29 August - to Bologna via Grazzano Visconti

What a memorable day! We kicked off by driving to a iconic little town called Grazzano Visconti. It was entirely made of brick, as all of this part of Italy seems to be. But, more than that, the town was a wonderful enclave of highly decorated and sweet buildings, small and large, and was stunningly attractive. With the temperatures in the high 30s, we were struggling a little, so sat down at a little restaurant in the main square for a leisurely lunch. J and A had the three course menu (huge plates of salami then a pasta) while I had a salad. Seriously tasty expressos again, even as a decaf. We are loving the change from France. 

On the road by mid-afternoon, this time taking the toll road. We arrived at Modena, destination the Ferrari Museum, by 5pm. Only we didn’t get to the Ferrari Museum straight away. An orange Lamborghini had passed on the motorway. Alastair was asleep at the time, but was sorry to hear he’d missed seeing it when he woke up. Not to sorry. When we arrived at the Ferrari Museum, parked outside the front was a red Ferrari Portofino, a red Ferrari 488, and the orange Lamborghini.

When admiring them, we were told that it was possible to take any one of them for a drive for 10 minutes, for a fee. Alastair was clearly mesmerised. We said, “Take one. Happy Birthday!”. Of course, with a huge grin on his face, he chose the Lamborghini. After signing who knows what in terms of a liability document, he was still grinning from ear to ear as he sat in the seat, received some instructions from the Italian guy (who then hopped into the passenger seat) and then they were off. The brutal roar from the exhaust, and the smile on Alastair's face, said it all. The 10min allowed them a bit of time on the nearby motorway, and Alastair was encouraged to ‘floor it’. An inboard video showed the ride and of course Alastair bought it when he returned 10 minutes later. He couldn’t get the smile off his face. He was on Cloud 9.

One happy chap

Then, as planned, we went through the Ferrari museum, seeing many examples of the various of models of Ferrari during their development. It was impressive, but not as good as driving a Lamborghini. 

Roadster concept at the Ferrari museum at Maranello

Another hour’s drive saw us finally arriving in Bologna at 7pm. We chose the Airbnb accommodation here because it was inside an historic palace. It seemed a great time to go that little bit of extra distance. It took a while to find the carpark to leave the car for a few days, walk to the place to pick up the key, find the palace, get through Door No. 1, Gate No. 2 then unlock the apartment, but it was a fantastic place, with magnificent courtyards on either side, and perfect for a few nights staying right in the heart of Bologna.

Our apartment at Palazzo Fantuzzi, ground floor behind the grass

It was quite late, we were a little weary, but not weary enough to stop us having a bit of a reconnoitre of the area, a gelato and beer at a bar and stock up on groceries at a nearby store. We chose to make our own meal of fresh fruit, salad and chicken. Overall it was a memorable day and we were very much looking forward to our free day in Bologna the next day.