Final Week 3-Fast Cars and Relatives

Well, our adventure is winding down and we say goodbye to two of our travelling companions who head for home at the end of week two.  My sister and I and our friend carry on alone to visit the land of the fast, beautiful cars-Marinello, home of Ferrari, and Modena, home of Mazarati.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  These cars are engineering beauties with style, sex appeal, and roaring engines that anyone can appreciate!

We were thrilled to view the museum with the curator explaining the various models.  We were then treated to a tour of the restoration portion of the Ferrari factory where teams work on a single car for two years, restoring it to the original condition (no photos allowed in the factory).

It was a dream day of fast cars, good food and even better company!

Modena, the land of the Mazerati (beautiful cars but not as known or popular as the Ferrari) was next.  Originally, we were to travel via train to a small town near Pisa that is home of the motorbike, Vespa but our plans changed as there was a one day train strike!  Did i mention that Italy is challenging and chaotic but oh so worth the trip as long as one remembers to sit back, savour the cappuccino, and go with the flow!

Now back to Modena and the beautiful Mazerati cars:

Gorgeous cars, dream machines!

Modena was a quaint, most liveable town with cobbled lanes and lots of bike trails.  I could see myself spending a week there exploring the land of the balsamic vinegar (yes, the food was marvellous as always on this trip).

Now my sister and I travelled a little north and east to Congegliano to visit our cousins and my sole surviving aunt (my dad's sister).  We left our friend in Marinello as he was not done with the fast cars (he went on to visit the Lamborghini factory!).

Farm yard kittens

My sister with my cousin's Lamborghini tractor

Typical plot of land for vegetable garden at my cousin's house

He has ducks and chickens too!

 We had a wonderful stay with our cousins, full of good fun, good food and lots of laughter.  Although it has been seven long years since I saw them last, it seemed like we never left as the love and warmth they gave us touched our hearts.  It was so good to see my aunt (now 86 and not in the best heath) and I do hope that I will be able to see her again!  Arriving in my birth town, hearing my Italian dialect, walking the flat roads of the Po valley, drinking a ombretta (glass of wine) and a grappa, visiting cousins and friends warms my heart and will last in my memory for a lifetime!