This is the second of the four travelogues ....
We arrived in Bologna last evening and found our charming and nice hotel. Too bad a terrace is just outside our window and down a floor where at 10:30p. young Italians decided to party and sing. Bad sleep night!
But today, ohhhh, for you car lovers, today was a tour with MotorStars, an enterprising Italian man who worked for Ferrari Racing, Pagani and Lamborghini, and created his own company giving tours to the likes of us. He drove us Everywhere and knew the folks at these companies, got us into the places and tours - but most of all just knew how to get around....all over the place. We toured Pagani and the workshop where they build 17 cars per year by hand. Top speed 340km/hr, 0-120 in 4.8 seconds, at the bargain price of 1,000,000 Euros. But good news: the new model will be street legal in the US, bad news they are all sold. Then on to Maserati where we met up with an Argentinian Journalist and we were able to go "behind the gates" for a quick look..."but don't take a picture of the prototype driving out in plastic wrap" ....I want one. Then on to a private collection of Maseratis, plus others, on an organic farm with the BEST parmesan cheese on the planet. The owner's name is Panini, the farm "Hombre" is his hobby and he invented the way to cut and sort baseball cards, patented and all.
On to Ferrari where we had lunch with wine, of course, and a tour of the show room. They have wayyyy too many secrets to allow a tour of the factory. And, not to brag, but we slipped in a ride for John in a Testarossa! Bellisima. What a ride. This car had no questions, only answers. "Go" ok, hold on. "Stop" OH my neck. The driver is definitely the weak link in this machine. Next, we moved on to Lamborghini where we did get a tour of the factory, plus a our own personal piece of leather with the logo freshly heated/pressed into it. We walked through a door between museum and factory and immediately see a line of brand new Lams several hundred yards long. Gallardos, Reventos (only 20 built ever, all sold 1.4M euro, and we saw 2) and Bats (the real name is in italian but I can't remember "bat" in Italian). A stroll through the factory floor to see real Italians working on real Lamborghini's at every step of the construction process. Fabulous colors. The Museum had every model made and several concept cars that looked more space age. There were more hp than hairs on my head, 832 cylinders, and enough carbon fiber to send to outer space. Holy cow. For any (the one) of you who wants a Bugati, I say poo poo to you! (You'll see a picture of us in front of one). Francesco, our guide, was fabulous!
We ended our day with a 3 euro pizza - Margharita style: just cheese. Tomorrow, train to Cortona, pick up a rental car: Ford KA. The car with only questions. I say poo poo to us! Then 4 days in Siena.
Note: Italian for Bat is Mercialago; the name of recent models of Lams.
Loved all these emails when they came! Have you continued your wine habit?? Ha!
Posted by: J | Jun 29, 2008 at 10:49 PM