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As soon as I arrived on a late morning in March in the medieval city of Bergamo (Bergamo set on flickr), high up on a hill, the rain having washed its tiled and pebbled streets and the ochery renders of the Renaissance and Baroque buildings, food and drink were not far from my thoughts. It didn’t take long for my eyes and senses to be sated. As soon as I got off the bus at the entrance to the Città Alta at Largo Colle Aperto, the damp air carried the sweet scents of mountains and lunch. If you enter the city this way, you have the chance to amble (slowly with a case) along the main drags through town, Via B. Colleoni and Via Gombito which have as one of their foci the impressive Torre Gombito, a vestige of penis envy wars from the Middle Ages. I had no expectations of the food in Lombardy. I have eaten in many cities and regions and while there is certainly the kind of regionalism that you read about and watch on TV, but that doesn’t always permeate into the ristoranti, trattorie, enoteche and caffè that visitors find themselves eating and drinking in. The curse of the ‘clone Italian’ is getting as much prevalent in Italy (major destinations at least) as in the UK even if their interpretations are different.

Bergamo, however, surprised me from the start. (more…)