A few years ago, I decided that the best time to go to Europe was June. It was mostly because everywhere we might visit, the local population was still at work, at school, at home, and it would be easier to sneak around, pretending not to be a tourist. When we decided to go to Bergamo, we intended to stay for a day or two, part of a mini tour of northern Italy, before visiting friends in Lake Como, but once we got there, we couldn't leave.

It was a lesson in being unprepared, in having bought the guidebook, but not having read it, in discovering for yourself what you soon realize millions of lucky travelers have discovered before you.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/