To Bergamo, with love

Bergamo (pronounced BARE-ga-mo, not ber-GAM-oh) isn't a city that's on many people's Italian radars. But it's Greenville's sister city. We have a Piazza Bergamo and a Ristorante Bergamo downtown, and since we're over on this side of the pond now, we decided we wanted to see the actual Bergamo.

Now we have, and all I have to say is, Greenville lucked out on the sister city draw. Bergamo definitely got the short end of that stick. This town. Y'all. The old medieval city, Citta Alta, up on the hill. The newer city, Cite Bassa, down at the base. The surrounding mountains. The...just...everything. I am in love.

It started with a wonderful Airbnb stay. I know y'all think they're probably paying me a commission or something, but I promise, I really just am that obsessed. Our very kind host even volunteered to pick us up from the train station and take us to the house. It was even cuter in person than online. Here are a couple of pics (that, much like her own, don't do it justice).

Our flat was up those stairs

Our little studio flat for the weekend.

It was a studio, but that was all we needed because we weren't there very much. And our host, Annamaria, even left chocolates on our pillows and a houseplant (I think it's a rose) for us. Which led to another interesting lesson learned: you can fly with houseplants in your carry-on bag within the European Union. We actually got our little rose back to France!

Anyway, the trip started off on a wonderful foot and continued to just get better. And it's going to be a lot easier for me to show you than to tell you. My words can't compare to this place. So without further ado, here you go:

Pizza on the go for lunch. The crust just melted in your mouth.

View of Bergamo from only halfway up to Citta Alta. It was quite an uphill hike, and we did it twice on Friday!

View of Citta Alta from the halfway point

Because why not make a swan out of flowers on the wall?

I loved the surrounding mountains.

Red rooftops are the best.

View of the church tower during our climb

Rainy evening view of Piazza Vecchio

Saturday: better weather and signs for a month-long gelato festival.

Sunny view of Citta Alta.

We took the funicular up to Citta Alta on Saturday.

Al Donzetti, where we had apertivo on Friday night while it rained.

Tiny, busy Italian streets

How cool is this? It's just a piano tucked in an alcove that anyone can play. We heard several great performances.

It was such a beautiful day.

The hill up to San Vigilio. Oh yes, we walked up that.

Needed a little break

I loved this church

It was indeed a bella vista. What I wouldn't give to live in one of those houses...

Yeah, that below us is the Citta Alta.

Could it BE any more gorgeous?

SO glad to have finally made it to the top.

Obsessed with this view.

The cafe had a gorgeous view.

I loved these colors

We climbed up the fort, too, because what's another 100 steps in the grand scheme of our day?

Totally worth the hike...and the blisters.

Can't resist a bokeh shot.

Side of the fort and the mountains

I love our adventures together

View of Piazza Vecchio

For our last meal, we splurged and ate at Trip Advisor's #1 restaurant in Bergamo, Trattoria Camozzi, which happened to be right behind our apartment. We did the traditional first course, main course, and dessert, with a little free apertivo and tiny glass of Prosecco thrown in. Meal pictured below. It was just unbelievable. We were sickeningly stuffed afterwards. Good thing we walked more than 25,000 steps on Saturday.

Dear Greenville,
Can we be the official ambassadors to Bergamo? Like some kind of exchange program for grown-ups? We promise to represent G-Vegas well and to do our very best to help international relations, aided by much wine and gelato.

Dear Bergamo,
We absolutely loved visiting you, and we hope we get to see you again. Thank you for the beautiful views, incredible food, and precious memories.

xoxo,
E & B