Before I go somewhere, I always like to check out a few guides and find out other people’s impressions of the place, so today I’m bringing you an introduction to Bergamo, Italy – but with a difference. It offers a sneaky peek inside the streets and character of Bergamo and is illustrated with the wonderful work of Miki de Goodaboom. The piece itself is written by her partner, Kev Moore, whose words have made me want to pack my bags and head there immediately!
I had visited Bergamo (Lombardy, Italy) once before, having a day or two to kill before performing a concert in the Altopiano region.
The photos I brought back so enamoured my artist partner Miki de Goodaboom, that she incorporated a visit into one of our trips this year. She rented a lovely bohemian flat in the centre, called ‚Carpe Diem’ – needless to say we did that, and used our time to the maximum to explore the city. The guy who rented it to us was, I must say, a great advert for Italians – very kind and with a nice sense of humour.
Bergamo is something of a best-kept secret. At least, it was to me. It had never really appeared on my radar until that first visit, and I’m pretty well travelled.
But step off the train in the lower town and you’re immediately struck by its welcome. Broad streets, open plazas, and peaceful public parks.
The pace of city life was so much slower than that of Palermo in Sicily, where we’d been some months before, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a different country entirely! I think indeed, that the spacious and calming parks dotted around Bergamo are an important contributory factor to this – places where you could escape the city in just a few short steps and find a modicum of peace and tranquility.
Our visit took place at the end of October 2014, just as Autumn in all its golden glory kissed the city. The reds, golds, yellows and browns so easy on the eye.
The lower town had treasures to share, mainly architectural, vast public buildings adorned with impressive stonework, pavement cafes and many interesting and creative sculptures accompanying the interested traveller as he makes his way up the main thoroughfare to the base of the Citta Alta – the high city.
If the lower city is regal, then the high city is the crown that sits atop it. There are several ways to reach it, bus, good old-fashioned walking, or the exceedingly romantic funicular – for me, the only way to arrive in the Citta Alta! In a quaint two-level carriage, you are hauled up a vertiginous track carved through the hillside, its sedate pace affording wonderful views of Bergamo beyond. A minute or two later, you are deposited in the old station, and emerge into a cobblestoned courtyard, with various alleys sprouting off in all directions each with a promise of its own.
The deeper one delves into this wonderful place, the more it reveals its charms. The glorious churches, the quaint streets, the mouthwatering and inventive displays in the delightful shop windows.
And, this being Italy – the smells! It is virtually impossible to pass any of the culinary emporiums without sampling something, be it delicious sliced pizza, traditionally oblong, not round, in a dazzling variety of flavours, or chocolate bread -surely the downfall of many a curvaceous Italian woman!
It was truly a delight to pass by the myriad of window displays…wines, cheeses, cakes and breads, cleverly presented with artistic flair. The wine displays particularly captivated Miki – her French heritage betraying her!
Needless to say, from Miki’s artistic perspective, Bergamo above and below was a gift – a cornucopia of motifs unrivalled!
You can find out more about Kevin here and see more of Miki’s work here.
