Domingo, Cinco de Mayo, 2019
While most of the United States and Mexico were busy celebrating the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire's forces in the 5th of May, 1862 Battle of Puebla, the Skorpions' flag football teams were hard at work playing the final regular season qualifying tournament for Nationals next month in the Tuscan city of Grosseto.
Today we were playing at
the Bergamo Lions home field
Besides the Skorpions and Lions, the Cernusco Daemons and Milano Rhinos all had U13, U15 and U17 teams in attendance as usual today for the Group B festivities.
On a Skorpions fan's car
we saw in the parking lot
U13s in Action
QB Tommy back to pass
Tommy going DEEP in the face
of a relentless Bergamo pass rush!
Simone takes one off his nose
GREAT effort by Gabriele!
Talking it over at halftime of
the Lions game
GREAT play by Emma with Gaia
lending support
Alex breaking up the pass with
Alessandro in tight man coverage
Our U13s battled hard today beating the Lions 20-13 before losing to the Daemons 39-25 to finish the regular season in third place in our four team Group B with a record of 2-4.
U17s Recap
Volo chasing down a bomb
from QB Mathias
Tosco Blitzing
SACK THE QUARTERBACK!
Three man pass route
Good effort Volo!
Our U17 team continued to dominate Group B. They first beat the Lions 27-8 before trouncing the Daemons 44-0 to finish the regular season as group champions with a perfected 6-0 record.
On to Grosseto!
U15s Played Two Too
Picolo about to launch a bomb
Sammy on the sliding flag tackle
GET THERE PICOLO!
Our U15s battled hard but had a tough go of it today dropping both games, by scores of 18-6 to the Lions and 18-16 to the undefeated, Group A Champion Daemons. The U15s were 2-4 on the regular season finishing in third place in Group B.
This is one of the Daemons staff who
worked as the U13 ref in our Lions game
He did a good job today but tell me if you agree with me Julien Urgenti, isn't he Frédéric Bastiand's long lost twin brother?
Laurie and I endured the rainy weather while watching all three of our flag teams play their morning games. As the soggy one hour lunch break loomed, we decided to head up to Bergamo's famed Cittá Alta for Laurie to see the city's medieval splendor.
Here we go!
OH NO!
Street vendors and they weren't
selling the street tacos that are
so much a part of a Cinco de Mayo
celebration back home
Laurie was hooked in the first
ten feet inside the City Gate
I finally got her away from
the arts and crafts vendors
Nice Tower
Inside the Chiesa di Sant'Agata
She was a Martyr for the Faith having had her breasts torn off rather than renouncing her Christian beliefs.
She is also the Patron Saint of the city of Catania in Sicily where I coached the Elephants in 2008 and 2009.
A splendid homage to the
Virgin Mary's Immaculate Reception
No, wait, wasn't that was Franco Harris' famous play for the Steelers against the Raiders back in the day?
It looks like Sant'Agata is
about to lose her left breast
I liked the Main Altar
quite a bit
Back out on the charming, narrow streets, we both realized . . .
. . . we were . . .
. . . getting hungry!
We thus headed to Bergamo's
Piazza Vecchia
Laurie had a place for us for lunch and it was right on Piazza Vecchia.
There it is, the Caffè del Tasso
It is considered to be one of Italy's most historic caffès.
It opened in 1476 as a tailor shop and first became a bar in 1581 where it has served food and adult beverages ever since.
This is where Garibaldi's followers, many of them were from Bergamo, met before going into battle.
Yes, 1476 was indeed 16 years
before Columbus' epic initial voyage
The Caffè del Tasso offered a
solid house red wine in my opinion
Laurie liked her white
wine was well
She had the rich rissotto dish while I thought that the damp weather outside made polenta with ragu sauce the perfect choice.
After this great meal in a historic site, we ambled on to see more of Bergamo's charming Cittá Alta.
The Capella Colleoni
Completed in 1476, the capella was originally the mausoleum for Bartolomeo Colleoni (c. 1400-75) from Bergamo who led the Venetian armies in many battles throughout northern Italy during his lifetime.
The entrance to the magnificent
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Is he reading a book while
sitting on a porcelain throne?
Possible use of excessive force
Spare the rod, spoil the child
Battling a SIX headed dragon?
A noble face
This angel may
need bigger wings
Steadying the pillar for
the original Red Lion
Battle scars
This Basilica has amazing
tapestries on display
This ornate confessional
almost got me to actually
go to confession
Almost.
Did I mention that the Basilica,
begun in 1137, is ornate?
Delicate
Splendid!
And another grand tapestry
Who are they?
A Cardinal's tomb?
Holy couple of blokes
Victory Formation,
Take a Knee
The absolute best play in American football!
Just . . .
. . . incredibly, . . .
. . . incredibly . . .
. . . IMPRESSIVE!
And that . . .
. . . cupola!
We moved on to Bergamo's Duomo located 20 meters from the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
A nice Main Altar in its
own right
St. Andrew
The fiery St. Paul with his
ever present sword
A Duomo side altar
dedicated to the Eucharist
Loving all of these ceilings
decorated to the MAX!
Nice lamp
Gorgeous side altar
Ornate is the only word that keeps coming back to me.
Beheadings are always a big hit
in Bergamo
Silver altar?
Duomo dome
Homage to Pope John XXIII
A good image of Pope John XXIII
St. Jacob the Greater
Such splendid art can be found in
Catholic Churches all over Europe
The Torre del Gombito
Dating from the XXII-century, building towers like this one was a way for families to show off their wealth to their neighbors.
The Piazza Vecchia
Good looking Sun sign for this
nice B&B
I like soup, how about you?
One last look back at the
vendors just inside the City Gate
as we started to head back to Varese
Visiting Bergamo for flag football, food and sight-seeing was a great way to spend a Sunday in Lombardia.
Meanwhile, FIDAF, Italy's governing body for all things related to American football, announced their latest DII rankings.
Remember, at the end of the eight game regular season in three more weekends, the top 12 ranked teams will make their respective playoff runs.
The Skorpions are still ranked #7
while our next opponent, the
Varese Gorillas are ranked #10
It looks like the Varese Derby on the 18th of May is going to be a good one!
Stay tuned . . .
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