We're With the Band: A Day Trip in Bergamo

Last year another teacher sent me the most amazing thing in the world: the 'to do list' she gives to her visitors. 

As someone who's been in Milan for probably 10 years (I can't remember exactly how long it's been), she's explored so many areas and tried enough restaurants to really have it narrowed down to the best. One of her top day trip suggestions is Bergamo, a city about 25 miles north of Milan. I can't believe it took me over a year to make it to the beautiful city, when it's not even an hour away by train, and cost less than 12 euro round trip!

The city is split into two centers: Città alta (upper city) and Città bassa (lower city). 

We traveled up to the Città alta via funicular. The word 'funicular' had been thrown around a lot when discussing Bergamo, but I honestly had no idea it meant 'cable car' until getting inside one. The upper city is surrounded by 17th century Venetian walls, and maintains a medieval atmosphere, with tiny, winding streets, cobble stones, and surprise cathedrals around each corner. We stumbled on the weirdest garden in the world, a colorful, geometric area with creepy music playing and a couple in wedding attire who did NOT look happy. It was such a huge contrast from the rest of the area, and we were completely and utterly confused about what was going on around us. We took a second funicular up to the second level of Città alta to the Castello di San Vigilio, the beautiful remnant of a medieval castle with a phenomenal view. 

As our day came to a close, we hopped back into a cable car for a ride back down to Città bassa. 

The sound of a marching band became louder and louder the closer we came to the ground, and when we finally arrived we found ourselves surrounded by older Italian men, dressed in camouflage with Robin Hood hats, playing in a band. The happened to be marching in the direction of the train station, so we marched along with our musical escort. We skipped along happily, until we realized we were about to miss our train back to Milan, and then literally ran the rest of the way, jumping on the train, sweaty and stressed, with seconds to spare,  thrilled to be in the middle of another 'Only in Italy' experience.

Where We Lay Our Scene

As I see more of my beautiful Italy, I can't help loving it more and more. 

I still have nearly two years left on my contract, and I'm already starting to worry about how I'll ever be able to leave. But enough of that, on to adventures! Last spring, a few friends and I found that there was an opera festival in Verona each summer, and that the festival would last through our first few weeks of school. We quickly booked ourselves an apartment through Airbnb and reserved tickets for the most perfect show we could ever see in Verona- Romeo e Guilietta (aka Romeo and Juliet)! I'm so glad we booked it so far ahead of time; had we waited until September, I never would have followed through. Having a weekend getaway with three awesome girls, however, was a wonderful way to unwind after the stress of the first week back at school!

The first adventure of the weekend was the train ride. We had gone out the night before and stayed out a little later than planned. Because I'm still living in Opera, Ali let me stay with her that night to lessen commute-to-the-train time. We ended up running into Harris at the train station and decided to get some very necessary McDonalds breakfast sandwiches and coffee to wake ourselves up. Even though we should have had plenty of time, it somehow came down to an important decision as we finally arrived at the front of a very slow moving line. It was three minutes til departure time: do we order our breakfast and pray it comes fast, or skip it? Luck was on our sides- we were able to grab breakfast AND make the train! Poor Katie was already in her seat, no doubt worried she was headed to Verona on her own. 

 

We spent the beautiful day wandering through the cobble-stoned streets, enjoying fresh-fruit cups from a market we found in town. 

I overheard an English-speaking tour guide telling her group that we were in Piazza delle Erbe, which was the city's forum in Roman times. Right off of the plaza, we found what we'd been looking for: Juliet Capulet's house. No, it wasn't really her house. Actually, the lovely balcony was added on in 1936 in an effort to appeal to tourists. On The List, I had added "Leave a note on Juliet's wall in Verona," envisioning the beautiful brick wall from "Letters to Juliet," with thoughtful little love notes and wishes tucked into the cracks. I had not imagined a graffiti covered wall coated in bandaids with couples' initials and heart shaped pieces of chewing gum stuck to every inch. Yuck. Well, yuck in a somehow aesthetically pleasing way. There was also a gate full of love locks, placed by couples sure that their love would last an eternity. Anyway, even though I didn't leave gum, a lock, or a bandaid, I did rub Juliet's right boob, which supposedly guarantees fortune and luck in love. We can only hope! (All the single ladies, put your hands up!). I'm crossing it off the list anyways, because a boob-rub is good enough for me!

After a gloriously long nap, we struck back out for a night on the town, beginning with a completely magical evening of theater. I didn't get a great picture of the Arena di Verona, but imagine a slightly smaller Colosseum (or google it). Each summer, Verona holds an opera festival and we were lucky enough to book seats at the last show of the season. The amphitheater is Italy's third largest, and was completed in the first century. It was absolutely awe-inspiring; sitting on the steps of an ancient amphitheater, watching a performance with three wonderful friends in Italy. I can't begin to describe it; I love Rome for its history, and the Colosseum is amazing, and here I was, using a similar space for it's actual intention- seeing a show. Add that to the magnitude of watching Romeo and Juliet performed in Verona... I was basically in heaven. 

Things at the show were a little funny though. We had spent the day discussing how even though the show was going to be in Italian, we all knew the story well and would definitely be able to follow along. We quoted parts we were sure we'd know no matter the language throughout the day and wondered if they'd sound just as beautiful in Italian. Somehow, however, despite the fact that this was the Arena di Verona Festival di Opera, none of us realized that this was going to be an opera. It made no sense at all. I'm pretty sure that Romeo was introduced alongside his fire-breathing dragon car, and Juliet was locked up in a metal cage pretty often. At one point, Katie leaned over to me and whispered, "I'm pretty sure this is the balcony scene," and I nearly died laughing. How could we possibly be unsure!? And yet, we were... Even if it was a confusing show, it was beautiful and I was blown away by the experience. 

borrowed from 20somethingsproblems

Romeo's new dragon car

"All this is but a dream"

Such a beautiful night!

My beautiful friends!

I never blogged about Genova last year, but it was also a wonderful trip. One of the highlights was staying out all night dancing, and that was part of our Verona plan as well. Unfortunately, it turns out that Verona has basically no nightlife (at least one that we could find in one night- maybe if given more time?), and we couldn't find anything open past 1am, and absolutely nowhere to go dancing.

The next day, we had a late train and spent the day wandering through the beautiful plazas, enjoying the city, and shopping. Somehow I always have good luck shopping with these girls! Verona is an incredible city, and I am so lucky to have experienced so many beautiful things on this trip. 

My future car

View from the bridge

My Personal Paradise: Granada

Most of this post was written from Bird Poop Plaza <3

As I said about Barcelona, Spain is my soul sister and being there makes me feel complete.

 Granada is forever close to my heart after being my first taste of Europe back in 2010. Studying abroad in the charismatic city was one of the best times of my life and I’m so grateful to have had that experience.  There’s something special about Granada. Yes, you could say that about any city, but Granada is a place of intense relaxation and reflection, as well as the site of some of my craziest and most memorable nights. Other than the Alhambra, there isn’t much pressure to do intense sightseeing, but there’s still so much to take in. When Holly and I first spoke about her visiting Europe, I knew I wanted to bring her to the Europe I first fell in love with. Booking our trips was a job and it was kind of intimidating trying to do all of our planning, but while looking at our hotel options on Google StreetView, I actually cried seeing where we would be staying. I could quite literally go on about the amazingness of Granada for about 11983740193847093487403872 years, so I’ll narrow it down to a few of the best moments.

Checking into our hotel in Plaza Nueva

Realizing that this was where we were staying was what brought on my Google-Street-View-Happy-Tears. It's such a central part of the city I love so much and was amazing to be back. From our balcony, we could see a little piece of the Alhambra and could look down at flamenco shows being performed in the plaza below. 

The Alhambra

The Alhambra is by far the most amazing place I've ever seen. It magnificence goes beyond beautiful gardens or architecture- ever inch of the incredible palaces is a work of art. The intricacy of the details that cover the walls and ceilings is so breathtakingly beautiful. Holly and I would often catch each other's eye and just shake our heads, mouths hanging open, at complete loss for words. 

 

Meeting Holly's friend for tapas

One of Holly's friends was studying in my beautiful city and we met up with her our first night. She reminded me of so many of the little things that made the experience what it was, like how slippery the sidewalks were and that there is no better drunk food than shwarma. I was beyond jealous of her for being in the middle of her Granada experience, but it was fun to here about what's changed and what experiences carry through the years.

Tea, crepes, and hookah 

We stayed right around the corner from streets filled with little tea houses that serve all different flavors of tea, delicious crepes, and hookah and spent one sweltering afternoon sampling all three. You wouldn't think visiting a tea house would be a great way to spend a hot day, but it was. Afterwards we got terrible henna tattoos- both were beautiful and intricate when wet, but mine looked like I was scribbled on with magic marker, and Holly's flaked off immediately. A month later, my arm hair is still dyed black... 

 

Shopping our way through the Albaicin

The Albaicin is an amazing section of Granada that feels like an old Moroccan medina. The little gift shops are filled with colorful, mosaic glass lamps, inexpensive jewelry, beautiful paintings, incense, and more. I love tourist shopping anywhere, but the shops here are my favorites and it was a ton of fun to wander back into my favorites from years past. I bought much too much: A beautiful lamp for my bedroom (Holly and I picked up one for our parents, too), earrings, sparkly pillowcases, a little ceramic pomegranate ("Granada" means pomegranate and you can find them all over the city), and a bunch of great little gifts that I can't name for the sake of a certain sister-reader :) 

Museo de Cuevas Sacramonte

This museum was one of the places that made my little sister love the idea of visiting Granada (other than the fact that I never shut up about how amazing it is). My study abroad group toured the museum, and I was so happy to have Holly experience the view of the Alhambra, and the culture of the gypsies that inhabit the caves. Between the history, the flamenco dancing, and the gorgeous pottery, it's a really interesting culture to learn about!

Photo credit goes to Holly Streisel :)

Tortilla, Tinto de Verano, and Spanish Olive Oil

Three of my favorite foods/beverages/condiments: It makes no sense that an egg and potato omelet would taste good on a sandwich, but tortilla bocadillos are one of my favorite foods ever. Try as I might to recreate tinto de verano with wine, lemonade, and seltzer, it's never the same. Italy has Lemon Fanta though, so maybe I'll be able to do it here! Finally, Spanish olive oil has a very distinct taste and I swear I could drink it. 

Night out at Hannigans and Camborio

Nights out were some of my favorite Granada memories, and most nights out included a trip to Hannigans (karaoke night!), Camborio, or both. Holly and I had a 7am flight back to Milan from Granada, so we went to Hannigans for an early drink. One of my favorite Granada people was supposed to come back and be at the bar (but got there too late), so one of his friends (the bartender) kept us company and said he'd meet us later if we wanted to pack and come back. So that's what we did- packed, took a nap, got back up around 2am, and headed back to the bar. We made a few new friends before heading to Camborio, an amazing club in a gypsy cave that overlooks the Alhambra. Watching the sunrise over the Alhambra as we headed back to the hotel to pick up our suitcases (and treating my sister to her first shwarma) was such a "Granada" experience!