Tuesday 9 September 2008
A rather more leisurely start to the day - I went for a run around Genoa's busy, winding, steep streets while Nick fiddled with the sat nav and checked the Beast's fluids. After an insubstantial breakfast we headed south, managing only a few miles before the obligatory fuel stop. As the heat of the day increased, the Beast started to develop a few niggles:
1. Clonking gearbox
2. Smoking under acceleration
3. Pinking of engine
We continued on taking the breathtakingly beautiful and scenic route up and over the Passo Del Cerreto, the Beast labouring and wallowing all the way up like a hippo at the mud flats. We stopped at the top for an espresso, before motoring onto the Ferrari museum and factory at Maranello.
Having covered around 150 mainly winding miles from Genoa, we spared no expense with a few lunch bits bought from a nearby Lidl. Fortified, we toured the small but superb museum, paying our respects to the great Michael Shumacher in the time honoured manner:
We indulged in more childish humour on the way out by staging a drive past on the pedestrianised forecourt of the museum, causing a scattering of bemused tourists. Cheeky!
The original pre-trip plan had been to drive on to Lake Bled in Slovenia, a further 300 miles or so from Maranello. We decided this was a bridge too far as we did not get clear of Maranello until after 5pm. So we blasted north on the auto route accompanied by ever increasing puffs of smoke every time the accelerator was firmly pressed. On reaching the university town of Padova, we firstly toured the centre in a circle three times and then began trying various hotels as we had not booked. Each one with vacancies was more expensive than the last. Eventually settled on the 4 star Bira at 91 Euros each. Well equipped hotel, but with bedrooms the size of a postage stamp.
Having rested and disposed of (left on the veranda ) some very smelly cheeses we had been carrying since France, we enjoyed an excellent meal in the restaurant of the hotel.
Epic consumption of both fine Italian red and white wine was accompanied by a discussion of supercars we would both like in our 'dream' garage. Fair amount of agreement with one or two surprising choices from both of us thrown in.
Total mileage for the day - 277
Total trip mileage - 1,561
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