Italy - Day 5

We enjoyed the complementary breakfast at the hotel before making our way across the street to the train station. Turns out a lot more people ride the train on Sunday morning than during Saturday afternoon. We were greeted with a swarm of people and long lines at the ticket windows. After getting our tickets to Imola, we had to run to the platform to make the train. We used most of the 20 minute ride to catch our breath. We arrived to a bustling Imola as visitors made their way to the track. The residents all lined the streets in their Sunday's Best to watch the parade.

Entering the track, we made our way to our seats. On the way to Tosa we found the statue of Ayrton Senna along Tamburello marking the place of his death. Many folks were gathered taking pictures and saying barely audible prayers. It was quite humbling to see so many people making the pilgrimage to this site.

We continued on to our seats to find a sea of red. We were smack in the middle of Tifosi Country. From what I could tell, not only were we the only Americans around but we were the only ones not cheering for Ferrari.

The race itself was amazing. A first lap incident between Ide and Albers sent the Midland driver into the kitty litter doing barrel rolls right in our field of view:

I don't think I've ever seen an F1 race where the first and second place cars were battling for lead for as long as it occurred here. Fernando was constantly barking at Michael's heals for the last 2/3rds of the race. But we pretty much knew it was over when we saw on the TV that the Fernando pulled into the pits before Schumi. On the next lap the crowd around us rose to their feet all pointing to the TV as Michael was putting out of the pits, having completed his stop, and Fernando was making his way down the front strait. When the Ferrari sliced out directly in front of the Renault, the place erupted! The Tifosi went crazy as their driver had managed to keep the lead during the crucial pit stop, and was now in position to hold on to first place.

The last ~15 laps were a clinic on how to keep a car behind you without officially "blocking" - today's teacher: 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. The crowd would audibly gasp for breath every time that Fernando would stick his nose on the inside of Michale during the entrance to Tosa, and cheer loudly as the Ferrari would pull away out of the corner and defend the position.

Eventually Fernando blew it coming out of the Villeneuve chicane and the race was over. For the last ~2 laps, Michael had a >1.? second lead and was costing to victory. As he crossed the finish line to collect the checkered flag, the crowd around us went ballistic. People were waving their pony flags and spraying bottles of beer as the drivers came around on their cooldown lap.

We soon joined the swarm of people who entered the track to make the long walk back to the main entrance of the track. A group of folks were sifting through the kitty litter looking for pieces of Albers car to hock on eBay.

The train ride back to Bologna was quiet as people recovered from a long day in the sun. After another delicious Italian dinner enjoyed with some local wine. We made our way back to the hotel bar. There we had an awkward conversation with the bartender who spoke as much English as we spoke Italian. We asked where would be a good place to buy some local wine to take back with us. Using the concierge as a translator, he directed us to the local supermarket and said that would probably be the best place. Everything was closed for the night. But now we had a mission for the next morning before boarding the plane to head back to Paris.