lunes, 31 de octubre de 2011

And we reach the end of the chain, momentarily.




My mother and my brother

Here I am with my grandfathers, my little brother and all my cousins.

A little tour around Brescia

I`ve choosen this video because it shows all the marvellous places and monuments that there are in Brescia. By watching this video it made me realised that today Brescia is one of the most important industrial zones in Italy and agriculture is also important, this last matter is still as when my ancestor left Italy. I think that if my ancestor could see how his city has grown would be proud of his place in the world although he could not whitness that. He had to emigrate in special circumstances but I guess he had spent all his life yearning for his hometown.

Brescia


Brescia is part of the Lombardia region. There is a big contrast in this city: on the one hand, an urban and cosmopolitan part makes you think of some streets of Milan or Rome and the other hand, a rural, old area, more connected with my ancestors.




A little bit of the history of Brescia.

Between the hills of the Po Valley is the city of Brescia. It has a very favorable location for urban settlements and industrial activities, trade and tourism. Inhabited since the Bronze Age by Ligurians, Etruscans and later in the late seventh century BC Celts. In 27 BC, Brescia won the title of a Roman colony.

With the decline of the empire it became the capital of a Lombard duchy (seventh century AC.) Around the year 1000, Brescia became a free municipality. After the city was disputed between Milan and Venice, where Venice was victorious, in 1438, the city was surrounded by the Milanese and, according to legend, by the appearance of the patron saints Faustino and Jovita, defeated the enemy soldiers. There was a long period of peace during which, under Venetian rule, Brescia had a great development of agriculture and handicrafts, such as the production of weapons that made the city famous throughout Europe. In the late eighteenth century French troops led by Napoleon ended the domination of Venice: Brescia was part of the Cisalpine Republic and the Kingdom of Italy. After Napoleon was defeated, the Habsburgs dominated the city and Lombardia. In the period of the Risorgimento, during the Ten Days of 1849, it rose against the Austrians and won the nickname of Lioness of Italy.
In the 30s urban trends were evidently influenced by fascist regime. After the Second World War began a major industrial development and now it is oneof the greatest Italian cities.
Here you can see the story of my Mother`s family, since her greatgrandfather left Italy up to me and my brother who are the latest generation of the chain.

First letter from Miguel to his family

War diaries

I am Miguel. I live in Brescia, Lombardia, Italy. I am twenty years old and work on a farm with all my family. We used to be prosperous but now with the war thar is really close, we have sunk into poverty. We only have our own harvest and it is not enough ( we do not have almost any supplies). My father has heard that Germans are invading all the continent, therefore we have decided to migrate. I was wondering wheter going to Argentina, where my girlfriend and most of our friends have gone but my parents were considering going to the United States as another possibility.
Last month I received a letter from Francesco, my best friend, who now lives in Buenos Aires. He told me that Argentina is a beatiful and peaceful place, with lots of Italians and other European people. He said that it is said that Buenos Aires is the American Paris. I have never been to Paris but it sounds good, everybody says that it is a gorgeous city. Francesco is working at the railway company and thinks that me and my brother could work there too. We have never worked outside the farm, so we will see.
Now I`m looking forward to my parents decision but I have already decided by myself: I will go to Buenos Aires with or without my Family.