The PES Boys had a meeting in Brescia today, so we made it a field trip for the group. I didnt take as many pictures as I'd have liked, but I snapped a few. It was my first time in Brescia. It's am aesthetically strange city, with a mish-mash buildings-fascist in the center and radiating outward to modern, with a peppering of roman ruins here and there. Thats not a critique, just an observation - i really dont have an opinion on that. Next time I'd like to explore a little more. But its a neat place to walk around and people watch! The people are actually trendier than the Milanese! I really do wish I'd taken some pictures, but with Sophia in tow it was hard to snap. There were people that had dogs that looked like their jackets, striped socks on the outside of their pants, and apparently fuscia is next seasons color, 
because EVERYONE had it on!We 2 carred road tripped - criss and ilaria in one, us in another and we went to get greta. Holber was already there hanging at his mom's house. As we got closer to H, I flagged down what she thought was him, but turned out to be a window washer - we need to get that girl some glasses!
We rallied, regrouped,l jumped into the cars, and went downtown. Cars were parked in the main garage. The idea was to go to St Giulia Museum, there was a showing of American scenic painters, a collection from Buffalo Bill, portrait artists and then their regular stuff (the museum is an old monestary built on top of roman ruins so there is lots to see underground, but only max and sophia got to go, since we ran out of time). We mainly saw the scenic/realist painters - i can only remember andrew wyeths name. Lots of Niagra Falls and Yosemite. In front of many paintings there was this guy speaking softly(you couldnt even hear a whisper from him) into a microphone and a group listening to him intently. We couldnt figure out how. Then we realized the people all had cordless headsets. They were clustered in groups so it was hard to get around and we had to manoeuvre thru them. Sophia was quite a good girl, so it so weird when i thought the 'guards' (ie the 20 something year olds dressed in matching trendy grey belted jackets with big fold over lapels) were following us around - was it just to make sure we didnt touch anything? But then Sophia went off with her Dad - and they were still following me around- like a shadow! I would turn around and there would be someone shoulder to shoulder with me. I even did a little test, went around the corner, faked like i was going into the next room, came back in and took the empty spot of where a crowded was standing (and the room was now basically empty) and gazed at a painting turned around and BAM! there was another guard - right behind me! Then Greta made a comment about it - so it was pretty obvious even to her. ' When I move you move!' But, it wasnt just the nipping at my heels that drove me nuts, it was the fact that there were all the old people on the guided tours, shouting loud comments to their friends because they couldnt hear with the headsets in their ears and nobody said anything. Greta would say something to me and nobody said anything. Oliver would say something and no one noticed. But... as soon as I opened my mouth to respond someone would SHHHHH! me loudly before i could finish my one word sentence! After a while Greta and I just busted up laughing every time because there was nothing else to do about it. F'ing racist ( i was the only obviously non italian there) Brescia museum hall monitors! If it wasnt so funny, i would have been annoyed. And of course I did the unfortunate thing of telling everyone what had happened and now they do nothing other than SHHHHHH me everytime i say something!
It's quite a large show. We hurried thru the end but - and of course I got stuck behind a large guided group (and luckily mary cassat paintings), so i turned around to see if i could back track and catch up with the others - of course another group rounded the corner and I got stuck between the two. The guides were all talking in their whispering tones so i couldnt even follow what they were talking about, but i just stared at the portraits like i did. The boys were now late for their meeting and off they ran to the car. 5 Minutes later we remembered Max had the parking ticket and Oliver ran back to give it to us - they didnt trust just shoving it under the windshield wipers. Sophia wanted to go with them she ran after them calling 'Wait Holber, I'm coming!' Luckily something soon distracted her and she didnt fuss they left without her.
Sophia decided to use my hair as earphones and sing - she did a mash up of Hall and Oates 'Maniac' and Backyardigans 'What Do I Like About the Clarinet?' ...see how happy i am about it!
Now back at the parking near the office, O realized h e left the keys to the office in his car, and G had the car keys. So back it was for another meeting, this time they just drove by and snatched the keys out of I's hands without stopping - practically taking one of her fingers with them.On the way back to the car Ilaria decided she and Sophia wanted an ice cream. We passed one place, but it didnt have sugar-free ice cream (Ila cant have sugar). Off it was to look for the next one. By now the dt was crowded-everyone and their dog was out! And S was now tired and had to be carried so Ila went off on a little excursion to find another place. It was a short pedestrian street (see foto) but of course by now the crowds were so thick we couldnt find her anymore... and then we realized we didnt have her phone number - nor she ours. So she had to call C, who by now was in the meeting with the others - of course they all bust up laughing -since they couldnt understand how when there were only 3 of us and we got seperated on the short distance to the car!
Apparently was only that 1 gelateria in dt Brescia. Poor Ilaria! Greta was nominated to drive (she was in the other car with cri and ila and i still dont have a license) and eventually we made it back to our car. Ours is the one on the left and we were parked there first - I have no idea how that guy on the right parked - notice his mirror is in front of ours! Greta, having never drove our car - got it out of that tight space anyways! Brava Greta!
It was off to the international food market (we had vague address and vague name of the store from O) - I dont know how Greta drove - she had GPS but the directions arent always clear because italian streets arent methodical and Sophia cried and whined the whole time! But she didnt and we didnt crash! Eventually we got to the area and there was a big sign that said African Asian Market - but had only clothing in the window, and we wereunsure if this was the one. Luckily it was. There were lots of foods from just about every country that isnt italy - so the name Africa Asia Market was a bit of an understatement. It was quite overwhelming! By now, Sophia was extra hysterical (being now tired/no nap and hungry/no snack) - and we stayed only a short time.
Back into the car again- off to meet the guys. Sophia must have been extra thirsty and she drank a 1/2 L of H2O.Ever since Ila got on her mission, she had her eyes peeled for a gelateria...We never passed a one! Not even a person with ice cream in hand. but....just as we had almost arrived guess what we passed ???!! hooray! See the smile on Ilarias face?!
Greta tries to hide the fact that she wanted an ice cream too!Just when we had just finished the ice cream, the boys called to say they were finished too. We were right behind the office, but quick thinking Ilaria gave us a few minutes leeway on our ETA - knowing that if we got lost or anything we would never hear the end of it!! Lucky too because the ice cream and the bottle of water went right thru Sophia and she had pee-soaked pants (and she had a a diaper on too). Got her changed in the car and it was off again. Got the boys, re grouped again and it off to the lake Garda to meet O's mom for dinner. By now I was so exhausted i totally forgot to take pictures...too bad, O's mom and friends are lovely and their lake flat is beautiful. They were so sweet to Sophia, who was in a horrid mood! S and I fell asleep on the car ride home - luckily we had our reliable driver! whew! what a day!
2 comments:
We had a lot of fun, i would say...
I would agree!!
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