For 4 Euro and 20 cents – about $6.00 – each way, I was able to hop on the train and take a 45 minute ride to Bergamo, east-north-east of Milan.
Amazing amazingness. I’m still picking my chin up off the floor. I’m in awe that I can spend just a few dollars and in less than an hour be walking around in a walled city up on a hill, that was occupied by the Romans in the second century B.C.
They say that the name “Bergamo” has Celtic origins from the word “Bergheim”, “Home on the Mountain”. From what I read, the Celts inhabited the city and built the wall before the Romans took possession. And the story goes on from there.
I arrived at the train station in the “cittá bassa”, the lower city of Bergamo, then started walking in the direction of the upper city, the “cittá alta”. The two are quite separate and distinct from each other in appearance and identity. When I reached the lower “funiculare”, or tram station, I hopped on. I wanted to get UP.
By 11:00 in the morning I was walking on those roads made of upended, round cobbles. They’re actually quite uncomfortable to tread on, but they’ve also been designed with footpath-wide stripes of flat stone. How smart!
In these towns, it’s a thrill to wander the main route and browse the shop fronts, but also – even more so – to get away from main street and explore the back roads.
Bergamo reminds me of other places I’ve visited: San Gimignano, Siena, Venezia, Monteriggioni, Lucca, St. Angelo… There are hardly much more than footpaths in a rabbit warren fashion within the bounds of these cities. One car CAN fit on the streets of Bergamo, but just barely, and with difficulty if there’s also a pedestrian trying to get through. (Some of the cities I just listed don’t have any cars within them!) The narrow, shaded, no-end-in-sight passages generate such intrigue. What’s around the next bend?
At the end of the day, having explored the city and eaten a good meal, my camera battery was flashing red and I shot a few last images as the afternoon light waned. This door (below) caught my eye and demanded that I push the battery for just one more shot. When doing so, a man stopped to chat, saying that he, too, likes the old doors and is a sometime-painter. We talked about the longevity of wood versus stone and the absence of such ancient structures in the U.S. He asked where I’m from and when I told him I’m an American from Seattle, he said “But you speak such good Italian!” I smiled. We shook hands and wished each other well.
What beautiful pictures. You have a great eye! I want to go back!! I loved those pics of “what’s around the bend?” The colors remind me of Cinque Terra or Siena. Oh — we NEED to go back. Doors! I love the doors too!