March 30
Today’s a big day, well, for Jae that is. Today’s the day of the car factory tour. And by car factory we mean the factories that make cars for very wealthy individuals. The tour starts at 8:30 so we needed to be in Bologna before that. We woke up at 5 am to catch the early train going towards Milan. Bologna is the first stop in that direction, about half way north. We took the regular train instead of the Eurostar to save some money, the time difference between the two train wasn’t that different anyhow.
Our reserved seating was inside one of the booths. Both of us got window seats sitting across from each other. In the booth were 2 more passengers. One of them was from Sourth Africa and chatted with us the entire way. He was backpacking through Europe for about 2 months. He’s doing it the true backpacker way, with a big rucksack and on a tight budget. He talked to us about his travels through Italy so far, what he did for a living and where to go in South Africa if we were to ever visit.
I found his stories to be quite fascinating, especially ones about his dad. his father, who was Italian was quite adventurous. When his father was young, he traveled all over Europe on a bicycle, unsatisfied with just Europe, he decided to go to Africa. As he made his way down to Africa, he had to trade his bike for a pistol in order to scare away lions at the night. When he reached Africa, he discovered his love for the place, so he flew back to Italy got his stuff and moved to South Africa.
Like his father, our fellow traveler is just as adventurous. He instructs rock climbing on the side, loves to do extreme sports especially ones that involve falling. At age 35 he actually looks closer to 27. For this trip he is going mostly by way of the youth hostels, eating bread and traveling cheap, making the most of his money to see Europe.
His stories made the time pass by quite quickly; soon we were in Bologna and had to part for he was going to Milan.
At 8:30 our tour guide Francesco, met us at the front of the station. He took us to our first stop about 30 minutes away, the Lamborghini factory. Francesco is a pretty cheerful guy, he spoke English quite well since he had lived in Britain for a few years. The van he drove us in was clean and kept nice and cool. Jae immediately took a liking to Francesco. We chatted about motorcycles the whole trip since he was also a rider and a big fan of the Moto GP races. I knew that the day was going to be a lot of fun.
A second couple from Ireland joined us there. They had a rental cal and would be following us for the day. We started the tour in the museum showroom. For the next hour or so the guys drooled over the cars, taking pictures, looking at the rims, and wishing they had a lot more money to be able to afford such a piece of machinery. It was like a kid in a candy store, without any money J
Francesco gave us a brief overview of the history of the cars. Francesco is unique in that he has actually worked in many of the Italian factories, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Ferrari. Having worked on both F1 and production vehicles, his knowledge of these cars is deep and personal. Typically Lamborghini doesn’t give tours to just anyone that shows up, but Francesco has worked it out with them for him to do tours. Following that we went down to the factory floor itself. There we saw ho the cars were hand built from the first step to the end. The car body comes pre painted from another area, but the rest of the assembly is done here. We even saw the production of the ’07 model.
Francesco knew many of the employees there and using that network I think we were able to see a bit more than the average tour. Even for me and the other couple’s wife who aren’t really into cars, the tour was quite interesting. Francesco was quite good in pointing out the interesting events along the path of making a car. I guess you can really appreciate the price you pay for. It was too bad that you can’t take pictures in the factory. I’m sure many guys would appreciate being able to see it, but they will just have to go to Italy and book a tour with MotorStars.
Next on the list is Pagani. This factory is much smaller. They build very few cars each year but the price of one could buy you a very nice home here in the States. They had 2 cars in the showroom and in the factory, about 6 or 7 more most in different stages of development. The owner was actually there today. We saw him working, head under the hood talking to an engineer and pointing to the engine parts. Horacio Pagani himself. Jae was beside himself when we actually got to shake hands with him and have a photo taken. Talk about highlight of an already really great morning!
At around noon we made our way to the Ferrari factory area. The actual factory is off limits except to actual Ferrari owners, but we were able to explore the museum and drive around the factory area. We first stopped for a quick bit to eat at the Ferrari cafeteria. Then we spent a great deal of time in the museum. Francesco knew a lot about the displays and was very informative. He even brought articles and pictures to add to his stories. The guys were captivated.
When we left the museum to for a drive around the factory grounds, we heard the engines of Ferraris. Francesco drove us around to a spot where we were able to see the Ferrari test track. The location was great, right at a corner. We were able to see and take some shots of the Formula 1 cars as they took laps around the track. Highlight of the afternoon!
Back in Bologna, we end our tour at the Ducati factory. The tour was done by the Ducati staff, they do 2 tours daily. We made it just in time for the 4 pm appointment. The tour lasted for about an hour, we were taken around inside the factory to see the bikes being built from stage to stage. The tour ended in the Ducati museum. Afterwards the day ended at the Ducati gift shop where we bought some shirts and the Ducati pup.
Francesco dropped us off at the Bologna train station. We ate dinner at a local restaurant across the street while watching the Italian version of ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ before catching our train back to Florence. What a day!
We most definitely had a lot of fun with MotorStars today. Friendly and knowledgeable, I would totally recommend Francesco to be your guide to everything cars and motorcycles in Italy.
March 31
After breakfast at the hotel, we had complementary breakfast but couldn’t take advantage of it the past two days, we headed into town to see the tallest teenager in the world, Michangelo’s David. I had pre purchased tickets from the Accademia website so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line. The reservation is for 8:30 so we hurried over, we were one of the first people in line. When we got there we found out that the staff was having a meeting and won’t be opening the museum until 9:30. Apparently they didn’t mind selling tickets for times before they opened. We waited outside with a bunch of other tourists and tour groups, some with 8:15 reservations.
As we waited, the street vendors came out of nowhere, the men selling posters, the women selling scarves. One of the ladies in a tour group behind us was taking pictures of her group when one of the scarf lady walked up to her and waved her fist at the tourist, she then said something unfriendly things I’m sure. It turns out that another scarf lady was in the midst of the tourists and didn’t appreciate having pictures taken of her illegally selling in the streets. A few minutes later two cops strolled by and the vendors scattered, well, only to return 20 minutes later.
When the museum finally opened, we told the guy at the door that we didn’t bring our reservation email, he went back inside and brought out a list of reservations. He looked for our names, but couldn’t find it. Without the reservation he wouldn’t let us in because we were in t
he reservation line. I suppose we’d have to go back and get it. Heading back, we took our time and went shopping for souvenirs. By the time we came back it was almost 11. The line was gone by then, I guess there wouldn’t have been a need to pre-purchase the tickets after all.
We went up to the counter and the ticket guy told us that our reservation wasn’t valid! Seems like the website that sold the ticket wasn’t legit. It’s a good thing I bought the ticket with American Express, they’re usually really good with getting money back for fraud.
Well we bought the tickets and went on in. The main attraction was the David of course, so when we got in we found some chairs, sat and started at his front for a while and then moved to the back to stare at his rump for another while.
After lunch we wandered around for a bit and ended up at the Dodges Palace. We explored the rooms, admiring painting of people we didn’t know. We then took a short cuppachino break to rest our feet before going into the garden.
The garden was quite vast. I can’t say it was spectacular but it was quite relaxing. We stayed a few hours at the garden, looking at the view, taking pictures and admiring the vastness of this private garden. The view of the city was very nice from here so we decided not to go to Michangelo’s Plaza which would require a bus ride up the hill. Retiring back into the city center, we went looking for dinner.
We ended up at the pasta and pizza chain, Pizzarito. We had eaten here when in Rome and enjoyed the fresh pasta they offered. Since we were starving, we got greedy and ordered 2 pastas and a pizza… ultimately I couldn’t finish my meal and had to take a doggy bag.
We ate breakfast at the hotel today, our hotel offered complementary breakfast but we havn’t been able to take advantage of it the past two days since we had to leave so early. After a meal of scrambled eggs, bread and some coffee, we headed into town to see the tallest teenager in the world, Michangelo’s David. I had pre purchased tickets from the Accademia website so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line. The reservation is for 8:30 so we hurried over, we were one of the first people in line. When we got there we read on a piece of paper tacked on the door that the staff was having a meeting and won’t be opening the museum until 9:30. Apparently they didn’t mind selling tickets for times before they opened. We waited outside with a bunch of other tourists and tour groups, some with 8:15 reservations. As we waited, the street vendors came out of nowhere, the men selling posters, the women selling scarves. One of the ladies in a tour group behind us was taking pictures of her group when one of the scarf lady walked up to her and waved her fist at the tourist, she then said something unfriendly things I’m sure. It turns out that another scarf lady was in the midst of the tourists and didn’t appreciate having pictures taken of her illegally selling in the streets. A few minutes later two cops strolled by and the vendors scattered, well, only to return 20 minutes later.When the museum finally opened, we told the guy at the door that we didn’t bring our reservation email, he went back inside and brought out a list of reservations. He looked for our names, but couldn’t find it. Without the reservation he wouldn’t let us in because we were in the reservation line. I suppose we’d have to go back and get it. Heading back, we took our time and went shopping for souvenirs. By the time we came back it was almost 11. The line was gone by then, I guess there wouldn’t have been a need to pre-purchase the tickets after all. 
The garden was quite vast. I can’t say it was spectacular but it was quite relaxing. We stayed a few hours at the garden, looking at the view, taking pictures and admiring the vastness of this private garden. The view of the city was very nice from here so we decided not to go to Michangelo’s Plaza which would require a bus ride up the hill. Retiring back into the city center, we went looking for dinner.