Northern Italy -
Our first European trip together
Our first European trip together
Day 4 – Bergamo
We left Verona shortly after breakfast and set out for Bergamo. There really
are two Bergamos…the main part of town which is mostly newer, non-
descript buildings and streets, and the older citta alta or “upper city.” The
latter is a small, undriveable cluster of cobblestone streets and medieval
buildings. That’s where we stayed for the next two nights, at a small,
friendly pensione called the Albergo Agnello D’Oro (or “golden lamb”).
Bergamo looks like someplace from a time machine. Everything looks
about 800 years old, and a wet, persistent fog only added to the medieval
atmosphere of the place. We wandered through the streets a bit, taking
photos along the way, until the dampness became a bit much for Marisa
(poor Marisa!) and we ducked into a local tavern for some warmth and
some thirst-quenching.
We dined at the hotel our first night, and discovered that it was a well-
known establishment noted for its rustic, regional specialties such as
polenta with fresh porcini mushrooms. We ate well; Chris especially
enjoyed his charbroiled beefsteak. Throughout the meal, we shared table-
space in the cozy dining room with a couple from Germany who spoke
English as well as we do.
Day 5 – Bergamo
Chris woke up early and strolled out into town to find some strong
espresso to jump-start his day. In the town’s main piazza, he found a place
selling an English-language newspaper (the International Herald-Tribune)
and checked on the World Series (Braves won!). Chris seated himself next
door at Café Del Tasso, and sipped a truly sublime espresso while
reading of Sid Bream’s wild run.
We explored the remainder of the town of Bergamo that day, including the
beautiful baroque interior of the local cathedral. Then we set out for a
daytrip to Lago Maggiore and the surrounding area. We stopped off in
Stresa for a late-morning snack and some more coffee, but the weather
was less than ideal, the boats weren’t running, and almost everything was
closed down for the season. We drove around a little bit more, but by now
Marisa was feeling really sick. So we cut out trip to the lakes short and
motored back home to Bergamo.
That evening, we stopped for coffee and dessert at another local café that
was serving an assortment of young-ish customers from a variety of
nations. The place was getting ready to close, but a young French student
started playing a piano in the corner of the room. Everyone stopped talking
and listened to him, and the more attention he got, the more he hammed it
up. He actually was quite good. These are the sort of oddly memorable
moments that international travel is really all about; we didn’t necessarily
realize it at the time, but have learned it many times since then.
We both slept well that night.
Day 6 – Adventure in Liguria
Chris, having not driven a car in years, was starting to recapture his
passion for driving on the Italian autostrade. That passion would serve him
well today, for the destination was Portovenere on the western coast.
The plan was to drive through Genoa, down the coast, stop at Portofino (a
must-see spot!), find a hotel down in Portovenere, and, time permitting,
hire a boat to take us to the Cinque Terre. An ambitious plan, to be sure,
but doable…if our timing was right. On this particular day, that would be a
big “if.”
The white-knuckle, 100-mph hairpin turns and tunnels leading into Genoa
had Chris on the edge of his seat (and the edge of sanity) for much of this
leg of the journey. Heading south toward the Ligurian coast, we found the
small coastal road that would take us to Portofino. Apparently, several
thousand other travelers were able to find that road on that day as well. It
took us hours to putter along at less-than-walking speed until we finally
reached Portofino. But the ordeal of finding a parking spot in the only
carpark in town, combined with the lingering effects of a day full of stressful
driving, finally sent Chris into a full, hair-standing-on-end spaz attack. Right
there, in the middle of the scenic playground of the rich and famous, Chris
spun the car into a hard U-turn and stormed back into the nearby town of
Santa Margherita Ligure. We never even got a picture of Portofino for our
efforts.
Back at Santa Margherita, we had a nice thin-crust pizza and a bottle of vino
rosso on the veranda of a nice restaurant near the water. Our nerves
started to clam a bit. We steadied ourselves, took out the map and planned
our getaway to Portovenere. Marisa agreed to take the wheel for the last leg
of the day’s journey.
As we started back down the coastal road heading south, it started to rain
very lightly. The road was narrow and slick, and oncoming traffic was taking
the frequent switchback turns at a furious pace. The 10” high, sheer stone
curbs were particularly unnerving. Chris was secretly thankful that it was
Marisa’s turn to drive. That is, until she smacked straight into one of those
stone curbs at full speed.
The resulting blowout forced us to turn immediately off the road and into a
small parking spot. Chris got out to examine the damage. Bad news:
blown tire. Worse news: it started raining for real. Really bad news: the
directions for using the weird-looking jack and changing to the spare were
all in German. Chris struggled through it, and was making good progress,
when a kindly stranger came along and helped change the tire like a pro.
Random acts of kindness from strangers are a good sign that the travel
gods are smiling upon you.
Once the tire was changed, we took a moment to get our bearings. We
couldn’t go too far on the donut we just installed, so making it to
Portovenere was unlikely. It was Sunday, so no place would be open to sell
us a new tire until tomorrow. The only good news: we were stranded less
than 50 yards away from a 4-star resort hotel! Yes, another sign from the
travel gods!
It was, by far, the nicest room and the nicest hotel we stayed in during this
trip. The view of the harbor from our balcony was gorgeous. Dinner was
marvelous. The whole town is lovely. We’d very much like to return to Santa
Margherita Ligure someday, preferably when the weather isn’t as gray and
our mood is more agreeable.
Next > Florence to Cortona
See all of our trip photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
We left Verona shortly after breakfast and set out for Bergamo. There really
are two Bergamos…the main part of town which is mostly newer, non-
descript buildings and streets, and the older citta alta or “upper city.” The
latter is a small, undriveable cluster of cobblestone streets and medieval
buildings. That’s where we stayed for the next two nights, at a small,
friendly pensione called the Albergo Agnello D’Oro (or “golden lamb”).
Bergamo looks like someplace from a time machine. Everything looks
about 800 years old, and a wet, persistent fog only added to the medieval
atmosphere of the place. We wandered through the streets a bit, taking
photos along the way, until the dampness became a bit much for Marisa
(poor Marisa!) and we ducked into a local tavern for some warmth and
some thirst-quenching.
We dined at the hotel our first night, and discovered that it was a well-
known establishment noted for its rustic, regional specialties such as
polenta with fresh porcini mushrooms. We ate well; Chris especially
enjoyed his charbroiled beefsteak. Throughout the meal, we shared table-
space in the cozy dining room with a couple from Germany who spoke
English as well as we do.
Day 5 – Bergamo
Chris woke up early and strolled out into town to find some strong
espresso to jump-start his day. In the town’s main piazza, he found a place
selling an English-language newspaper (the International Herald-Tribune)
and checked on the World Series (Braves won!). Chris seated himself next
door at Café Del Tasso, and sipped a truly sublime espresso while
reading of Sid Bream’s wild run.
We explored the remainder of the town of Bergamo that day, including the
beautiful baroque interior of the local cathedral. Then we set out for a
daytrip to Lago Maggiore and the surrounding area. We stopped off in
Stresa for a late-morning snack and some more coffee, but the weather
was less than ideal, the boats weren’t running, and almost everything was
closed down for the season. We drove around a little bit more, but by now
Marisa was feeling really sick. So we cut out trip to the lakes short and
motored back home to Bergamo.
That evening, we stopped for coffee and dessert at another local café that
was serving an assortment of young-ish customers from a variety of
nations. The place was getting ready to close, but a young French student
started playing a piano in the corner of the room. Everyone stopped talking
and listened to him, and the more attention he got, the more he hammed it
up. He actually was quite good. These are the sort of oddly memorable
moments that international travel is really all about; we didn’t necessarily
realize it at the time, but have learned it many times since then.
We both slept well that night.
Day 6 – Adventure in Liguria
Chris, having not driven a car in years, was starting to recapture his
passion for driving on the Italian autostrade. That passion would serve him
well today, for the destination was Portovenere on the western coast.
The plan was to drive through Genoa, down the coast, stop at Portofino (a
must-see spot!), find a hotel down in Portovenere, and, time permitting,
hire a boat to take us to the Cinque Terre. An ambitious plan, to be sure,
but doable…if our timing was right. On this particular day, that would be a
big “if.”
The white-knuckle, 100-mph hairpin turns and tunnels leading into Genoa
had Chris on the edge of his seat (and the edge of sanity) for much of this
leg of the journey. Heading south toward the Ligurian coast, we found the
small coastal road that would take us to Portofino. Apparently, several
thousand other travelers were able to find that road on that day as well. It
took us hours to putter along at less-than-walking speed until we finally
reached Portofino. But the ordeal of finding a parking spot in the only
carpark in town, combined with the lingering effects of a day full of stressful
driving, finally sent Chris into a full, hair-standing-on-end spaz attack. Right
there, in the middle of the scenic playground of the rich and famous, Chris
spun the car into a hard U-turn and stormed back into the nearby town of
Santa Margherita Ligure. We never even got a picture of Portofino for our
efforts.
Back at Santa Margherita, we had a nice thin-crust pizza and a bottle of vino
rosso on the veranda of a nice restaurant near the water. Our nerves
started to clam a bit. We steadied ourselves, took out the map and planned
our getaway to Portovenere. Marisa agreed to take the wheel for the last leg
of the day’s journey.
As we started back down the coastal road heading south, it started to rain
very lightly. The road was narrow and slick, and oncoming traffic was taking
the frequent switchback turns at a furious pace. The 10” high, sheer stone
curbs were particularly unnerving. Chris was secretly thankful that it was
Marisa’s turn to drive. That is, until she smacked straight into one of those
stone curbs at full speed.
The resulting blowout forced us to turn immediately off the road and into a
small parking spot. Chris got out to examine the damage. Bad news:
blown tire. Worse news: it started raining for real. Really bad news: the
directions for using the weird-looking jack and changing to the spare were
all in German. Chris struggled through it, and was making good progress,
when a kindly stranger came along and helped change the tire like a pro.
Random acts of kindness from strangers are a good sign that the travel
gods are smiling upon you.
Once the tire was changed, we took a moment to get our bearings. We
couldn’t go too far on the donut we just installed, so making it to
Portovenere was unlikely. It was Sunday, so no place would be open to sell
us a new tire until tomorrow. The only good news: we were stranded less
than 50 yards away from a 4-star resort hotel! Yes, another sign from the
travel gods!
It was, by far, the nicest room and the nicest hotel we stayed in during this
trip. The view of the harbor from our balcony was gorgeous. Dinner was
marvelous. The whole town is lovely. We’d very much like to return to Santa
Margherita Ligure someday, preferably when the weather isn’t as gray and
our mood is more agreeable.
Next > Florence to Cortona
See all of our trip photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
Bergamo, Albergo Agnello D'Oro
Bergamo
Bergamo
Santa Margherita Ligure
Santa Margherita Ligure - the tire
Santa Margherita Ligure
Santa Margherita Ligure
