A MAGICAL PLACE

Bergamo’s beautiful upper town, the Città Alta (pictured above), is a magical place well worth visiting. Use this website to help you plan your trip to Bergamo in Northern Italy and find your way to some of the other lovely towns and villages in Lombardia that are perhaps less well known to tourists.
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shopping. Show all posts

20171228

Christmas in Bergamo


Natale adds extra sparkle to Lombardy’s hidden gem


The beautiful city of Bergamo has now become even more magical, adorned with thousands of twinkling lights, colourfully decorated Christmas trees and lovingly recreated nativity scenes, known in Italian as presepi.

Christmas tree lights up a corner of Piazza Vecchia
On Christmas Evela Vigilia di Natale, it was warm and sunny with a clear blue sky while people completed their Christmas shopping, with most of the shops open for business, even though it was a Sunday.

Hundreds of people dressed as Santa Claus - Babbo Natale to Italians - competed in a fun run for charity, Babbo Running, handily finishing on Via Sentierone in the Città Bassa, so they could go into the bars still in costume for a refreshing drink afterwards, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Babbo Running finishes in Bergamo's lower town
The night before Christmas, the buses and the funicular railway were running until late, making it possible to go up to the Città Alta to dine out.

Restaurants were open on both Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, Natale, but were all filled to capacity, so it is well worth booking in advance, by either email or telephone, to make sure you get a table at your favourite.

There were Christmas concerts in many of the churches and more informal festive entertainment put on in some of the bars.

The talented Maysingers perform in the Tucans
 Pub in Via Donizetti
Some shops and bars were open on Christmas Day in the morning but there was no public transport running. Thankfully the day dawned bright and clear, with warm sunshine, making the walk up to the Città Alta enjoyable.

Many shops and businesses in the city had followed the custom of leaving a seat outside for Santa, adding to the festive atmosphere.

The shops were all filled with seasonal goodies, such as the traditional Panettone and Pan d’Oro and also torrone, a type of nougat made in Cremona, which is a traditional gift to take when visiting friends on Christmas morning. Negozio Sperlari in Via Solferino, in nearby Cremona, has become famous for making torrone. The concoction of almonds, honey and egg whites was created in the city to mark the marriage of Bianca Maria Visconti to Francesco Sforza in 1441, when Cremona was given to the bride as part of her dowry.

In one supermarket in Bergamo’s Città Bassa, a special offer enabled customers to buy a bottle of Aperol, a bottle of Prosecco and a very large bag of crisps, patatine, for just 10 euros,the makings of a very merry Christmas!


Supermarket special offer

Editor’s note: ‘Particular praise should go to the restaurant Il Sole in Via Colleoni just off Piazza Vecchia in the Città Alta. The restaurant was full for Christmas lunch and offered a very good à la carte menu. The courses were served promptly and all the dishes we ordered were hot and delicious. The staff were cheerful and attentive. It was a lovely convivial atmosphere and I would recommend the restaurant to anyone wishing to enjoy a good Christmas lunch in Bergamo’s Città Alta next year.’

For more information visit www.ilsolebergamo.com

Buon Natale e Buon Anno from Best of Bergamo !





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20160105

Marvellous memento of your time in Bergamo


You can now take the beautiful sights of Bergamo’s Città Alta home with you, not just in your pictures, but also in the form of unique souvenirs.

Bookmark
depicting
towers

A range of gold-embossed, leather bookmarks has been created, depicting some of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the upper town.

The bookmarks are now on sale at the Caffè del Tasso in Piazza Vecchia in the Città Alta and at the gift shop in the Accademia Carrara in Piazza Giacomo Carrara in the Città Bassa.

Elisabetta Campanini - creator
 of Bergamo bookmarks
The souvenirs were the idea of Bergamo tour guide Elisabetta Campanini, who used to collect leather bookmarks, buying them at tourist attractions whenever she visited England.

Elisabetta was born and brought up in the Città Alta and is passionate about sharing her detailed knowledge of the upper town with the visitors she shows round.

“It was always my dream to create the same kind of leather bookmarks for my native city that I used to admire in England, to provide people with the opportunity to buy a souvenir of what they have seen during their stay in Bergamo,” she says.


Five different bookmarks

Each bookmark (segnalibro) shows a selection of architectural masterpieces in the Città Alta:
Complete set of Bergamo bookmarks



  • One depicts Piazza Vecchia, with Palazzo della Ragione, the Contarini fountain and Civic Library.
  • Another shows the landmark towers of the Città Alta - the Gombito Tower and the Campanone.
  • There is a bookmark dedicated to the Colleoni Chapel, showing the façade of the building and details such as the rose window and coat of arms of the Colleoni family.
  • Three churches, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Baptistery and the Tempietto are represented on a fourth bookmark. 
  • And all four gates to the walled city, Porta San Giacomo, Porta San Lorenzo (also sometimes known as Porta Garibaldi), Porta Sant’Alessandro and Porta Sant’Agostino are shown on the fifth bookmark.


The bookmarks are made in Bergamo using high-quality Venetian leather and are on sale individually at five euros or can be bought as a set.

For more details, email freelance tour guide Elisabetta Campanini at info@acrossBergamo.com.


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20121114

Sample Italy's new wine in Bergamo

Delicious Vino Novello
Light, fruity Vino Novello 2012 is now on sale in the shops and being served in bars and restaurants in Bergamo.
If you are planning to visit the city during November, make sure you take advantage of the opportunity to taste some of Italy's new wine, which would be a bargain buy to take home with you because it is relatively inexpensive.
Vino Novello is similar in taste, body and colour to the French Beaujolais Nouveau, which is traditionally exported to other countries after its release. Like Beaujolais Nouveau, Italy's new wine should be drunk quickly after the bottle is opened and unopened bottles should be kept for a few months only.
Although the major area for production tends to be the Veneto, some of Bergamo's local wine producers, who are famous for making Valcalepio, also release their Vino Novello after 6 November each year.
Look out for events and festivals being held in the villages and towns around Bergamo to celebrate the launch of the new wine. Salute!  


See Best of Bergamo’s updated Flights Guide
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20110920

Bergamo street reminds shoppers of historic day

Elegant buildings are typical of
Via XX Settembre
One of the main thoroughfares in the Città Bassa in Bergamo is Via XX Settembre, which leads from Piazza Vittorio Veneto in the centre to Largo Nicolo Rezzara at the lower end of Via Sant’Alessandro.
Dubbed ‘the shopping street’ by the Bergamaschi because of the wealth of smart shops that line both sides, Via XX Settembre is actually named after an important event in Italy’s history.
It was on 20 September 1870 that Italian troops under Victor Emanuel II finally entered Rome and completed the unification of Italy.
Rome had remained under French control even after the first Italian parliament had proclaimed Victor Emanuel of Savoy the King of Italy, despite repeated events by nationalists to liberate it.
But after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war Napoleon III withdrew his troops. Italian soldiers seized their chance and after a brief bombardment were able to enter Rome through a breach in the walls at Porta Pia.
Victor Emanuel II took up residence in the Quirinale Palace and Italy was declared officially united.
Shoppers can celebrate the anniversary today in the department stores, book shops, gift shops, jewellery shops and fashion shops located in Via XX Settembre. Top names gracing the elegant street include Calvin Klein, Stefanel, Benetton, Max Mara, Luisa Spagnoli, Marina Rinaldi and Sisley.






20110102

Shopping in Milan

The Duomo from Rinascente's rooftop restaurant

Bergamo is a good base to choose if you would like to visit Milan to do some fashion shopping.
There is an hourly train service from the railway station in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town) to Milan and the journey takes less than an hour.
Rather than pay Milan prices for a hotel and meals you can return to Bergamo in the evening and enjoy the calm of the Città Alta (upper town) and choose from the wide range of good restaurants available.
When you arrive at Milano Centrale, the main railway station, take the Metro to Piazza Duomo where you will find the the magnificent Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II, which has plenty of upmarket shops and bars.
Opposite the Duomo is the department store Rinascente, which has several floors of fashion, cosmetics, jewellery and handbags as well as a restaurant with an amazing view of the roof of the Duomo and its gold statue.
One of the most exclusive streets in Milan for fashion is the Via Monte Napoleone, where the top designers have their studios and showcase their latest collections in their shop windows.
If you leave Piazza Duomo along Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II and walk to Piazza Babila you will find Milan’s famous shopping street goes off the square to the left. 



20101219

Christmas shopping in Bergamo

Christmas treats on display
Bergamo is a great location to choose for a pre-Christmas break as there is a wide range of shops and you can go home with some interesting presents.
In the Città Bassa (lower town) there are large department stores as well as specialist shops, while in the Città Alta (upper town) there are plenty of individual shops selling unique items.
Traditional Italian Christmas delicacies make good presents, such as panettone and pan d’oro (Christmas cakes) in their elegant cardboard boxes. There are also torrone, a type of nougat that is a speciality from nearby Cremona, the rich flat fruit cake panforte di Siena, and many types of biscuits that are specialities from different parts of Italy .
A good place to look for presents is the Paneficio in Porta Nuova in the Città Bassa, which is well stocked with cakes, biscuits and chocolates from all over Italy ,
For wine, marinated vegetables, oils and vinegars look in the Billa supermarket on the lower floor of Oviesse in Via Gerolamo Tiraboschi near Porta Nuova.
In the Città Alta there are interesting food and wine shops in both Via Gombito and Via Colleoni where you will see a tempting array of cakes, biscuits, wine and fresh pasta to take home with you.
There are also some small fashion shops where you may find unusual Italian knitwear and leather goods.
Books and calendars always make good Christmas presents and there are shops selling them in Via Colleoni and Piazza Vecchia in the Città Alta and in Via XX Settembre in the Città Bassa.
Towards the end of the day, when shopping gets too much for you, visit one of the bars advertising ‘happy hour’, where for the price of a glass of wine you will also be able to sample the sandwiches, pastries, pizza and pasta from the buffet, which tends to be set up at around five pm. Salute e Buon Appetito!





20101130

Lunch by the lake at Sirmione

Sirmione's Rocca Scaligera
A good day out from Bergamo in the run up to Christmas would be a trip to Sirmione, a resort on Lake Garda where there are plenty of shopping opportunities, ranging from market stalls to high class fashion boutiques.
Sirmione lies in a dramatic setting on a narrow, four kilometre peninsula reaching out into the lake. It has a medieval centre full of interesting things to see and is well served by bars and restaurants
You could treat yourself to lunch at the elegant Ristorante Risorgimento in Piazza Carducci in the heart of the historic centre.
The restaurant was established in Sirmione’s salottino (little drawing room) near the lake more than 100 years ago and continues to offer good hospitality, food and wine.
Ristorante Risorgimento specialises in seafood and flambé dishes and serves bread and dolce (desserts) made on the premises.
The restaurant claims to have carefully selected each of the 700 quality labels offered on its wine list. It would be a good place to try Lugana, a light, dry white wine, and Bardolino, a soft, fruity red wine, as they are both produced by vineyards in the area.
Ristorante Risorgimento is open every day except Tuesday. Visit www.risorgimento-sirmione.com for more information.
The views of Lake Garda from Sirmione have inspired many writers over the centuries, from Roman poet Catullus, to Ezra Pound and James Joyce in the 20th century, who once met up in the resort.
Sirmione’s castle, la Rocca Scaligera, was built by a powerful family from Verona in the 13th century and Italian poet Dante is said to have once spent the night there. It is well worth a visit for the views of the lake from the battlements.
You can also look round the ruins of the Roman villa, built in the first century BC, that you will see perched on a rocky promontory. Although they are known as Le Grotte di Catullo, it is by no means certain Catullus ever lived there, although he is believed to have spent part of his life in Sirmione and singled out the resort for special praise from ‘…all peninsulas and isles, that in our lakes of silver lie…’
Opera singer Maria Callas also appreciated Sirmione, choosing to live for nine years in a secluded villa there.
To reach Sirmione from Bergamo by train, travel to Brescia and catch the Milan to Venice express, getting off at Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione station. It takes about an hour to reach Sirmione from Bergamo by car via the A4 Autostrada.






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20100930

Window shop in vibrant Via Colleoni

Via Colleoni is a fascinating, busy thoroughfare leading from Piazza Mascheroni to Piazza Vecchia in Bergamo’s Città Alta (upper town).
Polenta e osei
The narrow street is lined with ancient buildings and is steeped in Bergamo’s history. It follows the line of the ancient Roman town plan and up to the 19th century was known as Corsarola.
Via Colleoni is usually crowded in the evenings with people enjoying the passeggiata as there are plenty of shops selling food, books and clothes as well as a good selection of wine bars and restaurants.
On your left hand side near the top of the street is the 15th century church of Sant’Agata del Carmine, which contains some important 16th and 17th century paintings.
Further down you will be tempted by the displays of fresh pasta, and cakes in the windows of food shops. Look out for the Bergamo specialities of casoncelli alla bergamasca, a type of ravioli, and polenta e osei, a cake resembling polenta topped with birds made out of chocolate.
A traditional meeting place for Bergamo people since 1848, Vineria Cozzi is behind the red door at number 22 on the right hand side, serving a wide range of wines and traditional Bergamo dishes.
Vineria Cozzi
At numbers 9 to 11 on the left hand side is the house where Bartolomeo Colleoni, from who the street takes its name, founded his charitable institution, Luogo Pio della Pieta in 1466.
At number 4 on the right hand side is the Teatro Sociale, which opened in 1807. At the height of its popularity the theatre could seat 1300 people. It closed in the 1920s but has since been restored and is used for cultural events.
Near the end of Via Colleoni there are some small, independent fashion shops to browse in on both sides of the street.
On the left there is also a take away pizzeria and bread shop, Il Fornaio, with an impressive window display to marvel at.
You will then pass the side of Il Sole hotel and restaurant before you emerge into the dazzling splendour of Piazza Vecchia.
Pizza to take away in Via Colleoni
Main sights


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20100403

Easter egg hunt

Easter eggs make a lovely window display
Easter Saturday is usually a busy shopping day in Bergamo.
Anyone who has not yet bought their Easter eggs will have the chance to browse among the tempting displays in the shops such as the one pictured here.
Italian Easter eggs are usually wrapped artistically in
coloured cellophane and tied with pretty ribbons. They often contain a toy, or in the case of Easter eggs for adults, a gift, which can sometimes be as substantial as a mobile phone!
There are some fascinating chocolate and cake shops in the Via Colleoni in the Città Alta (upper town.)
Down in the Città Bassa (lower town) there is a well-stocked chocolate and sweet shop in the Via Tiraboschi, a left turn off the Viale Papa Giovanni XX111 at Largo Porta Nuova. The shop also sells a selection of boxes of chocolates and biscuits that are ideal to take home as holiday presents.