Oldies On Tour

………..And that was just in the streets outside the Museum!

The Entrance

Yes we are in Maranello, the Mecca for Formula One Grand Prix Racing and the home of Ferrari. I say Mecca as Ferrari is the only team in F1 to have been racing since the inception of the world Championship back in 1950. Many teams have come and gone, some have gone and come back, but Ferrari is still challenging for the “titles”.
Though the museum attracts Motor Racing addicts from around the globe and naturally the main emphasis is on their motor racing heritage and achievements in all the various categories and formulas: This museum also traces the Ferrari History back to 1947 when Enzo Ferrari broke away from Alfa Romeo to set up his own factory in Maranello. His ambition was to contest the new F1 world championships commencing in 1950.

1sr Ferrari Race Car 1947

His first racing car, produced in 1947, was the Ferrari 125S, and was also the first car to use their well known logo, “the Prancing Horse” (see below), Enzo was quoted as saying at the time “A promising failure” this was probably the only failure he ever had! Also on display was his first production

1947 production car 166 Aerlux

car, the Ferrari 166 Aerlux.
The first “Grand Prix” that Ferrari won was the Silverstone Grand Prix held on the 14th May, 1951 (driver: Froilán

Ferrari P166 1st Ferrari winner 1951

Ascari’s 1952/53 World Championship winning car

González) and this was followed by the first Driver’s world championship in 1952 (driver: Albert Ascari) and again in ’53 with the same driver. Their winning habits continued, to date they have won (up ‘till this year’s Belgium Grand Prix) 219 Grand Prix races out of the total of 849 (26%) that have been held over the 60 intervening years; not to mention the countless Le Mans, Daytona 500’s and various other formulae wins.
In addition to the largest collection of Ferrari cars in the world (as you would expect!!) there was the “Timossi – Ferrari Arno X1”, this was the Hydroplane built in the 1950’s, powered by the same 4.5litre V12 engine that powered the 375 F1 car that one their first Grand Prix at the Silverstone track in 1951. This boat actually broke the World Speed Record for its class (150.19 MPH) in 1953.
This was a superb visit, for apart from the numerous cars there was very old film footage of by-gone motor racing at various venues. When one watches the Grand Prix of to-day on the TV, we forget where Motor Racing has come from. The horrific accidents that took place causing death and serious injuries to both Drivers and Spectators; this was a regular occurrence at race meetings, totally un-acceptable in to-days climate of health and safety!!!!!!!!!!! A point to demonstrate the changes are the Crash Hats on display from each of the Ferrari world champions spanning 1951 to 2007.

The Classic Ferrari 250 GTO

Like all Museums, there is never enough time to cover everything in depth however I am very glad I had the opportunity to spend several hours just “drooling”!!!
Both sides, and across the road from the museum were business offering Ferrari test drives, tempted yes, but too expensive!!!!! Also, In the background was the Ferrari test track and the sound of V12’s roaring around was something to behold.
Whilst I was “filling my boots” with Ferrari nostalgia, Christine elected to clean up Rosie and take Sooty and Bella on a long walk. I can’t understand how anybody could pass up the opportunity to view so many wonderful cars, oh well it takes all sorts!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bock to Rosie by Mid Day just as it started to rain (again!). When we arrived in Maranello the previous afternoon we were fortunate to meet an official Ferrari Car Park attendant who told how to “manage (break!) The car park rules” and we parked/slept in the actual Ferrari Museum car park overnight, very handy for the visit next day, and it was free!!!!!

Anyway, we left as soon as I returned heading for Florence where we had identified an Italian Aires close to the city centre. We had thought of stopping in Bologna en route as there is history there as well but decided against it, we can’t do everything.
There are two possible routes to Florence from Maranello; Autostrada or conventional road, now I wanted to go conventional but after a discussion we went Autostrada and thank goodness we did as both routes have to traverse the Galvana mountain range which was very high and very steep. To make things worse, it rained cats and dogs all the way up, across the top, and half way down until we suddenly arrived back into sunshine.
Arrived in Florence, fighting our way through typical Italian City
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Traffic where the mighty “rule” and the timid get “left behind”, found our Aires only to find the barrier was down and no-one around to show us what to do or how to get in. After searching to no avail we decided to reverse back out of the entrance (into a busy road!!) and move on towards Pisa only to find for some Italian Car Driver stopped right behind us hooting his horn. Anyway this driver obviously had the necessary zapper as the barrier suddenly lifted so in we went. After circumnavigating the site we decided it was obviously not for us, insufficient room, so back to the exit barrier. We were hoping it would lift, and low and behold it did, so we were on our way again, this time heading to Pisa.
We left Florence for Pisa, (maybe return on our next sortie into Italy), back through the city traffic, onto the Autostrada and “wham”, full stop: Traffic everywhere until the local “fuzz” set up a diversion and we filtered around a “Spaghetti Junction” look-alike, wound our way past a service station that we couldn’t access, juggled to force our way from 5 lanes of traffic into 2 then eventually arriving back at the toll booths we entered the Autostrada through about 2 hours earlier, and had to pay €1.60 for the privilege, huh!!!!!!!!!!! By this time we were both ravenous so we stopped in a service station and enjoyed a Spaghetti Bolognaise waiting for the traffic to subside.
Looking across to the other side of the road, the traffic looked to have cleared as it was moving fast so we were off again. Of course to get to the other side of the duel carriageway, we had to foray back into Florence! Back on the Autostrada and through the toll booths for the second time and wham, wall to wall traffic, again and back to fighting for gaps as before, 5 lanes filtered down into 2!! Still we accomplished that and about 30 minutes later we were flying having past the remnants of an accident where by now the only tell tale were several huge 1 ton rolls of paper parked on the side on the road.

Tom-Tom did its job and we arrived right outside the camp site as planned about 1800hrs, booked in, parked up and straight out with Sooty and Bella to search for this leaning tower. Our original plan was to probably stop for 3 nights but learnt that their published tariff, €16, was just the starting point, we had to add on; per person, per dog; trailer etc etc., so rather than being ripped off we decided to leave the following day after we had done what we needed to be done in Pisa the following morning.
Back to the Camp site, a quick game of crib, shower and bed, ready for an early start visiting the various sites thenext day.

The Prancing Horse logo was granted to Enzo Ferrari from the family of an Italian Fighter “Ace” killed in the First World War, it always adorned his fighter ‘planes.

Registrar booked, Hotel booked, just need to do invites now, we are, all being well, getting Married on the 7th April 2013 at 4pm, we are so lucky, with Andrew giving us the venue etc., we are both getting so excited.

Having spent a lot of time on internet, we are leaving the camp site near Venice  tomorrow, and heading for the Farari Museum, needless to say Geoff is going on his own!

We have had a lovely time here, especially in Venice, and now looking forward to seeing Piza, we will probably not be on internet for some days, but we will be back.

We have just been chilling out this week, having really lazy days, hence no log, we are staying in Jesolo Di Lido until Monday, then moving on.

We are both very chuffed with all the messages of congratulations, and will let everyone know the date, we are looking at 7th April 2013 in Worcester, but waiting for confirmation.

View from the Ferry

Saturday 25^th August, a day I shall always remember! We had arranged for the dogs to go into kennels overnight, so the lady picked them up from the campsite at 10.00am, off they trotted with not a glance backwards; they obviously enjoyed their stay on Thursday

We did our 25km bike ride to the ferry again, parked, and just

Basillica

made the next boat, so we were in Venice by 11.00am, it was still very crowded, but we decided to do the Basillica di San Marco first. I queued whilst Geoff went and left his bag at left luggage.  I was still queuing when he returned, but apparently he had a ticket which allows us to enter without waiting, so we went to the front, straight in, and well the WOW Factor! Was just amazing, gold domes everywhere, the ceilings were covered with paintings, and surrounded with gold, you have to see it, to believe it.  We took photos (No photos allowed) but they do not really do the place justice.  We slowly walked around, but no amount of words could really describe the place, it was just sheer decadents.

Coffee time, and decide what was next, so we sat down in the square (St.Mark’s) we had been told that coffee was expensive here, but Geoff said it had to be done! One Tea, one coffee, and two pastries 26 Euros, the waiters had white jackets, black waistcoats, black trousers; they must have been sweltering in this heat. We watched the hordes of tourists, taking photos, and just milling around, another first.

Next stop was the Palazzo Ducale, I don’t do history, so needed to get this one out of the way, we queued but not for long, then paid, we asked for concession tickets, she looked at me and said two, which made my day!

Entering through the colonnaded court-yard you will see statues of Mars and Neptune, flanking the giant staircase, built for the dignitaries, climb the golden staircase, where gold leaf is everywhere, the ceilings are decorated with carved picture frames painted with gold, with so many different pictures, depicting different eras of history. They had a room with two huge globes, and maps on the walls showing what the empire used to look like, the accuracy of the maps and charts dated back to the 15^th century, was quite remarkable. We went down into the prison, where the condemned prisoners walked over the covered Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs).  Neither of us is into art, but we were both taken back by the place, difficult to describe, but it is a definite must if you go to Venice.

We were both starving by this point 3pm, so we found a place on one of the little back streets, and had a pleasant glass of wine, and shared one of the best pizzas we have ever had.  We sat next to another couple, (who came from Scotland) who had just done the gondola run, and they had been advised to go to Rialta to get one, so after lunch and an interesting discussion on whether Scotland should leave UK or not, we caught the water bus.

Geoff negotiated with the gondolier, and we stepped aboard, I was sitting in the wrong place, for the balance, so had to change, and once we got comfortable we were off, well it was amazing. We went under Rialta famous bridge, where we were told you kiss, and everything you wish for comes true, at this point Geoff proposed to me, I was just so surprised, he even had a ring, now how romantic is that, he said he would have gone onto his knees, but he had already been told to keep still, so will forgive him for that.  I was speechless, but I did manage to say YES, so party time soon.  We meandered through the waterways, going under tiny bridges, and having to stop when someone wanted to go by, a truly magical experience.

We made several calls to the family, only to find that Andrew already knew, as Geoff had asked him for his approval, (as my Dad was no longer with us). (Old fashioned bugger) whilst having a drink to toast the occasion, when ever that might be, not sure how we are going to fit everything into our busy schedule, but sure we will manage somehow.

We bought two pictures one of the bridges, and one of the routes, just as a reminder of our special day.

Back to Piazza San Marco, where we found a lovely restaurant to finish of the day, we both had fish, and to watch the waiter fillet them was skilful.

St.Mark’s Square at night

We then wondered around the square, by which time it was dark, and it was such a magical place to be, there were three different orchestra’s playing, one would stop another would start, street sellers, and hundreds of people just

Magical Venice

looking around.  I cannot really describe the day, but take it from me; it was one of the best days of my life. We meandered through the streets, found the ferry, and back on the bikes and home, it is funny not having the dogs with us.

Move day, so we left before breakfast, we are heading for Lido di Jesolo, which is a strip of land, with the Adriatic one side, and the Venice Lagoon the other; strangely enough there are no sites in Venice!

Venice

We arrived with minutes to spare to get booked in, before the office closed for two hours, so we were pleased about that, we sorted ourselves out, had some lunch, then went to check where the ferries go from, ready for the morning.  Good job we did as it is a 25km journey, to the end of the peninsular, thought we were never going to get there, anyway we timed it, and so we have a rough idea when to leave tomorrow.

Up early, we are both excited, I had this idea to see if we could find a dog sitter, so

Venice

tongue in cheek went to the office to ask, and to our amazement they do, so we arranged for them to be collected at 10am, the only problem was she had to drop them back at 6pm, so cheekily I asked if they could just put them in our motor-home, and the site owner said he would do it! So we were really chuffed, we were free for the day.

Gondolers on Grand Canal

On to the bikes, straight onto a ferry, and we have finally arrived in Venice, another place well worth the visit, I am pinching myself again, we are so lucky to be doing this.

We walked along the streets towards the Piazza San Marco,(St. Mark’s Square) then we heard that Mark, Paula and

Grand Canal

the girls were delayed, so we decided to catch the water bus, up the Grand Canal to the station, which is about a forty minute ride away, it was amazing, the sites.  Impossible though it seems, Venice is built on 117 small islands connected by 400 bridges over 150 canals, so plenty to see and enjoy.

Ashleigh and Tyla

We met at the station, and they only have two hours with us, so we were trying to decide what was best to do, so we caught another water bus to Piazza San Marco, this time it continued in a big circle, coming down the Canal Della Giudecca, so we saw yet more places. We had prime position at the bow, enough seats to be comfortable, so luck was on our side.

We walked into the Piazza, where you have the Basilica di San Marco, an amazing

St.Mark’s Square

building, we are going back on Saturday, and hopefully we will go inside then, the queues were vast, and we just did not have time. Next door to this is the Palazzo Ducale, we meandered around, down the little side streets, and back into the square, sadly we had to catch the water bus back

St.Mark’s Square

to the train station.  This time it was packed, but we found an ideal spot, to enable Tyla to take the photos, and everyone had a good view of the Grand Canal.

Sadly we said our farewells; we have had such a lovely time with them all, hopefully we will catch up again soon.  The train left and we went to catch the water bus again.  We wondered through the little streets, which was fascinating, we stopped for a drink in one of the squares, and watched everyone going by. We then continued, trying to find where the water bus left from, we saw the gondoliers winding around the tiny canals, with lots of little shops, mainly selling the Venetian glass, ice creams, and tiny restaurants.

To our surprise, we ended up in Piazza San Marco, so we were pleased that we had meandered so far, think we have seen most of the things to be seen, but we will still come back on Saturday for the cultural day, and for a ride on the gondoliers, it is such a lovely place, well worth the second visit.  We have arranged for the dogs to go into overnight kennels, so we can have a leisurely day and evening.

Lovely quiet night and we were up and out by 9.15am, we have a ferry to catch, walked down to the town, along the lakeside, and arrived at the dock side, bought our tickets, they checked we had muzzles before they would let the dogs go on board, and we were off.

The scenery is fantastic, not quite as stunning as the north, as there are not the big mountains, but still very pretty, definitely a place to visit.  Our first stop was Desenzano , a town right on the south end of the lake,  not the prettiest of places, plus they had a huge market on the waterfront, so it was quite difficult to negotiate with the dogs, and it was very hot, we reckon it was 40 degrees, not a good day to sight see.  We did find some shirts for Geoff which were nice, and fitted him perfectly, so he bought two, now I can throw some of the old ones away!  We wondered around but this town does not do anything for us.  Our ferry was due in at 12.15pm, so we wondered back to the docks, sat on a seat and waited, we then watched our ferry leave from a different Pier, what idiots we were, we were both cross, we went for a walk, and ended up having a drink, and waiting for the next one, which was one hour later.

Eventually we arrived at Sirmione, which was such a pretty place, it is a peninsular, with an old castle on, lots of ruins, some lovely restaurants and shops, we walked all around, gave the dogs a swim in a fountain, as we could not get down to the beach with them, that cooled them down a bit, Sooty kept holding his paws up, as the pavement must be very hot, so we kept walking in the shaded bits, to help him.

We stopped for some lunch, we shared a pizza, glass of wine, and plenty of water, and they bought two bowls of iced water for the dogs as well, which was very kind. Refreshed and nourished, we walked back to the ferry, and decided to go to Lazise, a walled city, another pretty place, we wondered around; bought an ice-cream to cool us off, then back to the ferry, and back to Garda.

The ferry ride was lovely and relaxing, and you could take in all the sites, you could have got off every stop, but we only chose the ones we had been recommended, it is a lovely way to see the Lake and its various towns, but it was the hottest day of the year apparently, so we were exhausted.

As soon as we reached the area where we could swim, we quickly changed and into the water, we were all glad to cool off, especially the dogs.  Sooty kept a couple amused on the beach; they ended up throwing stones for him, whilst we were swimming.

Now cool and relaxed, we got dressed and went into one of the restaurants on the lakeside for a lovely meal, and a couple of drinks, a lovely end to another nice day.