Misano, Porto Verde & World Superbike Races

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Geo: 43.9797, 12.6958

Our last stop in Europe was Misano Adriatico on the east coast, a three hour drive from Verona. Its a popular summer holiday destination for Italians and the venue for the eighth round of the World Superbike Championship.

We stopped off on the way in Bologna to visit the Ducati factory and museum along with quite a few bike riders that were also on their way to the races. For me the factory was interesting seeing how the bikes were put together and how they were tested and to visit the place where the bike we own was actually made. For the boys it was obviously alot more than that, something more along the lines of Mecca I would think. The museum was very sleek and well thought out, clearly showing the history and evolution of the racing bikes. It was a huge buzz to see so many genuine Ducati racing bikes ridden by all the great riders, many of whom were Australian.

We booked an apartment at Porto Verde which is the marina at Misano. A wise choice I think as we had a nice view from our apartment over the water and the moored boats. There was a small collection of bars, cafes and restaurants to choose from and there certainly wasn't any crowds. We enjoyed several very nice seafood meals there and on our last evening in Italy we dined on some fabulous pasta while watching a beautiful sunset. Thanks Italy! Misano itself seemed a bit crass and busy in comparison. There were so many amusement parlours and shops renting out sunlounges and selling cheap chinese beach accessories that it was difficult to find the beach.

On the Saturday at the racetrack we had paddock passes so spent the day watching the riders come and go and checking out the bikes. It always makes it seem so much more like you are in the midst of the action when you see what goes on before and after the race. We also had a good view of the main straight. Your forget how fast these guys can go until you see it with your own eyes. Its pretty impressive how they can have the confidence to do it lap after lap, to crash out and get straight back on the bike and go again. We managed to score front row viewing at the press conference after qualifying so were pretty happy with that. I was pleased to see that Marco Simoncalli was still well loved by the Italian fans even though he died as a result of a crash during a race four years ago. The circuit is named after him. Overall we had a great day.

For raceday Sunday we had seats in the grandstand so we could watch the races without getting crushed by all the crazy Italian fans. The grandstand was near a slower section of the track so we could clearly see a couple of the more spectacular corners. It was pretty impressive watching all the riders change down a gear (sometimes with a bang if they exceeded the rev limiter) and then rapidly change direction and then get back on the throttle, then pull a wheelie and then 50 metres further on they were off the throttle and braking with their knee and elbow down and into the next corner. The only thing that would have been more thrilling would have been if an Italian had won a race in which case the fans would have gone wild and celebrated in the way only Italian bike fans can.

Sadly the day after the race we were headed for Rome and our flight out of Europe. We drove for two hours south down the east coast and then two hours directly west towards Rome. The scenery was dramatic and picturesque once again. Green hills and steep mountain ranges and small villages perched on hillsides showing terra cotta roof tops above tiny streets. We crossed a massive mountain range via a series of huge bridges and tunnels. One of the tunnels was ten kilometres long which caused us a bit of anxiety, I was counting down the distance to go. Halfway along the tunnel was a turn off to a laboratory that was contained behind thick metal doors. It looked like something out of a James Bond movie.

The two things we hoped for that day were not to get lost and for our flght to not be delayed. Well we didn't get lost for once but our flight was delayed by about an hour and a half which left us with precious few minutes in Frankfurt to make our connecting flight to Singapore. So our last memories of Europe are of Andy running through Frankfurt airport for about 2km (its a massive airport) in the hope of holding the flight for a few minutes to give me time to catch up so we wouldn't be stuck in Frankfurt overnight, yet again, at a one star airport hotel.

Well we made the flight so its goodbye Europe for now. Hope to see you again soon!

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