Choosing Bergamo

Now it was time to go back. Having spent some wonderful days together visiting Italy, our journey had come to an end. We returned again to Milan to catch our flight back, this time from Milan to Zaragoza, sadly.

The choice of Bergamo

We had some time before we had to catch the plane as we left Modena very early. Seeing as how we were all convinced to use this extra time visiting Milan, at least its famous Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which was found just next to it. However, one of my friends suggested dedicating this time to visiting Bergamo, from where the plane departed. She explained to us her reasons, the first being that practically we had all been to Milan and it was too big to spend only tomorrow there; the second was that none of us had been to Bergamo and we'd enjoy it a lot more.

We listened and we didn't regret it, it was the best thing that we could have done.

Discovering Bergamo

One of our friends had already visited Bergamo and explain it to us with clarity. Whilst we were on the train towards the city, she told us that it was divided in two parts, the Upper City (Città Alta) and the Lower City (Città Bassa). The upper part corresponded with the medieval city, the streets had a more irregular route and one can see more older buildings. The lower city corresponded with more modern buildings. When the city exceeded the limits of the walls that surround the Upper City, they began building at the foot of the hill where it's located.

The first thing we did as soon as we arrived was look for a place to leave our suitcases. We all had hand luggage, and initially we took three small lockers and put two suitcases in each one. But we realised that a big one would also fit all of the bags, and this was the cheaper option. It took a while trying to fit them all in Tetris-style, and we managed in the end. We filled the locker to the brim and we only had to pay €4.

Now we were carrying less, we walked up Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Viale Roma and Viale Vittorio Emanulle II that were one after the other. During the whole walk we could see in Old City in the background, the highest point of everything that surrounded us.

Onwards and upwards

On the walk we saw some beautiful buildings like that of the Bank of Italy, or the church Santa Maria Immacolata delle Grazie. We passed a stretch of road on which there two matching buildings on each side, both with Doric columns. Then we walked by the Torre dei Caduti which was located just to the side.

We turned left on one street and started upwards. We went in single file and some of us were left behind. Some of the streets are very narrow, others very steep, and all the floors were cobbled which wasn't very comfortable. It was very warm although it wasn't a particularly sunny day. We were all carrying our coats and there wasn't any space left in the locker, and many of us had bags or rucksacks full of things that couldn't fit in our suitcases.

I complained the most, I didn't stop whining the whole way, or asking when we'd arrived, or demanding that they carried me in their arms (ironically). But I couldn't avoid it, I was really regretting not going to Milan and I kept asking myself what we were doing there.

I cheered up a little when we'd got higher and there were beautiful views of the city, some of the buildings we walked by were visible and I stopped to take a picture (and so I was able to rest). I was definitely the last one who remained there.

After taking many photos I began walking more quickly and reached them straight away. All of a sudden we started seeing older, more medieval buildings, we were now arriving, it was missing little, this gave us hope. We continued walking and eventually arrived at the entrance to the Upper City.

Entrance and streets of the Upper City

The entrance was easy to recognise, it consists of an enormous white monument with three entry arches and at the top it has a drawing of a lion. It's the Porta San Giacomo, one of the four entries of the medieval walls of Bergamo.

Before crossing through the gate we stopped to rest, although I didn't dare to sit on the edge of the walls as it was very high up. Something that really caught my interest were the green areas that surrounded the walls and separated the old city from the new, Città Alta from Città Bassa. The separate districts of the city of Bergamo were easily distinguished.

We ventured further into Bergamo's medieval district, in Città Alta. The streets were very steep and had big walls that concealed the heights that separated them. The surfaces of these stone walls were covered with a lot of vegetation. Just as we arrived at the first square we saw that we could have caught the funicular, which without doubt I totally recommend. The buildings were well maintained and one material was present in all of them, stone.

Bergamo's Duomo

When we arrived we saw the Duomo, it was very big. We appeared in a square that had other buildings, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Capilla Colleoni and the Palazzo della Ragione.

We understood why it was really worth the effort going up in the style of pilgrims up to there, it's beautiful and perfectly maintained. All the details, both in the interior and exterior of these buildings, can be seen perfectly, the frescos are well preserved and I don't think I had ever been so aware of the beauty of cathedrals from the medieval era, which wasn't too many centuries ago.

After admiring this place, which left us all amazed and speechless, we passed under the Palazzo della Regione, which was raised on some arches and beautiful domes and we appeared in a new square.

We were in Piazza Vecchia. In the centre was a fountain, the Fontana di Piazza Vecchia. It's surrounded by some lions, (yes, like in the Alhambra de Granada). In the background was a huge, very pretty white building, it was the Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, it was very bright and stood out amongst all the other buildings in the area.

Food and return

We were starving and we looked for somewhere to eat. We didn't go very far, the place we found was next to the library, it appears in the image on the right. It was called Albergo Ristorante Il Sole, it was a little expensive but really worth it. We were seated on the terrace, which is private, it's surrounded with a stone garden wall and next to a woodland area. As it was Spring we were practically surrounded by flowers and plants, it was very pleasant. They served us straight away and we all ordered pizza, we could see them make it from scratch and bake it in the oven. It was all delicious. I'd definitely recommend this place.

After eating, we carried on walking up to the Palazzo Roncalli, located in the Piazza Lorenzo Mascheroni. Then, passing under the tower of the square we arrived at the Piazza della Cittadella, and walking across it at a diagonal angle we appeared in a forest area and we returned going around the buildings that made up the Piazza della Cittadella. Then we returned to Piazza Lorenzo Mascheroni for a little walk through the trees on the sides.

Soon our plane was going to leave, and we had to return to the train station to catch a bus that would take us to the airport. We started our descent through the streets of Città Alta, which now wasn't so difficult. We went down those streets between the big walls that obscures the height of Città Alta, knowing that this was our last walk through Italy.

We arrived at Città Bassa, leaving behind the medieval area bit by bit, it got further and further away and we returned to the station. We were very content having chosen to visit this beautiful city. We felt nostalgic, but also satisfied.

Click here for more photos of the trip

Photo gallery