A case of ABC.

Tuesday 26th June

We decided to forego the cable car trip and instead go in to the city of Brescia which has a lot of history and plenty to see. When we were here in 2014 we were focused on the Mille Miglia and didn't really go in to the city. We were armed with the information on where to park to get the best access to the old city and had no trouble getting there.

Well, if you haven't already seen enough churches in your travels, then Brescia will certainly solve that problem. There are at least a dozen in very close walking distance to the centre, and many more as you go further afield. We visited a few of the churches, and each was stunning in its own way. We were saved from visiting the umpty-dozen that there were because the churches are closed between 12.30 and 2.30. There is something to be said for the Italian working hours. In fact, nearly everything appeared to close up between 1 and 3.

The Palazzo della Loggia - built between 1492 and 1570.
This is the place of the government of the city.

 

We arrived in the city right on the hour and looked up
to see these figures striking the hour on the bell.

Piazza Loggia - at the far end of the piazza there is a plaque
to commemorate 8 people killed in a terror attack there in 1974.

Noticed this beautiful table setting at one of the restaurants.

The Duomo Nuovo on the left (built 1604 to 1825)
and the Duomo Vecchio (built end 11th century) on the right.
The Duomo Vecchio was built on the remains of an older church
and you can see roman remains and mosaics under the floors. 

Inside Duomo Nuovo - pretty elaborate but not OTT like some.
There is just so much fine detail in some of the carvings,
and the marble colours are stunning.

Church of St Maria dei Miracoli -
closed for lunch but the outside was pretty stunning.

Marble! Church of St Maria della Carita.

Beautiful flowerboxes.

Everywhere you turned there were picturesque streets and alleys.

An area of the city where they are excavating roman ruins
- the white parts are the original structures
and the brown bits are what they have reconstructed.

We tried to get in to a tour of the opera house but they were booked up until July, so that was a bust. We did have lunch sitting on the front steps - just takeaway burger and chips.

The hotel restaurant was open tonight so we ate dinner in. A very nice meal - pasta, steak for me and stuffed guinea fowl for Rob and millefeuille with pear for dessert. The owner of the hotel is a chef who in his past life had a michelin star restaurant.