Bergamo is located less than a 2-hour drive away from home, in the Lombardy region of north-west Italy.

We knew the city of Bergamo only as the home of ‘Orio al Serio’ airport, aka Milan Bergamo. We’ve flown to and from this city many times and yet we knew nothing about it.

This short weekend at the ‘Bergamo Half Marathon’ event would put this right and introduce us to yet another Italian city with great character and hearty food! So we packed our bags with a bit of everything: umbrella, sunglasses, swimming gear, and running shoes.

Saturday in the rain

I don’t mind the rain and I love walking around with an umbrella. Just as well because the first day it never stopped raining.

The curious thing about the city is that it’s divided in two: Bergamo Bassa (Lower Bergamo) which has plenty of shops, restaurants and bars in an elegant city setting
and Bergamo Alta (Upper Bergamo), the medieval city perched on top of a hill. Over the weekend we visited both.

Cheese Shopping at Chiari Formaggi

First stop was this delightful delicatessen. It’s been around since 1934 when it was a one man-on-his-bike-selling-cheeses kind of business (which is how a lot of them got started!) and is stil in the family so you can imagine they really know their cheeses.

There are plenty of local ones to choose from because in Bergamo you’re not far from the pastures of the Central Alps. I narrowed my choice down to three cheeses for a tasting with fig jam, plum jams, and chestnut honey:

• BRANZI smooth semi-hard cheese with an easy-going taste.
• STRACHITUNT the ancestor of Gorgonzola, it’s a wonderful creamy blue
  cheese.
• TALEGGIO (a moody soft cheese with a rustic charm- our favourite). This
  cheese comes in square slabs that are easy to slice up for your cheese board-
  apparently this is so they could fit easily inside the wooden boxes put on a
  donkey’s back as they were taken to market. Sweet.

Cable car ride to Bergamo Alta

We took the cute little cable railway to Bergamo Alta. It takes about three minute to climb the steep incline up to the top and bring you to Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe.

From here you’ll notice straightaway the Harry Potter-esque vibe of Bergamo Alta: twisting and turning cobbled streets; dark and interesting doorways.

And you’ll pass little shops and more cosy looking restaurants than you will ever need, all leading to the cathedral at the top.

La Piadella (Via Gombito 1/d)

About halfway up, we stopped for a quick and tasty lunch. of this next-level snack,
cousin to the piadina, a circular flat bread stuffed with cheese and ham and then
grilled.

We had the piadella bergamasca: so that’s a piadella made with sourdough starter
so super light, stuffed with local salami, local Taleggio cheese, Novella salad leaves
and mushrooms.

Take Home the Local Pastry: Polenta e Osei

Polenta with Birds is the Bergamasco sweet version of a typical rustic dish served in Lombardy and the Veneto, made with, wait for it, warblers, larks, thrushes or even robins, roasted on the spit with lard and sage- served with polenta. Yes, I know you might wince at the idea of eating our dear little Christmas bird but there you go, this is local food history/culture.

The sweet version is a dome of yellow almond paste covering layers of sponge and hazelnut cream and topped with decorative baby birds made of shiny dark chocolate.

Walk along the perimeter walls

We made it to the top for some beautiful photos of the cathedral and the Colleoni Chapel. Then we took the scenic route, walking down towards Bergamo Bassa. We passed by a football pitch set in the countryside, looking over towards the city’s football stadium and home to Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio- one of the top football teams of Italy.

Swim and Sleep at DOMITIYS QUARTO VERDE

When Mr CA says he’s booked us somewhere to stay I’m usually sceptical. It can be good or bad- nothing in between. And after our recent experience in Trieste where the private bathroom turned out to be everyone else’s private bathroom too, I was feeling nervous.

But DOMITYS QUARTO VERDE turned out to be a great place and more. So it’s central in Bergamo Bassa with underground parking. It’s a residence for Seniors, which also offers apartments for tourists. It has some great facilities and stylishly designed communal areas with plants and pops of colour.

And with Seniors sat around chatting or reading the newspaper, it was almost like having parents again. What a beautiful feeling. Anyhow after all that walking in the cold rain, we hopped straight into the swimming pool to warm up.

Sunday in the sun

Bergamo Half Marathon

Race day tuned out cold and sunny. Mr CA’s favourite running weather. The race went well. The route was interesting and his time was good but never good enough for him. Runners are so tough on themselves!

Shopping in Bergamo Bassa

Living proof that the High Street is not dead. This part of the city has many shops so it’s great for browsing and passing the time while the race is on, until you realise you’re going to be late getting back to the meeting point…

Celebrate at Aneti’ Osteria

We booked this place the week before because the foodie reviews were very good. By coincidence it was also opposite DOMITYS and inside a modern apartment block which was sort of out of sync with the rustic vibe we were getting from the indoor photos online. Anyhow, that doesn’t matter. Don’t be put off, as we almost were. The food is great, homemade and generous and the staff are super friendly.

We shared the traditional local first course of Casoncelli alla Bergamasca; pasta (filled with a rich salty-sweet mix of meat and vegetables, breadcumbs, pears and amaretti bicuits) tossed in the pan with pancetta, sage and butter- which I recreated at home in a more simple form.

Then we had braised slow-cooked venison and wild boar. Both are served with the local polenta (cornmeal) which is called TARAGNA and is a mix of cornmeal, buckwheat and local cheese and butter so this is a dish in its own right actually and not just a side dish.

Try Stracciatella Ice-Cream

Did you know this ice-cream flavour, which sits invitingly in every ice cream counter in Italy, was actually invented in Bergamo?
The original one was in fact made at LA MARIANNA ice cream parlour in Bergamo Alta in 1961. It’s a mix of milk, cream and hot liquid dark chocolate that hardens into fine shards of chocolate on contact with the cold ice-cream.

You really don’t know a place until you’ve visited it and every place deserves a chance. This city felt like a Naples of the North in some ways: edgy vibe, football loving, with gutsy food. And it’s also a city that doesn’t try too hard to please, it just is.