ROAD TRIP TO THE ITALIAN ALPS: Bergamo, Valle Camonica, Lake Iseo

View from our room in Capo de Ponte, Italy.

In early June, after spending four days in Milan, we rented a car and did a short driving trip to the Italian Alps. It was a trip we had done before, in February 2003. This time, the weather was warmer, days longer, and we spent more time in the Valle Camonica. We started in Bergamo, just an hour or so north of Milan.

Looking over the city walls, Bergamo, Italy.

Bergamo dates back to Roman times, when it was known as Bergamum. It has two parts, a lower city on the flat plain, and the Citta Alta, or upper city, perched on a hill and surrounded by an ancient wall. The cobblestone streets in this medieval city are narrow and there is almost no available parking. On the advice of our hotel, we parked in the underground parking structure, took the elevator to the top, and bumped our suitcases over the cobblestones for the seven-minute walk to our hotel. 

Evening's bread supply for the hotel restaurant.

View from our room in Bergamo.

There we climbed the steep stairs to our room on the top floor of the building, which, we were told, dates back to the fourth century. Our room looked over the hotel restaurant patio below.

The Citta Alta, Bergamo.

Most tourists come to the Citta Alta just for the day and arrive by funicular from the lower city. In addition to its historic churches and museums, the Citta Alta has one long shopping street lined with restaurants and shops--pizza, pastries, gelato, candies, souvenirs, clothing, jewelry—you name it.

Sweets for sale, Bergamo.

Puppet theater.

Among my favorite shop windows was one featuring animal masks. I was also intrigued by a book shop with a small puppet stage displayed in its window. When I was a child I would have loved to have had such a puppet stage

Mother and baby wooly mammoth models, Natural Science Museum, Bergamo.

The main focus of our visit to Bergamo was the natural history museum where we paid a visit to Eudimorphodon, the pterosaur fossil that was featured in my book Pterosauars: Rulers of the Skies in the Dinosaur Age, and to the wooly mammoth model, also a subject of one of my books. See my post at my Art and Books blog about the fossil and diorama of Eudimorphodon. We also visited the historical museum in Bergamo, where there are exhibits about the long human history in northern Italy, from prehistoric to Roman times to the present.

Prehistoric rock engravings, Naquane National Park.

From Bergamo we headed north into the Alps to the Valle Camonica, where our goal was to visit Naquane National Park to see the ancient petroglyphs. 

Rock with prehistoric engravings, Museum in Cemmo.

Our first stop was at the local museum, which provided a preview and information about the discoveries in the Valle Camonica. The ticket was also good for both the Naquane park entrance and another museum. At the park entrance we got a map that guided us to the major petroglyph sites. There wooden walkways allowed a close-up view of the images and sign-boards in both Italian and English explained the significance of the carvings.

View from our room at the Casa Visnenza B&B, Capo de Ponte.

In Capo di Ponte we stayed in a B&B tucked in the hills above the river valley. As I gazed out the window I felt like I had become part of a Renaissance painting. Over a hearty breakfast we got to know some of the other guests and the owner, whose mother had grown up in the house (the youngest of six children). She was very helpful in advising us where to go and what to see. The valley is filled with history and numerous tracks and hiking trails.

One evening, on a short walk, we met a curious pair of donkeys and their foals along the carriage track up the mountain behind our B&B.

Olive orchard and farmhouse at Agriturismo La Tesa hotel.

From Capo di Ponte we drove down the west side of Lake Iseo (through many tunnels!) to the resort town of Iseo, where we stayed for one night in a agritourism hotel in the hills above the town. The original farmhouse is now a hotel and restaurant. The olive orchard and berry vines are still maintained and part of the grounds. (Robot lawn mowers keep the grass perpetually trimmed.) 

Overlook of Lake Iseo from Agriturismo La Tesa hotel.

A short walk from the La Tesa hotel leads to the top of the escarpment with a panoramic view of Lake Iseo and Isla Isola.

Hotel Villa Malpensa, Milan airport.

 
Our last night in Italy was spent at a hotel near the airport. From the window of our room we could see the airplanes taking off just a mile away. But rather surprisingly, the hotel felt rural, surrounded by fields and next to a small village. 

Tower behind Hotel Villa Malpensa.

As we took a walk after dinner that evening we discovered a strange tower that looked like the perfect setting for “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Apparently, it was built as some sort of silo, or grain storage tower.

During the entire trip to Italy we relied on our phone's GPS for both walking and driving. We wonder how we ever managed to find our way on our previous trips to Italy, before GPS was invented! We must have relied on paper maps and verbal directions!

Path between petroglyph sites in Naquane National Park.

We always enjoy travelling to Italy and have been there numerous times—summer, fall, winter, spring. This was our first trip in June, and although the weather was warm, only two days were truly hot (above 90 degrees F.) and we had almost no rain. It was also the beginning of high tourist season, so popular sites like the Duomo in Milan and the main street of the Citta Alta in Bergamo were crowded. But our trip to the Valle Camonica was enough off the beaten track that we felt we had escaped the crowds. It was a good trip.

At the entrance to Naquane National Park.

My report of the first part of our trip, in Milan, posted on June 30, 2025. 

IMAGES OF HAWAII'S PAST: PETROGLYPHS AT WAIKOLOA on the Big Island of Hawaii

On our recent visit to the Big Island of Hawaii, we stopped to view the Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve, a historic site sandwiched between condominiums and golf course fairways,  a short walk from the Waikoloa shopping center. A sign with the following information greeted us at the beginning of the path through the petroglyph field:

This collection of images engraved in stone is one of the major concentrations of ancient rock carvings (petroglyphs) in the Hawaiian Islands. Boundaries were not crossed casually in old Hawaii, and the thousands of surface carvings, just north of the border between the ancient kingdoms of Kohala and Kona, suggest that many may have a religious or commemorative meaning to the event of crossing that border.

Groups waiting for permission to cross, or armies poised to defend the border or attack it, made simple encampments using cave shelters and rock wall windbreaks. Some of the “C”-shaped windbreaks may still be seen in an unrepaired state.

Most petroglyphs were made with a sharp stone held as a chisel and struck with a hammer stone; the lines being further incised with a sharp rock fragment. Others were made by rubbing a blunt stone against a lava surface, or by bruising the surface by pounding, breaking the natural glaze which forms on cooling lava to reveal the granular interior. Erosion of the edges has blurred the most ancient carvings, and some damage has been caused by persons making rubbings (a practice not permitted without special permission.)

We can only speculate about the meanings of the petroglyphs. Some of the information given to early western observers is contradictory, perhaps deliberately misleading to preserve the secrecy of meanings not intended to be shared. But these carvings were not idle “doodling.” In the Polynesian world, every expression had significance and purpose. The pictorial images may have commemorated events, or served as representations or guardian spirits carved as prayer objects, or they may have been heraldic devices of clans. 

Concentrations of dots, lines, and circles may have recorded the number of persons in a group, or days of travel, or prayers made, or the number of trips made past this place, as an indelible communication to posterity. Here, travelers might come upon the signature of an ancestor, and add their marks.

The presence of Hawaiian names in Roman letters, of dates, and of images of sailing ships and horses, poignantly marks a time of change. The most recent carving is more than a century old. Because the trail was primarily used by commoners, these carvings may not have profound relevance to the main events of ancient Hawaii. But all petroglyphs are treasured as enigmatic but tangible evidence of the old culture, irreplaceable and priceless.

Transcribed from information sign at Waikoloa.

The Waikoloa Petroglyph Field is located between two golf course fairways, a short walk from the parking area and gas station adjacent to the Waikoloa shopping center. Go to the link to see photos and detailed instructions on how to get to the site. Be sure to wear a hat and sun protection. There is no shade on the petroglyph field and the sun can be hot, especially at midday.

ANCIENT PETROGLYPHS IN THE ATACAMA DESERT OF CHILE, by Caroline Arnold at The Intrepid Tourist

Petroglyphs in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile

In December 2009, Art and I spent five days in the Atacama Desert in the far north of Chile, staying at Tierra Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama. Each day, our hotel arranged tours to sites in the area.

The focus of our second day’s trip was an ancient petroglyph site in the foothills of the Andes. This turned out to be a private tour, as no one else from the hotel wanted to go there that day.

For thousands of years, a large rock outcrop at the foot of Andes has been used by indigenous artists to make drawings of people, animals and other images.

About an hour’s drive north of San Pedro, we approached an open valley surrounding a semi-circular rock outcrop. A caretaker was inside the small visitor center, but otherwise we were the only people there.

A life-size drawing of a llama, with a smaller image inside it.

Even from a distance I could see the outline of a llama on the first boulder. Deeply incised on the vertical surface, it was nearly life size. The surprise, as we got closer, was that there was another smaller llama drawn inside the larger one, perhaps to indicate fertility.

Puma

Although it is difficult to date rock art, it is believed that some of the images are thousands of years old.

Drawings were found all over the site.

Scrambling up the boulders we saw petroglyphs of more llamas, big and small, as well foxes, pumas, jaguars, snakes, flamingos, and human figures with feather headdresses.

Seated person with feather headdress

As we stood there in the shadow of these ancient images, it was easy to imagine prehistoric hunters resting here on their way to the next oasis.

Foxes

The extremely dry climate is ideal for preserving rock art, and in many cases the drawings appear as fresh as if they were made yesterday.

Our shaded lunch spot in Rainbow Canyon

For our picnic lunch we went to nearby Rainbow Canyon, named for the unusual variety of colorful rock formations. Shade was in short supply, but we found a large rock whose shadow was just big enough to set up our lunch table.

Terraced fields in the village of Rio Grande

For our final stop we drove to the remote village of Rio Grande for an example of terraced farming. The contrast between the small but lush fields at the base of the river canyon and the stark, steep walls that contained them was huge.

Village church in Rio Grande

On the way back to the highway, we spotted a group of guanacos, the wild relatives of llamas and alpacas, domestic animals that are kept for their wool and meat.

Guanaco

A full report of our visit to the Atacama can be found in these posts from May 2011:
Chile: Atacama Desert, Part 1, Flamingoes, Oases and Volcanoes
Chile: Atacama Desert, Part 2, Ancient Rock Art, Llamas and Geysers