Mille Miglia/Brescia - Bergamo Lombardy

Today was the finish of the Mille Miglia in Brescia. Hopped on the Autostrada to be there by 11:30, when the first cars were scheduled to roll in. I hoped that I wouldn't have an issue parking because of all the spectators. I clearly haven't figured out Italy yet. When one uses sidewalks, parks, no parking zones, suddenly there's plenty of space available. A different interpretation of 'event parking'.

The Mille seems to be a pretty big event for Brescia. The center of town, where the cars would roll in, was pretty packed. People lined the street after the finish line and all the cars rolled slowly past - all 400+ of them. The cars that are eligible to run have to be from the years when it was run as a real road race (1927-1957) and had to be an eligible sports car then. There is some seriously cool hardware on the road and it's great to see them being run hard. Here are some examples:


Here's the album:

Brescia, Mille Miglia, May 18, 2014

Most people peel off after finishing, but maybe a third head on to a central town square to park for a few hours. After watching cars roll in for an hour or so, I meandered over to the square, checkout out the cars, had a panino and some Gelato. By the time I was done, It was 16:00 and I was kind of cooked, so I decided to just hop over to Bergamo and spend the night there.

Bergamo is pretty cool. It is divided into a lower and upper city. The upper one is surrounded by a massive wall, which was clearly a good defensive position once upon a time. You can then take a furnicular up to the very top. Stayed in a hostel for the first time, but it was really very nice. Lacks some of the creature comforts, but has a cool vibe. Not that anyone was there. Dinner was at Taverna Valtellinese, conveniently located around the corner from the hostel. Very good find!