A week in Italy: Bergamo

Bergamo is technically only an hour outside of Milan, but it was so uniquely special I thought it deserved a post of its own. For those of you who read the Milan and Venice portions of "A week in Italy," you will remember that Alex and I figured out transportation and accommodation as it came each day. Right before leaving Venice, we found a deal to catch the bus from Venice to Bergamo for a whopping 1 euro each! (We had to even out our transportation costs from the first day in Italy when we booked a hotel near the wrong airport...refer to the Milan post for that story.)

Anyway, after Venice I honestly thought this would just be a last stop before getting on the plane the next morning. I had absolutely no expectations for it. I mean really, how can any place follow the magical maritime city of Venice?

We got a room in the center of a quiet restaurant/shopping district. We may have just spent our last few hours roaming those streets, except that fortunately a very nice local woman asked if we needed help when we were looking at our map. For the next twenty minutes, she walked us through the streets to find our room, chatting the whole time. By the way, she was shocked when she found out we are married: "But you look so young!" Haha. Last thing before she left, she told us we had to go check out Citta Alta, or high city. "You'll thank me for it."

Dear Bergamo lady, you were right. Thank you!!!!!!

Predictably, Citta Alta is the highest residential area in the city and the streets to get there aren't necessarily terribly steep, they just consistently keep going up...and up...and UP.

People told us about the little tram that chugs straight up the mountain, but we decided to get some exercise. And the smug feeling of walking past the tram at the top of Citta Alta was totally worth it.

We definitely took a few breathers on the 16th century Venetian Wall. Yes, Venetian. Originally the Romans built the walls, but when the Venetians came to the city the walls were falling apart and they rebuilt them to fortify the city.

Notice the Venetian symbol of the lion over the entrance gate

The houses in Citta Alta are ridiculously amazing. We met a plastic surgeon while we were there, so I'm not sure if everyone living there is a surgeon, but they have the moolah, that's for sure. Alex kept exclaiming about the expensive cars in the driveways...I don't know enough about cars to say which ones they were though.

One of the simple houses further down the mountain

Luxurious terraced gardens at each house

Most of the wealthy residents looked pretty average, but I was too amused by this couple
playing the part. (The woman stiletto's completed the look)

A few shots of the city and serene view on our way up:

At the highest spot over the city stands the San Vigilio Castle. We climbed the worn stone steps to the top of the tower.

Chink in the castle tower

The castle was...okay. But the view, was absolutely breathtaking.

Not a bad ending to a week in Italy, I'd say.