As much as we would have liked to have visited the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore, with their wedding-cake-layered towns, historic Napolean-slept-here palaces and manicured gardens, it was a relief to spend a lot less time in the car and still see the extraordinary walled city of Bergamo.

Bergamo’s upper city (La Città Alta) is the walled fortress city of ancient times and one needs to ride a funicular to access its many treasures. Chief among those are the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore and the Colleoni Chapel that is attached to it. Here we found some of the most amazing craftsmanship that as good as any we had seen in the bigger Italian cities. There was also an impressive piazza and the Campanone Tower, from which we had incomparable views of both upper and lower cities. As always, there were plenty of food choices as well.

We made our way back to our lodging, had another wonderful meal and prepared for our next day’s trip to Chamonix, France, for a week in the Alps. (See “THE ALPS: Stage 2 of the European Trip“

BERGAMO PHOTO GALLERY

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BERGAMO VIDEO GALLERY

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