Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
At one end, the post office, with its soaring, right-angled columns, looks like some fear-
inspiring ministry. Insurance companies with giant marble-faced porticoes line the
square's sides. Perhaps most curious of all is the
arengario
, a rather small, rose-marble
structure used to harangue the cheering crowds. One shudders to think what medieval
jewels were swept away to make way for Piazza della Vittoria (Victory Sq).
Museo Mille Miglia
( 030 336 56 31;
www.museomillemiglia.it
; Viale della Rimembranza 3; adult/reduced €7/5; 10am-6pm)
The
Mille Miglia is a classic Italian car race that ran over 1000 miles between 1927 and 1957.
It started and ended in Brescia and took around 16 hours to complete. It was cancelled
after 11 spectators died in an accident in 1957, although nowadays nostalgia races are still
held. The colourful museum is loaded with some of the great cars to cross the finish line.
The museum is housed outside central Brescia in the sprawling 11th-century Monastero
di Sant'Eufemia della Fonte. Exhibits include racing cars, old-style petrol pumps and
there's audio material and archive video footage race films. Bizarrely, the museum is also
home to a
Beatles Museum
(Via della Rimembranza 3; admission incl with entry to Museo Mille Miglia;
10am-6pm)
, which is dedicated to George Harrison.
MUSEUM
Eating
Risotto, beef dishes and
lumache alla Bresciana
(snails cooked with Parmesan and fresh
spinach) are common in Brescia. Via Beccaria is the small but fiercely pumping heart of
central Brescia's evening action. By day, you'll find no shortage of cafes, pizzerias and
the like, especially along Corso Cavour and Via Gabriele Rosa, as well as Piazza Paolo
VI.
Osteria al Bianchi
OSTERIA
€
( 030 29 23 28;
www.osteriaalbianchi.it
; Via Gas-paro da Salò 32; meals €20-25; 9am-2pm & 4.30pm-midnight
Thu-Mon)
Crowd inside this classic old bar, in business since 1880, and try for a seat where
you might be tempted by the
pappardelle al taleggio e zucca
(broad ribbon pasta with ta-
leggio cheese and pumpkin), followed by anything from
brasato d'asino
(braised donkey)
to
pestöm
(minced pork meat served with polenta).
La Grotta
ITALIAN
€€
