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It is worth making a stop at Ckusone in the valle Seriana. This is a characteristic town on a hilltop that attracts tourists to see the Chiesa dei Disciplini. The attraction of the church is immediately visible as the two fifteenth century frescoes are on the outside of the wall of the small church. The higher fresco known as the Triumph of Death focuses on death and wealth and is very impressive while the Dance of Death continues the story and the moral looking at death and its effects on happier commoners. The inscription on the fresco invites those who have lived in the honest service of God to approach death without fear and rejoice and dance. The little town itself is worth a visit and a stroll. If you are lucky to be there on Monday you can witness the market that fills the curving streets selling local food produce, worth buying. Note worthy is the clock in the aptly called Piazza dell'Orologio and if you take the time you can work out date, time, zodiac sign and phase of the moon. Something definitely of note is the jazz festival that takes place in July that has an international repoutation. The Val Brembana heads north west of the city of Bergamo and whileit was used during the middle ages for caravans bearing minerals from the Valtellina, it is now used as a ski route to get to Foppolo and the baths of San Pellegrino Terme where you can take the waters at the fashionable spa. When your skin starts to crinkle you can enjoy the casino the town offers. Other ski resorts near Bergamo are beyond Lago d'Endine, known as Cantoniera della Presolana. It is a large resort with top five star hotels. It boasts fifteen slopes and even an ice rink. Luckily there are reasonably priced hotels for those on a budget and if you find yourself here unprepared there are ski and sled hire outlets. Beyond this maze of Slopes, the Val di Scalve is renowned for Gorge of the Dezzo, a gorge made from the torrents of the Scalve river with spectacular overhanging rocks. Crespi d'Adda is a factory and a village, about half an hour's drive from Bergamo. that was built by the Crespi family at the end of the nineteenth century as an experiment in industrial utopia. The idea was to create a community planned to allow workers to live in order and harmony and thus improve production while improving the living conditions of the workers. Making the workers happy would ensure increased production and allow the owners to make a healthy profit with their conscience clear. Unfortunately the experiment ended in the twenties after a run of about the same amount of time but the village remained inhabited to this day and was eventually placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Even the factory is active producing textiles. |