Bergamo

Bergamo was a quaint one-day jaunt for us. We decided to drive there on a whim on Saturday, and were pleasantly greeted with some fantastic events. Ben & I were a little familiar with Bergamo, since we visited on vacation last spring before our move. Bergamo has a captivating old city center called "Citta Alta" which means "upper city". This area of Bergamo is surrounded by Venitian walls, and is the quintessential "old Italy". It is here that Italy's charms romance their way into your heart. I am always spellbound by the cobblestone streets, the beautiful old buildings, the magnificent piazzas, and the beautiful people.

We stopped in at a lovely shop for Italian fast food. In this shop, you could pick from a number of tempting foccacia's all teasing at your tastebuds. I chose the tomato with bufalo mozzerella, and also eyed some of the baked goods. They cut you a piece to your liking, toast it up, and it's a delicious way to eat fast.

Later that evening, we noticed a main piazza being prepared for the evenings festivities. We were thrilled to find that there would be an outdoor opera theater production that evening. The selection, Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore (The Elixer of Love). We stayed while they rehearsed, and finally upon starting (9 pm), we were entranced by the swells of the orchestra and the beautiful voices of those involved in the production. It was beyond magical.

We left the theater a bit early, only because Freeman and Grace were not as satisfied to be enjoying the opera as we were. On our way back to the car, we were met with an outdoor puppet theater, where the children were seated in front of a beautiful display. We heard chants from the children, "NO!", "OOOoooh", "AAAh!", and roars of laughter that I couldn't help but be caught up in as I watched the performance.

Overall, the day was spent well....never to forget.