Ferraris, Fins and a big crash


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Europe » Italy » Lombardy » Milan
September 13th 2009
Published: September 15th 2009
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Scott and I, plus a couple of friends set off for the F1 race in Monza, Italy aboard a rather freaky flight. The plane banked left on take-off then appeared to be flying rather low, then banked left again and dropped suddenly. There were a few screams, and maybe a yelp from me. But gladly we landed in Milano safely 90mins later. We leap quickly into a cab and said NH hotel as fast as you can, the man drove FAST. Part way into the journey and the meter well over 50 euro we soon realised that perhaps we were not at the airport 12km away, 90 euro later we learned we were coming from the airport 45km away, whoops. We knew this weekend was going to be expensive so hey-ho. The hotel we stayed at was in a converted warehouse and uber-cool, they had art installations in every corner. We had a lazy morning and after a long breakfast at the great buffet we headed into Milano centre and Dumo Square. It looked like something had been going on at the huge Cathedral as there were flowers, TV cameras, and we couldn’t go inside or up. We decided to take a wander into the oldest shopping mall and there was a real commotion. Police and secret service everywhere - it was Soilvio Berlosconi having lunch or a quick espresso, great! We hang around for about 30mins and then gave up, after having a poke around a few shops we hear d a roar from the crowd. So we raced back to where he was and managed to see him emerge and meet all his fans, it was great; I have never seen a PM in person. You can’t count Helen Clarke pre PM. After that excitement we headed up to the top of the Cathedral, which was a lot bigger and a lot grander than I remember from 4 years ago. The view from up the top was fab and it was good being able to see the top of the church so closely, it is very ornate. After some lunch we did a spot of shopping, new winter boots for me, it was turning out to be a good day - a PM spotting a new boots!

The next morning we were up early and out the door by 8am heading for Monza (the big event), we had hired a car for the day which was a dreamy way to do things as there were people everywhere. It was a lovely stroll through the woods to get to the gates and it was a sea of red - Ferrari - and flags either Ferrari or the drivers country. There was a happy combination of people; big fat beer drinking motor heads, glamorous Italian’s, groups of excitable men and families, a really good mix. We had a look around the F1 Village and reframed from buying unnecessary t-shirts, hats and tank-tops, but managed to get a few good shots. It was a lovely brisk morning, but it soon started to heat-up. Our seats were fantastic! Right on the tight corner coming off the start / finish line, and the place where you usually get the most action. We managed to see the GP2 race go buy, and there were a few wipe-outs on the corner. The best thing about our seats was over the other side of the track was a make-shift camp ground, scaffolding and seating on top of caravans. A bunch of averred fans had set-up there, flags, washing drying, some meat on the grill and big fat guys with their shirts off catching rays at the top of their vans - brilliant. We decided to go for another walk around the grounds to take a look at what was happening around the place, it was packing up, people, flags and beers everywhere!

The race kicked off and the sound was deafening but very exciting as they came tearing down the track and slammed on the breaks to get around the corner. It was an excellent atmosphere, the Finnish fans in their red Ferrari tops where great, they love that Kimy guy. Jenson Button did really well as did Lewis until the last lap and he ended up smashing into the wall with no one around, disaster! After the race everyone jumped the fence and ran down the track. We wanted some of that action so we went under the stand and out onto the track, you could still smell the rubber. The locals had nicked all the signs and distance markers from the track and were running around, hilarious stuff. I found the F1 to be way more fun than I thought it would be so that was great.

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15th September 2009

Nice!
.... Scott seems to be a lucky charm in terms of seeing famous people in-situ - e.g the Pope in Rome and when you both saw Raul Castro in Cuba. Noice. (and no you probably can't count a pre-term Helen Clark. Does my spotting of David Bain at Cirque du Soleil count?)

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