoured with a syrup.  I chose caramel and Sabrina had nocciolo (hazelnut).  It was delicious.  We looked around at a few shops and I found Bergamo to be quietly stunning.  We then made our way to the train station as the girls had suggested I go to Torino for the day today.

Nothing and no-one had prepared me for the sight I would see as we turned onto a particular road and you could look up and see 'Citta Alta' (the old town built on a hill).  The sight literally took my breath away.  So beautiful.  The colours were not the colours of Italy that I know which is why I think it took me so much by surprise.  The autumn colours have also commenced, so I'm not sure if my perspective is changed because of that.  I also had never heard of Bergamo before the girls had moved there.   I certainly don't remember learning about it at school, nor any travellers recommending one visit.  If you are planning a trip to Italy, I strongly recommend a visit, especially if you are planning on going to Milan, as it is only an hour by train and you could explore it in a day.

After purchasing the tickets for Torino, we started the walk towards the old town.  We saw many beautiful buildings and architecture along the way.  We then had to make our way up the steep climb towards one of the gates to the city.

In Citta Alta, I was mesmerised.  I simply cannot describe the beauty of this place, and to me, it seems very different to other towns in Italy.  We wandered through squares and streets and made our way to the Duomo (an uninspiring building), but next to the Duomo is the Chiesa (di Santa Maria Maggiore).  The church is comparable to any of the great churches in Rome, on entering, once again I was floored because I wasn't expecting to see such beauty.  Also the size of the outside of the building doesn't prepare you for the size actually inside, due to a small adjacent church hiding some of the frontage and deceiving you.

We wandered on, and passed a small shop selling 100% cashmere.  We went in, and there were a couple of Americans trying to communicate with the assistant.  Between the five of us we were able to translate everything, but not without it being a small circus.  The assistant had to ask Sabrina in Italian, who had to then translate it to my dialect, so that I could then translate that to English.  Can you actually believe that went on?  Hilarious.  I then tried on a few jumpers and purchased one.  So soft, so lovely.  After wandering around the old town for a bit more, we made our way once again down the old wall to central Bergamo.  A bit more shopping and then we walked the rest of the way home.

At home we chatted for a bit before going out for a pizza.  This time we drove up to the old town, but to a higher point than we had walked earlier in the day.  Apparently on a good day you can see Milan, but it was night, and a hazy day so we saw the lights of Bergamo and surrounding towns.  Inside the restaurant we also had a table with a view.  Sabrina and I ordered pizza, and Claudia a calzone.  Mine was with eggplant, and hands down, it was one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten.  Claudia and I then shared a Tiramisu which was exquisite.