Quick stop in Brescia

August 1, 2009
After Milan, we weren't quite sure where to go! So we spent the night in Brescia, a fairly large town on the way to Verona. We stayed in a small hotel and the first evening we did nothing! We got some groceries, ate some bread and cheese while watching BBC World and MTV Italia! And it was wonderful!
The next day, we took a trip through town and found some really surprising and amazing things!
Our first stop was the Museo di Santa Giulia, an archeological museum that was one of the best that we have seen. One the site they had excavated two Roman houses where the flooring and basic floorplan still exist! It was crazy to walk around this place where people had lived about 2000 years ago. Nothing about the homes were primative either, they were incredibly elaborate with mosaics covering the floors and frescoes (only remnants remain) on the walls and ceiling! A little ways away from the museum are remains of a Roman theater and Capitoleum, the picture above.

Part of it had to be reconstructed, but that did not take away from how impressive it was.

We packed ourselves a lunch for the day and found a nice spot on a porch of a beautiful building, partly designed by Palladio. About halfway through our lunch, three policemen walked up to us and said that it is illegal to eat on a national monument. So if we didn't want a 120 euro ticket, we needed to move!

All over Italy is beautiful art! Every church and every museum has amazing paintings, sculpture and architecture! This painting is by Titian, one of Erika's favorite artists and his works can be seen in places all over.

Side by side were two cathedrals, this older one which was really interesting. It's floorplan was circular instead of cross shaped and it such a different feeling than any other church we've been in.

This is inside a cathedral with an alterpiece by Titan in it. We have discovered that there is way too much art in Italy and impossible to keep it all in good condition. While some things are amazing to look at, others are disapointing because of their poor condition. This painting was one of those disapointing ones because of the dirt and soot covering it.

Overall, Brescia was an excellend surprise!