A ticket & a tour

Sienna (rant)

Well to say this morning was crazy is true. It was so nuts I’m writing this blog as we leave out of Siena to ensure I remember it. We got up and drove the 45 minute scenic route to Sienna. (Again, no food was open.)

I had looked up the parking lot and did a ton of research to get the best address to park the car in Siena.  Well once again we are driving through a town that is not drivable and the nav / phone is no real help.  Neither system recognizes you cannot drive certain places.  We thought we had found the correct route to the parking garage when we drive the corner to find a police man pulling us over.  He was standing there checking to see if non-resident cars were in the area.  Fifteen minutes later we had a ticket but could find the right parking garage.  Jordan has his first foreign ticket!

I came to Siena because it is the most famous and largest hill town.  It has a big town square with a city hall (not a church).

The other reason I insisted on this town was to visit a basically unknown museum of archives from the region.  There are only tours 2-3 times per day.  The museum is tucked in the University in a non-descript building.  Jordan is not into old books, maps, or letters, so I was on my own.  I show up five minutes early for the tour and they seemed wildly confused any one showed up at all; so they made some calls.  I was expecting to be able to see a room or two of the archives special things and wander around for an hour.  No, it’s Italy.  A lady showed up unlocked a room and started talking so very fast in Italian.  As we walked through the 20-ish rooms, she never slowed in talking.  She never asked if I spoke Italian or waited for me to respond.  It was so interesting and I never spoke. She seemed not to realize the amazing treasures we were speedily walking through.  The last few rooms were such special documents they were in pressured rooms, under old glass cases and had covers.  In each of these rooms, she turned on the lights, spoke fast and threw off covers while I gasped at each one.  Then at the end she pushed me into a room that an elevator and said bye.  Granted I didn’t know where the room was and the elevator buttons never lit up so call me surprised that I got back to the grounds of the University after a few minutes.  Most interesting tour of my life!  

No pictures allowed sadly

Now let’s discuss what I got to see on this tour of archives.  My favorite room included every version of Dante’s Inferno from publication to the 1600s, as well letters he wrote and drafts of his writings.  Throughout the cases were letters from the Medici family.  I laughed slightly at the Napoleon cases but was impressed to see an actual battle letter and decree of victory signed.  Countless other letters, maps, etc were displayed under those glass counters. 

These particular archives became famous because they collected books and book covers from all over.  Also, they took down small frescos, tablets and industry guild signs.  They are all displayed well in somewhat organized way. I was in awe of what I could see quickly.  Sadly no photos were allowed except off the balcony.

(Meanwhile Jordan drank a beer, took some great photos & ate street pizza...)

And per usual, then I had to drag Jordan to see the town Duomo / church.  It was beautiful, lots of art from various people.  It also had a cool room attached with paintings about the Pope from this city.

Just for another laugh, when driving from Siena to Florence we tried to fill up the rental car with gas.  We visited four pumps and did not find gas.  To hell with it & I’ll pay the fine from Hertz because I hit a limit today.

Florence I’m ready for you!  Please feed me. Hertz, we are coming in hot.

Step Count:13k

Bottles of wine: 0 (it was rough y’all) 

Forza Ferrari

Up bright and early today is Sunday and it’s Ferrari day for us. We have an appointment with an F1 simulator early this morning in Maranello and will be exploring the museum and factory grounds after that. 

Exploring the classic Ferraris was interesting; they had some dream cars that you almost never see like the F40 and prototypes. More importantly though some of the F1 championship cars are here, including the winning car of my favorite driver Kimi Raikkonen who won the 2007 drivers and constructors championships for Ferrari. 

We wrapped up the museum and went out to explore the local area and factory grounds. We found the old factory entrance, an historic site. 

Next we went in search of some private sites to see if we could sneak a peak. First we had little success at the F1 offices but we did find them. 

Next we had more success getting a view of the Fiorano test track which is off limits. Unfortunately it was quiet today. 

After wrapping up Maranello we head from the home of Ferrari to the home of the man himself; Modena, birthplace of Enzo Ferrari. There is a museum here dedicated to the engines Ferrari built and a rotating exhibit which at this time is dedicated to women in Motorsport or the automotive world. These cars either belong to important female figures in the industry or represent important moments for women and Ferrari. 

Finally, we head into Modena itself. We are tired from an early start and need food and rest. Our hotel is easy but parking is a nightmare. That finally sorted we look for food in what is one of the great food capitals of the world; except this Sunday night apparently. We search for 2 hours and walk 3 miles but give up and settle for McDonald’s sadly. Lucky the room is comfortable and has strong Wifi so we have a really good evening and relax; until we’re up early again in the morning headed for another place and checking out of Modena for now. 

Here are some shots of our exploration of Modena.