We didn’t sleep well. We got up, cleaned up, and had breakfast. Then dropped our big bags with our hotel to hold and caught a taxi to the a
train station.

We took a train to Brescia, but then a bus to Bergamo; the desk clerk didn’t know they ran buses to Bergamo… We spent over one and a half hours on that bus.

Back of bus ticket to Bergamo

Front of bus ticket to Bergamo

We finally checked into the Best Western Hotel Cappello D’Oro. This is a premium hotel for Best Western and it is very nice. It’s near the middle of the lower city. Bergamo is split into a lower city, and the upper city located on a hill that’s tall enough to support two funiculars.

The view from our hotel

After getting settled we ate a late lunch at the hotel and got a taxi to the upper city at Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe. It is somewhat medieval feeling – some of the streets are quite narrow and most of the buildings appear old.

Our first stop was the former Monastery of San Francesco, which has the original cloister.

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Outdoor fresco

Ceiling decoration

A view of the cloister

The sign

We then walked over to San Pancrazio, a gothic styled church that’s so unassuming that you could walk right by either of it’s doors. It’s very cool inside with art from the 14th and 15th centuries.

We strolled down Via Gombito to Cappella Colleoni; note, no photos allowed inside. However, it’s a must-see – the interior is heavily decorated in 16th and 17th century styles.

Next door is the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. This is a large church with a lot to see inside.

A wall painting

A panorama of part of the ceiling

Fresco detail

The view ot the altar

The facade of the church

The fence around the baptistry is very cool

Baptistry detail

Baptistry detail

Facade of the baptistry

Facade of the church and baptistry

Across the Piazza is the Duomo, which may have the most interesting ceiling of any Duomo I’ve visited. The outside is pretty unassuming but the inside is highly decorated.

A ceiling detail

An example of beautiful marquetry

An example of beautiful marquetry

Statues around a column

A ceiling detail

A bronze statue

Part of the ceiling

The pipe organ

Part of the ceiling

The altar

A ceiling detail

Above the altar

Part of the ceiling

A fresco

Beneath the pipes of the organ

The (unassuming) facade

We stopped for a Coke Light at Caffe del Tasso, listened to a children’s orchestra warming up, and then walked down the main shopping street.

By then Aviva was starving so we stopped at Albergo Ristorante Sole for dinner. I thought it would be a tourist trap but the food was good.

We were tired so we decided to start walking back to the hotel. We took the Funicular down to the lower city.

The upper city from the lower city in the evening mists

The funicular car

The driver of the funicular

The view down from the funicular

We met a cool English artist on the walk back to the hotel – Michael Paysden and Aviva talked about how he uses lead white to create deep textures and then layers glazes on top to create color layers.

Michael Paysden’s business card

We finally got some water and Coke Zero (seems more popular than Coke Light now) and went back to the room to load photos, take showers, and crash. This hotel has a selection of 6 different pillows they offer, and they provide face towels (wash cloths) at the front desk.

Location:Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII,Bergamo,Italy