Brescia Brescia
is located in the Padana Plain very close to the Alps and at the end
of Val Trompia. Brescia is 45°32' North Latitude and 2°14' Longitude
Monte Mario. The borders of the town are marked by the Ronchi Hills
(East) and Mella river (West). Brescia lies on the connection (both
railway and highway) between Milano-Venezia. Southbound you can also
take the highways to Cremona and Piacenza. Several turnpikes make
the traffic easy towards: North (Val Trompia, Iseo Lake, Valcamonica),
West (Bergamo, Milano), South (Cremona, Parma), and East (Mantova,
Verona, Garda Lake, Trento, Valsabbia). The distance between Brescia
and the closest towns can be summarised as follows: Km 88 to Milano,
Km 48 to Bergamo, Km 49 to Cremona, Km 100 to Parma, Km 65 to Mantova,
Km 68 to Verona, Km 115 to Trento.
Milan
The dynamo behind the country's economic miracle, MILAN is a city
like no other in Italy. It's foggy in winter, muggy in summer, and
is closer in outlook as well as distance to London than Palermo, a
fast-paced business city in which consumerism and the work ethic rule.
Because of this most people pass straight through, and if it's summer
and you're keen for sun and sea this might well be best. But at any
other time of year it's worth giving Milan a bit more of a chance.
It's a historic city, with enough churches and museums to keep you
busy for a week, much of the city a testament to the prestige-building
of the Visconti dynasty and their successors, the Sforzas, who ruled
here in Renaissance times; and the contemporary aspects of the place
represent the leading edge of Italy's fashion and design industry,
not to mention a nightlife scene which is perhaps Italy's most varied.
Venice
Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Built on
more then a hundred islands, the city's architecture is a mixture
of Renaissance, Byzantine, and Gothic styles. In Venice as in no
other city, the reality proves to be yet more impressive than the
publicity. Romantics simply must travel in vaporetti, the city's
'water buses' or take a 'traghetto' gondola to cross the width of
the Grand Canal in truly romantic style. There are many other attractions;
museums, concerts and the Venetian Carnival to enjoy. The best time
of year to visit the city is during the spring and autumn when the
weather is cooler and the crowds are fewer.
Verona
The easy-going city of VERONA
is the largest city of the Veneto, and, with its wealth of Roman sites
and streets of pink-hued medieval buildings, one of its most interesting.
First settled by the Romans, it later became an independent city-state,
reaching its zenith in the thirteenth century under the Scaligeri
family. Ruthless in the exercise of power, the Scaligeri were at the
same time energetic patrons of the arts, and many of Verona's finest
buildings date from the century of their rule. With their fall, the
Viscontis of Milan assumed control of the city, which was later absorbed
into the Venetian empire.
