The one where we experienced ‘La Dolce Vita’
Lilac Route in Bergamo, 14/06 - 17/06
Salve from Bergamooo!
For the first time in our Europe on Track lives, we had a surprisingly short and simple travel day from Torino to Bergamo. At Bergamo train station, we were met by Iman from AEGEE-Bergamo, who kindly took us to a nearby restaurant for lunch. After my two course meal that included both truffle pasta and tiramisu, I was fully ready to embrace la dolce vita. In the afternoon, while Dimitris went on a journey in the hopes of replacing his ripped shoes, Ewa was spending time with friends, and I embraced la dolce vita by chilling in our air conditioned accommodation. Later in the evening, I met Elena, a member of the Europe on Track project team and resident of a town not so far from Bergamo. Over ice cream, we had the chance to catch up. It was cool to chat with Elena and compare our Europe on Track experiences, especially considering that she had been an ambassador last year on the 11th edition of the project.
Soon after, we went to an AEGEE-Bergamo event – a pizza party and outdoor movie screening of ‘Luca’. Having not seen a television screen for nearly 4 weeks (except for that one episode of Polish Love is Blind…), I was very happy to sit back, relax and enjoy. Not to mention, ‘Luca’ is a very cute movie highlighting the relationship between people, the environment and education. It may be an animated movie, but its core message was nonetheless relevant to our journey. So while Ewa was still hanging with some friends, and I was having the perfect cosy evening, Dimitris was having quite the opposite… With a dead phone, no sign of public transport and a rumbling stomach – it was a miracle when Elena finally found Dimitris roaming the streets of Bergamo. Let’s just say we were all glad to go home that night.
The next morning, feeling rejuvenated and, in Dimitris’ case, feeling blessed, we headed to the city hall for a visit that Iman and Davide (also from AEGEE-Bergamo) had planned for us. At the city hall we met Romina Russo, the President of Bergamo City Council, and Oriana Ruzzini, the Councillor of Ecological Transition, the Environment, and Greenery in Bergamo. They told us about the general functioning of Bergamo municipality and also mentioned the environmental action plans that are in place in the city. It was interesting that they highlighted the steps being taken towards climate neutrality whilst also acknowledging the expansion of Milan-Bergamo airport. Indeed, this point emphasises how economic expansion and sustainability are often in competition with one another. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t the first time we encountered this sort of competition on our journey.
After the insightful city hall tour, we were ready for even more history. And so, we met with staff from YepTalks; a social enterprise that works on the preservation of cultural heritage. They took us on a tour of the lower part of the city and we discovered many fun facts. Mainly, we learned that the city has a number of manmade canals, most of which are hidden underground nowadays. After thoroughly filling our minds with knowledge of Bergamo, it was time to thoroughly fill our stomachs with traditional foods and unlimited salads at Da Giuliana. This lunch spot was a real vibe with random trinkets and plants dispersed throughout the restaurant. It was definitely inspiring to see how green spaces can also be brought into lunch spaces; giving us both food and food for thought!
In the afternoon, we headed to YepTalks offices where we gave our workshop, Storytelling: From fear to collective imagination. There was even a special guest attending our workshop, a little dog who was very enthusiastic to participate. Aside from the dog, our actual workshop participants had varying levels of knowledge about climate change. Though it really wasn’t necessary to know much about climate to be able to participate in this workshop, it made for some interesting discussions, as participants not only shared their stories but helped to educate one another. Since this workshop also involves envisioning the world 35 years from now, we had many conversations about the extent to which climate change is natural and the extent to which it is exacerbated by humans. Honestly, I was surprised that this debate hadn’t been raised before in the other cities we had visited.
After the workshop and some strolling, we went to a dinner which had been organised by AEGEE-Bergamo. There were around twenty people at the dinner, mostly AEGEE-Bergamo members or study abroad students based in the city. And though the lilac route was, for the most part, joint at the hip, I made the very brave decision to sit with other people at the dinner to make the most out of this large gathering. So while Dimitris and Ewa sat on one end of the table, I sat on the other end, beside Daniele and Alberto. Over various rice and polenta dishes we laughed a lot, enjoying talking about things as unrelated as the Italian language and yogurt advertisements. Since this was one of, if not the, biggest AEGEE local we had visited, it was fun to be able to chat with more people than usual.
The next morning we had some precious free time and while Dimitris decided to explore elsewhere in Lombardy (say hello to Lake Como), Ewa and I headed to a café to do some work for our jobs and degrees outside of Europe on Track. Very kindly, the café staff gifted us two free croissants. Obviously, our day was made. Also on that morning, we moved to a different accommodation located in città alta (the upper part of the city) and it certainly did not disappoint. Having been told we would stay in a seminary for priests, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we were blown away by the accommodation and the views. Even the staff were very kind when met with our broken Italian.
In the afternoon, we met Davide and some others from AEGEE-Bergamo for a tour of città alta where we explored Piazza Vecchia and its many beautiful churches and the library. We also had the chance to stop for some ice cream at the original home of stracciatella. Safe to say, it was the best stracciatella we had ever tasted. While eating ice cream, some goats casually walked past us, and, like all tourists, we took many photos of the goats. But aside from the goats, we also spoke with the AEGEE locals about the general goals of AEGEE and how the organisation coordinates itself across borders. The locals also mentioned how AEGEE sometimes struggles to survive when faced with other pan-European student organisations; such as the Erasmus Student Network (ESN). I suppose the important thing to remember in these cases is that we are all working towards the same goal – a more interconnected and diverse European society. Having not known much about AEGEE before this project, we were learning more and more every day.
On Wednesday morning, while waiting at the train station, Davide came to say goodbye. Thanking him for facilitating our time in Bergamo, he also had a small gift for us – a photo of us all together, and a little piece of shamrock. At home in Ireland, shamrock is a sign of good fortune and so, we were happy to take this little piece of good fortune with us on the journey ahead.
Written by: Sheenagh Rowland
(and the Lilac team)