Milano to Bergamo

Holly, Aaron and Stella arrived late the first night we were in Milano, and Heather and Keith, who had left a few days earlier than we, and had been hiking in the Italian Alps, now met us in Rota d'Imagna which is another hour north of Bergamo which is a town (much larger than we expected) about an hour north of Milano. So, after a plethora of hairpin curves, we found ourselves in this darling little town about 2 hours north of Milano. The town lines the single road down the ridge of a mountain with houses, churches, restaurants, and stores off one side or the other. Our hotel hangs off on the west side, so the balcony which is the restaurant gets the full sun from sunup to sundown, and we get a full view of the mountains, the valley which is carved from the river Imagna, and all the other very small villages that climb the hillsides opposite ours. The hotel itself has probably 200 baskets of hanging pink geraniums plus other flowers here and there and balconies off every room with still more hanging geraniums! Gorgeous!

The first day we were there, we woke up, dressed quickly, and drove our 2 cars down to Bergamo to take the train back to Milano. We bought tickets, hustled out to the platform and found our train. An hour later, we found ourselves back in the huge central train station where we immediately bought tickets to the metro and took it to the duomo. Climbing out of the subway tunnel, our eyes fell on the enormous and majestic church which we then entered, having extricated ourselves from the gauntlet of string bracelet sellers. Again, beautiful. So many marble statues, marble floor patterns, marble columns, marble etc.

Once outside, we dashed (all 8 of us) for the trolley that would take us to the Duomo Santa Maria della Grazia which housed the very famous da Vinci painting, The Last Supper. Did anybody know the correct stop? I had not thought about this, so I proceeded to ask those around me. No luck. Heather finally made her way to the front of the trolley to ask the driver. Next stop! We disembarked, found the church and made our way into the entrance just in time to claim our reservations and get in line for the viewing. We had to be dehumidified first and then waited in a small chamber until the doors opened. The painting covered the wall of what had been the dining room of the monastery. Intriguing to see the original after having seen so many copies. The figures were very hazy but identifiable, and realistic. It was truly a thrill to see it, both for its famous status and for its meaning to us.

We walked back out into the bright sunlight, crossed the street to the gelateria, and celebrated. The last item on our agenda for Milano was walking on the roof of the duomo. I hoped it wasn't too late. More good fortune. We were in time and took the elevator to the rooftop. What an experience! Here we were, walking along the tile roof with gargoyles practically within reach, under many carved arches, up and down stairs worn with heavy use. It was a marble forest of carving all around us, a grey and black spire fence crowned with gargoyles and saints. Unbelievable. After taking a quick stroll through the Vittoria Emanuele shopping area, lined with the most expensive shops I’ve ever seen, we returned to the metro and made our way back to the train bound for Bergamo where we had parked our cars.

The second morning we woke up early and decided to take a walk around the town which snakes along the mountainridge for quite a distance. We passed a beautiful church which was pretty plain on the outside although it had faded images that had been fresh in the 1800's. But inside it was literally covered from floor to ceiling with vivid, detailed artwork. In the courtyard there was a obelisk engraved with names of veterans of WWI and II. The view from this ridge (higher still than our hotel) was spectacular and punctuated with goats on the hillside. Walking down from the higher ridge back to our hotel, we passed several people all wishing us "Buongiorno" and going on in Italian when we answered back. This little town of Rota d'Imagna was a lovely respite from the hustle and bustle of Milano, and it must be a treat to live here.

The third day we visited the ancient city of Bergamo. It was (can I think of a descriptive word more than spectacular?) That was it. This is a beautiful city which was actually two towns. The upper town or alta citte was built in the 700's on a plateau, surrounded by thick walls, consisting of very small alleyways and loaded with intricate churches, bascilicas, a baptistry, restaurants, stores, an ancient library, and the oldest gelateria in Italy (I think I remember reading). The lower town was more modern and not as interesting. So, we took the funicular to the top and found a bakery and pizzaria that was a work of art in itself. After drooling on the window, we proceeded to order our pizzas and took them to the town center to look at all the magnificent architecture while we gorged ourselves. After lunch, we visited the old duomo where a choir was practicing for a festival. Stella was particularly intrigued, sat down on a pew, and remained as still as I've ever seen her. We visited the other churches and closely inspected a solar calendar before we had to decide which flavor of gelato we wanted.

We wandered through the tight alleyways, walked out onto the upper city walls, and then took the funicular back down to the lower town and drove the snakey road back to Rota d'Imagna. It had been a fabulous day, but all of us were tired, and after walking to the town cafe, eating a lovely meal of assorted pastas, pizzas and salads, we threw ourselves in bed, hoping to get enough rest to be ready for tomorrow.