Bergamo Warnings Or Dangers Tips by johngayton

What Goes Up Doesn't Necessarily Go Down...

...that night anyway!!

On our last night in Bergamo dinner was at Il Sole restaurant in the upper town. I'd had a few pre-dinner beers, a few snifters of wine with dinner and then a few post-prandial beers just to say "bye" to a few people. As a result I was feeling a bit melancholic - HA! - for "melancholic" read "squiffy". So I decided that instead of attempting to find the footpath down to Citta Bassa I'd take the easy option of the funicular.

Well it was only about 11.30 and when I got to the station the bar was still open. I wandered in and enquired of the barman as to what time the last train was. "Midnight." I was informed.

DING! Just time for another beer or two then ;-HIC!

So a couple more beers were duly enjoyed, as too was the great view from the Caffe della Funiculare's terrace overlooking the lower city and then it was time to head downwards.

There were a couple of dozen people waiting, mostly locals judging by the dress standards and accents. However when the car arrived at the top the driver got out and announced (well that's what I'm assuming he announced given that my Italian is limited to "Una Birra Preggo.*) that the service had finished for the night.

Anyway all those waiting just sort of shrugged and dispersed. Me I went back to the bar and managed another quick beer before heading downwards ambulatory-wise.

This turned out to be a very atmospheric little journey. The downwards path wound through the Venetian walls and the gateways in them and being slightly (SLIGHTLY!!) drunk my imagination ran wild. It was as if I was a Venetian night watchman patrolling the city walls and ready to save my city should the barbarian Huns, or whoever, appear.

I hardly bounced off any walls at all ;-HIC!

Bleedin' Motor Cars!!

Whilst the upper city is relatively traffic free (because there is very little parking) there seems to be a constant stream of motor cars and scooters just driving around in circles in the late evenings. This was a real pain when we were trying to enjoy a little al fresco conversation in the street (via Borgo Canale) after dinner on the Saturday at Colombina. They weren't driving particularly fast but there just seemed to be a constant stream of them on what is a very narrow street that doesn't actually go anywhere.

In the Citta Bassa you get the opposite - up and down the main drag of Emanuele/Roma/Papa Giovanni the boy racers zoom past with their souped-up engines screaming.

Ban them from the streets I say!!!

Pollution!!

As with most modern cities Bergamo's Citta Bassa has very busy roads and the location on the plain means that on windless sunny days the exhaust pollution from the vehicles tends to settle at street level.

Coming from an Island in the Atlantic Ocean I particularly notice air pollution when travelling and the atmosphere here was pretty thick. I noticed a few people wearing these face masks and don't blame them. So if you have respiratory problems it might be advisable to pack one with you - me I just took another drag on my cigarette to counter balance the effect.