BICCHIERE DELLA STAFFA: April 2008

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

VENTINOVE

With exactly one month left before I come home, I thought it would be appropriate to post another Top 5 list. May I present:

THE TOP 5 STRANGE THINGS I MISS ABOUT HOME:

NUMBER 5: Driving on the Freeway. Sometimes it is just easier to take a car.

NUMBER 4: Subway sandwiches. Who doesn’t love a foot long Subway Melt?

NUMBER 3: Microwaves and Microwavable Popcorn.

NUMBER 2: BBQ Sauce. Mmmm!

NUMBER 1: Ice cubes. What does it take to get a cold drink around here?

Sunday, April 27, 2008

On Sunday I went to the Le Mans 1000KM Endurance Race in Monza, which is only a 15 minute drive from Como. Unfortunately I was taking public transportation, so that 15 minutes turned into a 3 hour commute. Traveling within a city is easy by train and bus, but trying to get to a racetrack in the suburbs is much more difficult!

Going to this race I didn’t really know what to expect or who to watch for. I have seen many Le Mans races on TV, but it is much more difficult to follow the race live in person. Unlike NHRA Drag Racing, you are not allowed to watch the crews work on the cars or cruise through the pits. It was also difficult for me to follow the racing action because the announcers were speaking in Italian, and I have not practiced my Italian racing vocabulary. I watched the beginning of the race from the starting line along the main straight away, and then walked around the track to watch the race from a few different corners and straight a ways. Nearing the end of the race I walked back to the starting line grand stands to watch the finish, but because it was a 1000 KM race the finish line was at a strange corner along the track and made it a very anticlimactic finish. Anyways, the race was fun, the cars were fast and 6 hours later a winner was crowned!

If you have a minute you should take a look at this crash from the race on YouTube... Click Here

Cars and drivers getting ready on the track.

Walking in front of the trailers parked at the garage stalls.

Le Mans Series Trophy.

Wipe Out! Bring in the tractor…

There is a high banked speed ring that overlaps the racetrack were I was able to get a few cool pictures.

Climbing the steep bank.

Picture of the park on my way back to the train station.

Monza Duomo.

While I was there my goal was to take pictures of the “Top 5 things you won’t see at a drag race” and within the first 5 minutes I had found all five within one picture! I have included a few others as well. Now I would like to present….

THE TOP 5 THINGS YOU WON’T SEE AT A NHRA DRAG RACE:

NUMBER 5: A hiking trail leading to the Grand stands

NUMBER 4: Two men drinking wine.

NUMBER 3: A smart car.

NUMBER 2: Large groups of attractive women.

NUMBER 1: I think this picture is self explanatory, but I will point out a few things I noticed:

a. Sweater around the shoulders

b. Family is eating Paninis.

c. The mother is wearing white high heeled shoes and a dress.

d. No one is smiling or having fun…

Friday, April 25, 2008

VIVA ITALIA!

Happy Independence Day, Italy! Thank you for another day off of school!

I had hoped that there would be fireworks on the lake to celebrate the holiday, so I spread a rumor to all my friends that the show would start at 9pm. We all went to dinner on the edge of the lake hoping to catch the fire works display, but unfortunately the Italians don’t celebrate their independence quite like Americans do. I thought it was hilarious when everyone started wondering why there were no fireworks, but they didn’t think my joke was as funny as I did. We all went home a little disappointed, but fireworks or not, we enjoyed our day off.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

MARRAKESH

I wanted to post some pictures while I had internet connection...
I will write about my adventure and try to post it tomorrow, but in the mean time enjoy a few pictures of Marrakesh!