Apparently it’s becoming an annual tradition, as my mother and I went on another trip together for the third year in a row. Our wishes for the trip were cheap tickets, few days, a cheap stay and somewhere we both haven’t been yet of course. And so the search concluded it would be Bergamo, Italy. This was the second time to Italy for the both of us. My mother visited Venice for her 10 year anniversary/postponed honeymoon in 2017 and I visited Rome as a city trip with my friend Nadia in 2015. I think that this time due to all the walking I didn’t gain as much weight as the last time I was here, when I had gained 3 kg in 5 days! This is how our days went:
Day 1
We had an evening flight which was actually very nice because we could take the public transport and get to the airport in the Netherlands ourselves without having to ask someone to drop us off like last time. When we got to Eindhoven airport we were surprised to find how calm it was. There were literally zero lines for security. So we walked through and were nicely on time to board.
The flight from Eindhoven to the Milan Bergamo Airport took a short 1,5 hours. Once we arrived we were picked up by our Airbnb host Riccardo. He was so helpful and gave us many tips where to go to and how to fill our two full days in Bergamo. He made a stop with us for some groceries for the night and mornings, dropped us off at the lovely Airbnb apartment and came in with us to give us a quick tour. After he left, my mother and I each took a nice warm shower, made ourselves a sandwich and both fell asleep soon after finishing them in front of the tv.
Day 2
We took our first morning nice and easy, or in other words: slow. My mother still had some unexpected work to do and so we had our breakfast in the apartment, I watched some tv, series on my laptop, took a nice long shower and managed to get to some messages on Whatsapp and Instagram.
Right after noon we finally left the apartment and took a walk towards the old city, Città Alta, enjoying the architecture and nature along the way. The route that Riccardo had advised us was perfect for absorbing it all in. We passed the Accademia Carrara Museum, but didn’t enter as they were closed. As we walked upwards on the Mura Veneziane, we took a quick stop at the Porta San Giancomo to take some pictures.
We got to the old city around 14:00h and went straight to the tiny station to take the Funicolare (Città Alta or San Vigilio) to the top part of the city to visit the Castello San Vigilio. Which was a couple of meters higher than the old city. There we strolled around, explored the castle and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was a bit cloudy, but I think that on a sunny day it would be amazing to see all the layers of the huge mountains in the distance.
After taking the Funicolare back down we passed a small pastry shop for a snack stop and went into the Città Alta. We took our time and walked through the city, admiring the architecture and taking our breaths on Piazza Vecchia.
Before the sunset we walked back down towards the city in search of a restaurant Riccardo had recommended us: Da Giuliana. The restaurant is very unique as you can see on the pictures and we were served by Giuliana herself! I tried the Casoncelli alla Bergamasca which is a typical dish from Bergamo, a meat ravioli with sage butter and bacon. Delicious! My mother had salmon and we both filled our bowls at the side dish buffet. For dessert we had Tiramisu and some nice soothing tea. After we literally ate our bellies round we took the bus back home.
Day 3
We woke up and started the day earlier. We first went back to the old city. After seeing all that deliciousness yesterday we had to go back and buy some to go. The pizze farcite, which is translated forked pizza, at Il Fornaio was truly my favorite. So beautiful in colors and rich in taste. And all the sweets we saw at the Nessi bakery made it very difficult to choose just a few, and so we definitely did not chose just a few..
After the good food shopping we took a bus towards the city and there we took a train towards Lake Como, to the city Lecco. We took a boat trip, a short tour on the lake for about 30 minutes. After the trip we went for delicious ice cream at Il Pinguino. The pistachio, coconut and rum raisin were amazing! While enjoying our ice creams we walked back towards the train station and took the train back to Bergamo.
Once back in Bergamo we had dinner at Nasti, drank some tea and video-called my sister so she could “join” us. The restaurant was lovely and is known for their pizza, but both my mother and I had pasta either way. Haha, I even chose the same dish I had the day before. I just couldn’t resist. After dinner we took the bus back home, packed our things and prepared for a short night sleep.
Day 4
The next morning we woke up around 4:45h to take a quick shower, pack the rest of our things, sit on our luggage to close it and be picked up by super Riccardo. I asked him how to pronounce his name, because of the two C’s. As my mother and I both wondered, but he said you pronounce it the same as Ricardo. I thought it would be like “Rishardo”. But no, my mom was right. We arrived at the airport in like 15 minutes. Said our thanks and goodbye’s to Riccardo and entered the airport. We had some minutes to spare, so we quickly went into the souvenir shop so my mom could still get something for my uncle, my stepdad and my sister.
Finally sitting in the plane, we took off and about 20 minutes later we flew right above the Alps. Extremely beautiful to see and served as a perfect cherry on top to our lovely trip to Bergamo.
Tashmness. 