Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife
He remembers Bergamo, Italy. It’s in the mountainous North of Italy, just South of the Swiss border and about midway between Maranello, where the incomparable Ferrari automobiles are manufactured and Milan, home of the La Scalla opera house, where the American soprano Leontyne Price is memorialized.
Two very different paths in life: Grandfather’s from the factories of Detroit Michigan to the Mountains of West Virginia and to Bergamo and back; Miss Price from Laurel, Mississippi to the Juliard School of Music to the great opera houses of America and Europe and back.
Bergamo has to be one of the most “alive” places on earth. Young men and women, two-by-two aboard little buzzing motor scooters, zipping around the traffic circles, down the narrow streets and through the tunnels everywhere, miraculously mingling without mangling themselves, and the coexisting motorcars — everything from tiny little bug-like things to imposing Mercedes. Best food imaginable at little restaurants here and there. And the architecture, music and art!
Bright colored flowers in pots along the streets and and in the gardens of the tile-roofed houses hugging the mountainsides, vineyards climbing where the houses weren’t.
Grandfather was in Bergamo to hear his granddaughter sing the soprano role in Pergolisi’s oratorio “Stabat Mater.”
The performance
Soprano soloist, Grandfather’s granddaughter
At the maestro’s house; a view from the deck.
Another view from the deck.
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About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here.
Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family
Thanks for the travel log. There was a decent boxer named Luca Messi from Bergamo who was nicknamed the Bergamo Bomber. Now I have a better feel for what Bergamo is really like.
Hi Paul. Your comment is typical of those of of other readers here as well. You-all usually have had some contact or experience similar to that described by Grandfather. Thanks for writing!
Bergamo was my only time in Europe. Other time overseas was in Japan and the Philippines, while I was in the Army.
(Ed. Note: You can click the link in RD’s name on this comment for more info.)
Bergamo, yes! I stayed in a very cute B&B a little bit outside the center of town and it really made my stay there very special. Bergamo is beautiful. It’s great for people who enjoy walks and hikes. Of course, there is great food too. It’s Italy after all! The downside is there ain’t much going on there, so if you ‘re looking for a lot of nightlife, stick to the bigger cities.
We (my granddaughter, daughter and I) were preoccupied with preparations for the granddaughter’s performance (very interesting in it’s own right – costuming , etc.), but the maestro and other performers knew the most lively places to eat and we also attended other concerts and prowled around in little old OLD churches and galeries. We had a great time!
Turin and Venice and unnamed nearby towns, which could include Bergamo, will apparently be among the first in the world to suffer the Wutan coronaviris pandemic.
https://apnews.com/bda63e372d4d0e5f393744e2cff6fdf1
My experience has been that Bergamo rolls up the sidewalks by 9 pm, but it’s a very beautiful place to explore and just take in the great Italian atmosphere. It’s also only 20 minutes by train from Milan which is a city with lots of stuff to keep you occupied. Another nice thing about Bergamo is that beautiful Lake Como is nearby!
My experience echos yours, Rachel.
Lake Como can be seen in the distance, in the second photo from the Maestro’s deck.
“Italian authorities said they are considering creating a new quarantine zone in near Bergamo, a city east of Milan, because of increasing cases there. Already, a cluster of towns south of Milan and in an area near Venice are under quarantine, with army checkpoints to stop people from leaving or entering the zone.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/confirmed-coronavirus-cases-outside-china-pass-10-000-11583228968