"Forza Michael" - Day 3: Modena to Florence (via Maranello)
Journal Entry 00.20 (technically day 4)
Hotel Villa Il Castagno - Firenze
So, I finished the last post with a note on how good the crisps were in Milan. I guess my love of crisps and Kara's boundless enthusiasm for potatoes made it "low hanging fruit". I had intended to continue writing but it all went downhill after the last words in the previous post. The train to Modena was a bit jumpy and the general mood dropped when we saw our room. Kara had warned me that it didn't look great in the photos, but it was cheap. The people were nice, but the room had flaky paint and a generally dingy look. The upshot is that I didn't really get a chance to write last night.
Our walk from Modena Stazione to "Hotel San Geminiano" was somewhat hurried, as it was very dark, with many "youths" around. Last night I found myself wanting to just hail a cab as I am sick of hauling the suitcase behind me. I feel like we are "backpacking" as we are always smelly and unkempt. So we had another "Prima Colazione" where Kara had to sit and watch me eat. No parma ham for me this morning, but I had a nutella filled croissant and all was well. Kara didn't sleep very well, sadly, so we were a bit sluggish on the way out the door. After a power-march through downtown Modena, with Kara in full "tifosi" attire, we arrived at the bus station two minutes too late. Disappointed, we sat down and waited for the next one. During the wait, Kara and I discussed how even the students dress better than us! As well as fashion, we also observed a march, relating to the Gaza bombing/occupation etc.
After an uneventful bus journey, we arrived on the outskirts of "Ferrari-town": Maranello. The heat had begun to climb into the twenties by this point and the weight I was dragging was making me cranky. After a short hunt, we found "De Museo Ferrari". Now, I'm neither a Ferrari fan or a long time F1 fan, but the place is impressive. Everything in the town is Ferrari, from the modern Ferraris parked up, waiting to be test driven to the tarmac itself in the carpark of the museum.
Kara was clearly excited and once again, it was great to see her light up at the sight of the Maranello test track from the bus. The museum was spectacular, showcasing elements of the history of Ferrari in F1, modern F1 telemetry and technology, multi-discipline racing cars and a mix of new and classic Ferrari roadcars. We also took a trip to see the "prancing pony" sculpture but we couldn't approach it without running over motorway. The heat had continued to rise and Kara struggled with it. I sweat a lot, but I can go on. I worry what Roma will do to us both.
I think the highlight of Maranello was seeing Kara in the "hall of victories", next to a range of championship winning F1 cars. 40-50% of them said "Schumacher" on the side. I know the reminders of him upset Kara, but I think pride won out in the end. Ferrari have a pit-board in the museum lobby that says...
"Forza Michael."
After almost missing our bus back to Modena, we returned in time to catch our train to Florence. Still a little "ripe" from a day in the sun, we sat in first class, next to a very nosy woman who just stared at Kara's tattoos. I made the mistake of wearing my jacket on the bus to the hotel. I have never sweated like that outside a sauna, gym or fever. Not fun.
The hotel is not too bad. We have a wet room, which is nice. It's still very warm here, so I hope we will sleep ok. We stepped out for dinner, after preparing the maps for the next couple of days. Florence is all narrow streets and beautiful people, much as I imagined it would be. We found three gluten-free spots for Kara and went out. The "Clubhouse" had no gluten-free pasta or pizza, but Kara had steak and (surprise) potatoes. Despite a slightly better diet today, Kara left 1/4 of the meal to finish. I was happy to oblige.
It's getting late. Time for bed. Buona notte!
So that post covers quite a lot of geographical distance. From Modena to Maranello, then back to Modena again so we could catch our train to Florence. We arrived in Modena late and left early, which made it difficult for me to feed myself, never mind someone with Kara's eating habits. I have absolutely no gluten-free recommendations for Modena I'm afraid. The journal doesn't mention the little cafe where we were able to find Kara her breakfast/lunch, which was right next to the Ferrari museum. I was very relieved when we found out that we could do grilled chicken fillet for Kara, as I knew that she hadn't eaten a proper meal since Cookwindow the day before. I'm fairly certain that at this point, she was running on these Nairns Oaty biscuits that I once jokingly referred to as "Lembas" (one for the Lord of The Rings nerds out there) as she only ever seems to manage one before I'm asked to hold onto the rest of the packet. Funnily enough, despite plenty of hunger on Kara's part, we still came home with a packet of them. Anyway, the cafe is just across the car park from the museum and has lots of cool F1 memorabilia on the walls.
The hotel in Modena wasn't that bad. It was just a very sparse 2 star establishment. The people who worked there were very nice and helpful and the breakfast was something that drove home just how much Italians love to have cake for breakfast. It was on this day that I searched for the meaning of the term "La Dolce Vita" which translates as "The sweetness of live" or "The Good Life." During my trip, it became obvious to me that Italians value their free time in a way that lends itself to eating cake, drinking wine and really perfecting what they like to eat. It also became abundantly clear that they will put Nutella in anything. Kara doesn't like hazelnut, so sadly she was unable to join in, but later on in Florence, we find gluten-free cake that made her make animal noises as she ate it. The night that we actually stayed in Modena was pretty rough for us though, with Kara being very hungry and all but the corner shops being closed. She went to bed early, while I went out into a strange town to look for food. In the little corner shop, I spied bread. It would have to do, but what to put on it? It makes me nauseous to think that I went with "Kraft cheese slices" in the absence of anything resembling sandwich meat or cheese. I couldn't eat it. That's when I reached into my bag to pull out two little sachets of Nutella that Kara had mocked me for taking from our breakfast table that morning. Nutella - breakfast and supper of champions.
Kara gets dressed up in Ferrari gear for most big races, and the cap she's had since she was a very young girl is on for every race, but following her through Modena, she was dressed all in scarlet with her Ferrari tattoo on show. You'd never have guessed she was starving. I am normally being berated for walking too fast, but with the suitcase holding me back, I was trying to stay on Kara's heels as the lure of Maranello must have been calling to her. Missing our bus was a pain, and in the end it gave us some stress as we were very short of time in Maranello, but I am so glad we went. The whole experience was very fun for me, despite the baking sun, heavy case and feeling the after-effects of having tried espresso for the first time that morning. (I'm still not convinced that Coffee is as amazing as people say). I have only started enjoying F1 in the last two years, as I thought it would be nice for us to share one of Kara's hobbies. One of the reasons that she's never left the country is that her family would go to Silverstone for the British GP instead. Having visited her family home in rural Perthshire, I struggle to see why you would want to go anywhere else to relax, mind you. The nerd in me was excited to see the mechanical and technological elements of the Ferrari museum, while I knew that I was also going to visit a place steeped in F1 history. As someone who has been watching F1 for much longer than I have, as well as being a Ferrari fan, I can only guess at how special it was for Kara.
The museum is a showroom of sorts, with a progression from Ferrari's early days, through to the modern era. It contains a theatre that shows many known instances of Ferraris in the movies, and has a somewhat creepy Enzo Ferrari statue, sat in his office. There is a cool little display, showing the evolution of Ferrari's F1 cars in miniature form. There's also many concept and prototype cars that look almost space-age. I don't know which one I liked more, as they were all so beautiful.
The reason we were there was to see the F1 exhibit. The "Hall of Victories". It was spectacular, with a semi-circular dais that displayed several of Ferrari's driver and constructor championship winning cars from the last 15 years or so. Schumacher, Massa, Raikkonen and Barichello all had at least one of their cars there. The back wall was taken up with just some of the silverware the team has won during their time in F1, with a display case below it that had a little section for each of their championship winning drivers. Each driver's picture was there, with their helmet on a little plinth inside the case. There was also a small chamber where visitors could stand inside and select specific F1 car noises from particular periods. It was sort of the opposite of a sensory deprivation tank, being assaulted by the sound of these amazing machines. For those reading who might not be aware of why reminders of Schumacher might be upsetting, he is Kara's sporting hero and almost a year ago he sustained a massive head injury which has meant he hasn't gone in front of the public since. Despite no longer being a Ferrari driver, the "Forza Michael" sign in the lobby is just one way of seeing how deep his connections are to Ferrari. He is beloved by Ferrari fans.
The travelling to Firenze wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad either. The cabins were air conditioned and Italian trains are a fraction of the price of British trains. We travelled from Milan to Rome by train over the course of the trip and spent around £60 for both of us. I don't think £60 will get you a return to Aberdeen these days. Italian trains are pretty good.
Ok, so lastly, the gluten-free section of this post. The Clubhouse (Via Dè Ginori, 6, 50129 Firenze) in Florence might well be my favourite restaurant we visited in the whole trip. It's difficult to judge the gluten-free offering as they were all out of both pizza and pasta when we visited. All I can tell you is that my pizza and Kara's steak were delicious. I would not say I'm a big fan of pizza unless it's done properly, and that means the place must have a log-burning oven. This place not only has a log-burning oven, but it has a specialist pizza chef or "Pizzaiolo" that made me an amazing pizza. It's a bit on the premium side, with all of the little extras costing around €5 or so. We spent around €50 in there on our first night, but I think it would have cost more in the UK to have food of that quality. So yes, I mentioned pizza again. I assure you, it's going to come up before this travel blog is finished.
Next up, our first proper day in Firenze. One of my new favourite places.