Brescia (where Calvisano are based) is a much more tricky prospect than Viadana/ the Parma clubs when I went last year. Luckily you've got me to brief you on how to get there.
1.
Where the hell is Brescia?!
As you poor plebian farmer scum- I mean nice countryside gentlemen have never even strayed further than your own villa- I mean experienced the highlights of the world outside of the county of Gloucestershire, you may be pretty confused as to why there is a Rugby Club
outside of Gloucester.
Do not be alarmed! This is a regular occurrence in the Rugby World! Many nations and indeed
English counties have rugby clubs too! Thus, this is the best chance you'll ever have to experience life outside of Gloucester!
Brescia is a lovely town in the province of Lombardy. It is the second biggest city in the province next to its local rival, Milan. It has a lovely castle, stunning buildings and great shopping/drinking opportunities!
Like I said, Milan is quite near to the west. To the east a similar distance away is Verona. To the south is Parma. The small town of Calvisano is just to the south. This therefore completes the so called "Rugby Triangle", the traditional heartland of Italian Rugby.
2. How do I get there then?!
Well, here is the tricky bit. Lucky for you, Calvisano is just to the south so once in the city, getting there should be easy as pie. However, actually
getting to the city will pose a few problems for even the hardiest of Gloucestershire pig farmer.
Obviously, tractors are out of the question, as are combine harvesters. This calls for
flying!
The nearest airport to Brescia is Brescia Montichiari (or VBS for the airport code). This however, only seems to serve Rome as a regional airport with no international flights.
Thus, your only choices are to fly to Milan Bergamo (via Ryanair) and head eastwards, Vernoa and head westwards or Parma and head northwards.
Bergamo makes the most sense. There will most likely be shuttle buses and a rail link to take you to Brescia. However
PLEASE CARRY OUT DUE DILLIGENCE AND RESEARCH BEFORE HAND.
Getting to the ground seems a little easier than getting to Viadana from Parma. Calvisano is connected by train from Brescia and its a half hour journey. Alternatively, bus services may run but don't count on it. Also, don't expect taxi services to be running (if there are any at all there). My recommendation is to see if any Gloucester fans are chartering a coach to go down there, much like us Sarries do when we go to Italy.
3. Where to stay?
Obviously, being Italy, there will be a plethoria of hotels which will have sour faced staff willing to annoy you at every turn. Okay, so its not that bad. In fact, a good search via Lastminute.com throws up several city center based 4* hotels. Unfortunately, they won't have boot scrubbers for farmers wellingtons or gun racks for those nice shotguns if you fancy a spot of pheasant shooting in rural Italy.
NH Jolly Hotel 4* - The Hotel enjoys an excellent location which offers easy access to the city centre.It's offers 87 rooms,with every modern comfort to guarantee a peaceful and relaxing nights sleep.It'a also offers a modern restaurant.The hotel has two brand new meeting rooms that can hold up to 70 people.
AC Hotel Brescia 4* - New-built hotel located next to the Via Togni, the main street of the city connected with the train station and the city centre. The hotel has 113 rooms and it is located in the new business, commercial and residential area of Brescia. It also has 4 meeting rooms and all the characteristic facilities and services of AC Hotels.
Those are just some of the examples there. I wish you good luck!
