Oh Italy, to say i have fond memories of her would be a lie. When i last visited her shores the trip met with a very abrupt end involving metro security guards shouting lots of loud angry gibberish while brandishing guns, more police then you can count on your fingers and a night in the superintendents office down at the HQ watching crack dealers and hookers getting processed. On the plus side it did include a rather entertaining ride in a 3.2 litre squad car going sideways round wet corners and all for the reasonable price of 30 euros, bargain!

But the past is the past, here we are three months later, fully prepared and back with unfinished business!

9am, the eternal headache that was Berlin still vivid in our minds. We had come to Italy to forget, and almost as soon as we met with Luca we had. Cruising at Warp 3 we drove down the italian highway toward Brescia, our plan to meet up with Andrea from the local exploration group aptly named the Brescia Underground.

When explorers from other countries come to visit England, they usual say the same thing. The UE community here sucks. In my travels i am slowly starting to realise why. Compared to the rest, the general UE forum community is full of miserable, one upping, secretive people. Everyone gets judged before their even met, which means if your an outsider, you might as well go home. Italy and its explorers are the polar opposite of England, everyone’s friendly, welcoming and will go out of their way to show visitors a great time, the Brescia group being a fine example of this.

Walking the historical streets of Brescia, waders in hand we eventually came to a red door, Brescia Underground sprayed on the front. ”This is where we come to make coffee” Andrea said as he unlocked and opened the door. The door creaked open to, wait you know what, here see for yourself. Onwards to Vimeo

Down the steps we went, the slight smell of fresh greeting the nostrils. We entered into the “Serraglio” a lit chamber of walkways spanning the Bova-Celato river as it splits into the Molin del Brolo & Garzetta, each venturing off into the distance. The flow was less then knee deep and fairly clean, mind you i wouldn’t drink it. We sat for a while, admiring the view, wadering up and collecting out gear before venturing upstream.

Anyone who has met me knows I’m not a giant fan of culverts, mainly owing to the fact i always seem to end up with my head in the flow at some point. The river here was different, the usual rocky hazards underfoot were smooth and organised much like the roads above, making progress relaxing and easy.

We spent around 3 hours walking upstream before the water levels began to rise. With waders on the verge of breaching we headed back for the celebratory meal of crisps and campari.