LATE MAY IN ITALY- SESTRI LEVANTE & BERGAMO

The 'Castello Visconteo' (Pavia's castle)

The last three days here in Italy have gone by so quickly that it seems that I've blinked and the time has passed! Well thinking about it, today is Thursday 31^th of May and I've been in Pavia now for exactly 14 weeks and one day!! It honestly doesn't feel that long, but then on the other hand Pavia is now my home and I feel like I have been here forever as I have friends, a lovely flat (and housemate Elena) and a routine with the Italian language classes and Uni. It's strange to think that in just 4 more weeks I'll be leaving Pavia for good and my entire year abroad will be over! Did I just blink? Where did the last 12 months go? It seems only yesterday I was moving to Salamanca! I move to Milano Marittima in Emilia Romagna on the 1st of July for two months and I have to say that I feel very lucky to have two extra months in Italy as I still feel that I haven't improved my Italian enough. Right, before I get all depressed about the amount of time I have left, I must say that the last week has been great as I've had the chance to visit a few more locations in northern Italy with Gemma. 

The beautiful 'Piazza de Vittoria' in Pavia in the sunshine

Torre Medievale - Medieval Towers- Pavia

Gemma by the 'Beer Food Festival' poster at the castle

On Saturday the weather was gorgeous and we decided to spend all day in Pavia and just chill out. We had a lovely time with Mattia and Barbara on the piazza and I think they enjoyed their English practice with Gemma! In the afternoon we chilled out by the castle and then in the evening we decided to go to a beer and food festival which was being held in the castle, but unfortunately when we went to enter we saw that there was a €3 entry price which we decided was too much given that there weren't that many stalls. We went down by the river instead for a walk and then back to the flat to cook and watch some films. 

The beautiful view over the 'Baia del Silenzio' - Sestri Levante

We got up really early on Sunday morning as we had planned to go down to the Italian Riviera and chill out on the beach for the day. We had a bit of trouble in deciding where to go as we wanted the closest nicest beach-resort to Genoa, and after checking out google photos we eventually decided on a small town called Sestri Levante located around 56km south of Genoa (to the right along the Ligurian coast on a map of Italy). The photos of the bay looked incredibly picturesque and the second I saw them I knew I would do anything to see that view with my own eyes and take some photos! (The keen amateur photographer that I am!). The train journey lasted about 3hours and it went really quickly as we were snoozing/listening to music. Soon enough we arrived in Sestri and as we were both starving, we decided to hunt down the nearest pizzeria/bakery shop and grab a bite to eat! We settled on a 'pomodoro focaccia' (tomato focaccia bread) each and I also was uber piggy and grabbed a pizza slice too! For dessert we were then both unable to resist an Italian 'gelato' and were surprised to be offered cream, chocolate sauce and a topping of smarties for free! We had a wander around the buzzing centre with all of its tiny narrow cobbled streets full of shops, and then went in search of the beach. We stumbled upon the 'Baia del Silenzio' (Bay of silence) which was a gorgeous bay lined with pink, orange, yellow and red buildings and a lovely sandy beach running the whole way along. We found ourselves a patch and got out our towels to set up camp! I then spotted a lovely hilltop walk which I could tell would have beautiful views of the bay, and left Gemma happily sunbathing and listening to music as I went to explore.

The busy streets of Sestri

The yummy tomato foccacia bread

GELATO!

The view along the beach at Sestri Levante - Baia del Silenzio

A gorgeous view of the bay! (I just love that lamp-post!)

A panoramic shot a bit higher up through some wild poppies

Me by the panoramic view of the bay

Me by a small look-out point high above the bay

I was right as the views were just INCREDIBILE! (Incredible), and you could see the whole bay and also right over to the other side of Sestri Levante towards the other beach. I continued climbing and the views just kept getting better, and I loved all of the trees and flowers I saw on the way up such as poppies, nettles and palm trees which all served as foreground in my photos. After I was all snapped out (Out of tens of photos, I have only chosen a few of the best to include in this entry), I went back to find Gemma and it was at this point that she was baking hot from the sunshine so we chose to change spot and hire an umbrella for the rest of the afternoon. I was so hot that I even went swimming and even though it was freezing at first, I just dunked myself under and then I think my body adjusted quickly and soon enough I didn't feel the cold and enjoyed splashing about before heading back on dry land to get in some tanning time! 

Me in the sea

chilling in the sun!

Gemma relaxing under the orange umbrella

Back on dry land and chilling on the beach!

The busy streets of Sestri Levante

The evening sky across the Baia delle Favole (Bay of Fables)

Before we knew it, the time had flown past and soon we were pretty much the last people on the beach, so we packed up and went for a wander around the busy streets again which were now even more bustling from the influx of people who had been on the beach all day. The bars were packed, the cafes were packed and people were happily milling around all of the souvenir shops. I bought a few postcards for my collection and that was about it! We were a bit peckish, so went in search of some nibbles before we had to catch the train back to Pavia. There wasn’t much available so we chose focaccia breads again- one with onions and one was a pizza-style piece. I then had ANOTHER ice cream for dessert- it was half mango though, can I class that as healthy and as one of my 5 a day? All in all it was a lovely day on the beach, and I’m really glad I’ve had the opportunity to see another northern Italian town. 

Monday in Pavia was a relaxing day and Gemma and I met up with Barbara for a coffee on the Piazza around 11.30ish, and then we went to do some food shopping for our lunch. Stuffed full of pizza and salad, we then went up to the castle to relax for the afternoon in the sun and Gemma read her magazines whilst I did some work for my Italian language course which I then went to at 6pm. It was a really good lesson and we were learning the subjunctive tense which is one of the hardest verb tenses in foreign languages as we English don’t have it in our language. After the lesson I met Gemma back at the flat and we chilled out, cooked dinner and went to sleep early as Tuesday morning we wanted to get up early at 8 to make our way over to the city of Bergamo.

A view over the città alta from the Torre Civica

We took the pullman (coach) from Milan central station to the airport as Gemma had already bought her return ticket, and then on arrival at the airport we put Gemma's little case in a luggage store for the rest of the day. We then headed straight over to Bergamo city center by bus which was only a 15minute journey. It might have been a short journey, but it certainly wasn't very pleasant for me anyway! I sat down on what was kind of a seat and a half, and Gemma sat opposite me on a single seat. All was fine for a few minutes, and then an Italian woman got on, and actually sat right next to me on the ''half of a seat extra'' that was next to me!. What I really mean to say is that she sat right on me.. as in sweaty arms squished right up against my arms, shoulders banging and our thighs were more than touching lightly..... she was practically squashed on me! Surely in England this would never happen... you would just stand right? I'm a firm believer in the personal space bubble, but being a languages student and being accustomed to foreign attitudes I have learnt to drop my personal space bubble and accept hugs and especially kisses from strangers, however on this occasion I honestly felt that my personal space has been well and truely violated! Only in Italy.......... 

The funicular from the lower city to the upper city

We took the funicular from the lower city (Città Bassa) to the upper city (Città Alta) which only took a few minutes and came free with a bus pass which was great. We arrived in the upper city, and I was instantly charmed at how medieval it was..... I honestly felt like I had been catapulted centuries into the past! We wandered up 'Via Gombito' and as we were hungry, we decided to stop at a cafe/pizza bar called 'Il Fornaio' (The oven!) which had the most wonderful displays of pizzas and baguettes in the window! Gemma had a kind of focaccia bread baguette with roasted vegetables on it, and I had a pizza slice topped with rocket, tomatoes, peppers and cheese! It was tasty but really quite big! We then decided it was high time for an ice cream for our dessert! Once happily full, we decided to wander and soon came to the 'Piazza Vecchia' which is Bergamo's magnificent piazza. The most impressive building was the medieval 'Palazzo della Ragione' which my guide book claims is a Venetian-gothic style building. I also loved the medieval covered staircase decorated with flowers which rises from alongside.We wandered around the piazza, took photos of the fountain, and then went through the arcades of the Palazzo to the 'Piazza del Duomo' where we saw the city's largest religious building.  I was starting to get confused at this point as to where the many beautiful photos of the city's towers had been taken which I'd previously seen online. After having a quick look on the internet, I found out that the best photo taking spots were from the top of the three towers, so we decided to climb the nearest one which was the 'Torre Civica'/Campanone (Civic tower/belltower) built in the 11th century and situated next to the 'Palazzo della Ragione'. At 53 meters high, we wanted to take the lift however we weren't sure of how it worked so we just walked up instead! It was a tiring walk up hundreds of steps, but the views were certainly worth the effort as you could see for miles around and all over the city- lower and upper parts! The bell also chimed whilst we were up there and scared us half to death! Apparently it chimes every 30 minutes!

The pizza cafe! (Just look at that SELECTION!!)

My slice of pizza <3

Our yummy ice creams!

The Piazza Vecchia

The 'Palazzo della Ragione' to the left, the fountian on the Piazza Vecchia and also the wonderful stairway!

Me by the fountain on the Piazza Vecchia

The large Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore from the Torre Civica

The Duomo- less impressive than the church above I think ..... ^^^

Another panoramic view over Bergamo's upper city! (you can see the fortress where all of the trees are!)

A panoramic view towards the hills

A view of the Piazza Vecchia from above!

Me on the way down afterwards

I love this photo taken through an arched part of the tower

After climbing the tower, we only had 15 minutes spare until we had to catch the 3pm 'San Vigilio' funicular which climbed from the northwest of the upper city towards the castle on the top of the hill. We were expecting an actual castle, however you couldn't enter as it was in ruins. The trip up via the funicular however wasn't wasted as there were some incredible views from the top all over Bergamo, and you could see very clearly the walls of the upper city! 

The view towards the Upper city

Me by the view

A closer photo of the Upper city and all of the towers

Gemma by the panoramic view

Me again by the view!

Gemma and Me by some lovely yellow roses at the castle

After we had finished wandering around by the castle we decided to head back down to the ancient city center and have a look around all of the little streets as I wanted to get some postcards for my collection! We wandered down the narrow pedestrianised 'Via Colleoni' which was lined with boutiques, delicatessens pastry and souvenir shops and I found a few lovely postcards and also bought Dad some dried porcini mushrooms which he will love using in a risotto! We also bought some real fruit mango lollies and licked those whilst walking to the Rocca fortress to the east of the city center which was also a shrine to Bergamo's military past. The views were once again spectacular across western Bergamo, however the real wonderful views were eastwards where you could see the whole of 'Bergamo Alta' including the three towers rising into the sky above the terracotta roofs of the city's buildings. It really was a breathtaking view.

Dad's porcini dried mushrooms

Our mango lollies!

The Rocca fortress

The views north of western Bergamo

The eastern view of the three towers! The first one is the Torre Civica which we climbed!

Me by the panoramic view of the upper city

The wonderful medieval towers rising above the city rooftops!

Me overlooking the city!

After all of that wandering around up to the Rocca fortress we decided it was high time for a sit-down and a nice ice cold beer! We found a lovely cafe/bar on the piazza (the white umbrellas in the photo of the piazza below) and enjoyed our beers and some snacks with a lovely view of the hub of the upper city. At first we were a bit worried that the beers would be really expensive going by our daylight robbery diet coke disaster in Parma the other day, however they were a very reasonable 3.50 euros each and came with the crisps and olives! Yum! We then made our way back down to the lower city as a storm was coming over, and we didn't quite make it into a cafe before the rain came pouring down! We were planning on having a look around lower Bergamo, however the rain was torrential so we just decided to stay in the cafe and have some cappuccinos before catching a bus back towards the train station. I left Gemma on the bus as it continued towards the airport, and I went to catch a train back to Pavia. The storm soon cleared up, and I was able to admire the sunset from the train the whole way home! I had a lovely day in Bergamo, and I hope Gemma did too!

Beers on the Piazza!

The Piazza from the grand staircase

The sunset on the way back to Pavia

Yesterday I had a pretty chilled out day in Pavia and it was strange being alone again! I got my 4th and final learning agreement signed, and also went to hand in an essay and spoke with my Spanish teacher. I then had a glass of wine over at Malene's flat before meeting up with my Italian friend Laura and some of her course mates for a drink as it was their last day of classes ever at the University of Pavia! We had a nice time chatting away in Italian and it was great to meet more Italian people! I really can't wait to go to Milano Marittima in 4 weeks time and meet my au-pair family face to face and also make more Italian friends! Speaking of au pairing, Francesca (Rebecca's mum) sent me some new photos of her at her first ballet class! She looks adorable don't you think? I can't wait to spend the summer playing on the beach with her!

The group of Italians............ + ME!

Little Rebecca at her dance class!

Another one! What a cute dress!

 Allora....... (Well........) time to sum up! I had a lovely week with Gemma and really enjoyed seeing a few more Italian cities- I think Bergamo was my favourite and less so Parma. Liguria (Sestri Levante) was also  a lovely place to visit and I'm sure that the region has much more to offer. The travelling doesn't stop here though! I'm really looking forward to seeing the Cinque Terre with Flo when he comes out in a few weeks, and today my mum is arriving at 6pm and tomorrow we're going to Venice for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing the city again in warmer conditions as the last time I went was a few years ago during January! I have also just booked a set of cheap flights to go back to Lyon in France in 3 weeks time to see my lovely Salamancan flatmate Laurie again! I've missed her a lot and can't wait to be reunited and chill out for a few days by the pool and speak Spanish again! The flight is only an hour and the flight were £40 RETURN! 'Pas mal' (Not bad- French) I say :) Okay I'm off now, I need to get some more work done on my English-Spanish translation essay this afternoon and then at 6 I'm off to my language course for 2 hours whilst Malene goes to collect my mum from Milan and bring her back to Pavia! I'm thinking of taking her to Loft 10 tonight for a bite to eat at 8.30ish and then I think we'll be having an early night as our train to Milan from Pavia leaves at 7.30am tomorrow morning followed by a Eurostar train direct to Venice at around 8.30! A fantastic weekend awaits! Lots of love from Pavia, and I'll end with another lovely panoramic shot of the city of Bergamo! xxxx 

From the Castle down towards Bergamo upper city