I guess I don't have the hostel to myself. A group of 3 came in late last night, woke me up but otherwise I slept pretty well. I got up early, had breakfast, and wandered Bergamo. Some sort of race going on today, a bunch of runners everywhere in yellow shirts. I walked to the funiculare station, easy to find, and took it up to the citta alta. then I kinda wandered around through the cobblestone streets until I found piazza vecchia, and behind it the stunning Capella Colleoni. The interior blew my mind, so decorative - gold laced stucco all over the ceiling, huge tapestries, paintings on wood. It was really incredible, I stayed in there for a long time. It was a nice time to be there, not a lot of people around. I walked around more, went into the natural history museum just so I could use the bathroom, checked out all the creepy and cool taxidermy animals. Then found the next funiculare up to San Vigilio, and walked up to the castello where the views were breathtaking. All around, views of Bergamo and the other villages, green with blue mountain ranges that stretched forever. It looked almost like Austria or Germany. Just gorgeous. Too bad its a cloudy kind of rainy day, you could only see so far. I returned to the citta alta, found an amazing bakery- with all kinds of bread and pastries and pasta, so much i wanted to buy. Then discovered some random church and went inside. It was during mass, and there was beautiful music and singing and the incense was so strong the whole church was hazy and smoky. Really special, to be part of this Sunday mass. I returned to the piazza vecchia, went into the duomo, all white and gold inside, but got kicked out right away cause it was closing time. Then I just sat and drew the facade of Capella Colleoni, my drawing skills are very poor. Clearly I have not drawn in a while, at least not buildings. I found my way into the temporary exhibit for the Accademia Carrara in the Palazzo Ragione. Tiny exhibition, but there was a wonderful Botticelli and a few other pieces worth seeing. Now, enjoying a craft beer at some little English style pub. I definitely feel very alone today, but I've also felt like I've had Bergamo all to myself, which is lovely.
After my potent beer, it started to rain, so I headed back to the funiculare and then back to the train station. My poncho kept me somewhat dry at least. There is a new set of people in my hostel room, a funny guy from Greece, a girl from England, and some other guy who doesn't seem to want to speak with us. I had a ridiculously expensive cafeteria meal for dinner: bread, fiordilatte cheese (yum), a teeny salad and fruit - for almost €9! What a rip off! Oh well, I didn't want to walk all over in the rain.
