On our way driving over and up up to Lake Garda from Milan in our cool Costco International Benz, we stopped to check out Bergamo for a few hours. We had read that it is undeservedly overlooked, a hidden treasure. Home of Donizetti.
Here's a virtual tourist guide.
The medieval citta alta overlooks a clearly prosperous modern town. We parked the car and took the funicular up to the old hilltop town. We strolled around the town and had a great lunch. Most of my pics are food, classic Lombardy cooking.
They are famous for a polenta-based dessert.
More Bergamo pics below the fold -
Pizza Rusticas
It was Porcini season - the best mushroom in the world
Lombardy-style pizza. The front one has eggplant, with ricotta on top.
Plain and Romanesque on the outside, Santa Maria Maggiore (begun 1100s) had a baroque make-over but in some places you can see the original decor.
Donizetti's tomb in the church
A cool array of column styles on the Colleone family chapel next to the church
We had a fancy and delicious lunch at Colleone & dell Angelo on the old piazza.
I started with the Asparagus Mousse with a cream sauce
then a primi of grilled baby octopus on polenta
then a secondi of Cod (baccala) Salad with potato and olives. This is what I call Italian food. I rarely can handle all the courses, but this was our first real Italian meal in 2 years.
With our caffe, they brought a tray of cookies
I always wonder what's behind those big doors in old Italian cities. Usually a courtyard, and a place to park your car or motorcycle. Northern Italy is a prosperous place. I suspect that they are pretty good at tax-avoidance too. I would say that 50% of the cars on the A-4 highway are BMWs, Audis, Volvos, Citroens, and Mercedes, with a sprinkling of Alfa Romeos, Range Rovers, Volkswagons, and Jeeps.
