This series is a collection of my immediate thoughts on what I saw and lived through in Italy, where I moved for work in September 2025. Sometimes it's diary entries, sometimes it's poetry, sometimes just runts about everything and nothing. Enjoy.
Missed Logs 61-70? Read them here. ;)
LOG 71 & 72
After a long reflection I decided not to publish logs 71 & 72 online.
They talk about emotions that I don’t quite yet sorted out in myself and they feel too raw to expose.
They might later appear in the book version of the blog.
If I ever manage to publish it.
Thank you for understanding. 💜
LOG 73
The 1st November is the first Saturday off I have after six weeks.
By noon I already planned two lessons for next week, cleaned, wrote a new chapter for my book and got restless.
The sky is dully grey, but it’s not raining.
Time to head out.
1-11-2025 Undisclosed town near Bergamo
LOG 74
Brescia was the most logical option for a short Saturday afternoon trip. From our town it’s closer than Milan and I don’t need to change trains to get there.
My friend from Milan wanted to take me there, saying that she was surprised at how pretty it was, because Brescia has a reputation as an industrial city and usually gets overlooked by tourists.
I am about to find out for myself.
1-11-2025 On a train to Brescia
LOG 75
I am surprised to find that the city is full of people on Saturday afternoon. There are clothes markets in the city centre and they take up two giant squares and multiple streets.
The squares couldn’t be more different from one another. One of them reminds me of the 1930s buildings in some cities in the Czech Republic, but scaled up. The other is exactly what you’d expect from a historical Italian town – high arches and renaissance decor.
The streets are full of expensive boutiques and for a moment I feel like I am back in Milan.
Amongst all the people, I see a city full of places to visit and I am getting more and more interested.
I want to come back one day, when there are not so many people.
1-11-2025 Brescia
LOG 76
I escape the overcrowded city centre and head up the hill towards the castle. The way up leads through a park full of trees with yellow leaves and for the first time I finally feel it.
It’s autumn.
I did notice it on my daily walks to work, but there is a difference between noticing and feeling. The air smells like those fallen leaves and for me it is the first calm moment after weeks of brain exploitation.
I’ve been craving this kind of silence.
I am not happy to find out, when I make it up the hill, that there is a music festival in the castle and many people are heading there from multiple directions.
I turn back and decide to leave the castle another time.
1-11-2025 Brescia
LOG 77
On my way down to the center I discover more squares and historical buildings. I am especially impressed by the giant gothic arches of the inner square of Palazzo Broletto which I stumbled upon by chance.
If one of my fantasy novels were ever filmed,
I would like some scenes to be shot right here.
1-11-2025 Brescia
LOG 78
I enter another giant square with a baroque cathedral and a much older rotunda next to it. The square is full of restaurants and children running around, playing. It feels authentic, unspoilt and peaceful.
1-11-2025 Brescia
LOG 79
Marie.exe has stopped working.
After entering Duomo Vecchio, the 12th century romanesque rotunda, I am stunned into silence. The amount of space, the arches, the simple decor and the lack of it in general have me fully. The space feels eternal in its silent simplicity. It’s a direct contrast to all the overembellished baroque churches and I’m realizing how sick of them I got. This is the kind of architecture that can still take my breath away.
1-11-2025 Brescia
Photos from 1st November in Brescia:
More photos in HQ in Italy through my lens: Lombardy and Veneto.
