Modena & Maranello

So the weekend after I went to Monza for the Formula 1 race (YAY), I went to Modena to see il Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari and il Museo Ferrari in Maranello. Yes, both are Ferrari museums, one of them was at Enzo Ferrari's house, and the other was dedicated to the race cars. It was pretty cool, I don't have much to say other that I went and saw cars, and it was fun. Haha, I went with my friend Margarita and her boyfriend, who was visiting for the week. 
 

Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italia

Enzo Ferrari's Actual House--Now a Museum, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italia

Ferrari Over the Years Display, 2nd Floor of the Ferrari Museum, Maranello, Emilia-Romagna, Italia

My new Favorite Ferrari. Mmmmm Green :)

After we visited the museums, we hung around Modena as Margarita said it was famous for its food, and that there was a UNESCO world heritage site (the Cathedral) there. We stopped at a bar and had a few drinks, I ordered an Irish coffee which was a mistake. Did not realize that they put Irish whiskey in it--I was thinking, "ooh, it'll be good like having Bailey's in my coffee!" No, not so much. I could barely get it down. We walked around for a bit after that, as we were waiting for our train that would take us back to Florence at 7, and we fell asleep in a park. Haha.
 

My Lunch in Modena: Pasta with Ragu (Meat sauce), YUM.

My Irish Coffee as it is so nicely written on the glass they gave me. You can see the whiskey and the cream separating from the coffee at the bottom--bleckk.

Overall, I'd say it was a good day.

Homesick

So I was feeling very frustrated with the food here, as I explained in one of my previous posts. I decided to do something about it, and my roommates and I went to this little restaurant that was hidden behind a big piazza, called The Diner.

Best. Idea. Ever.

I had an omelet with bacon and cheddar cheese. It was real bacon. It was real cheese. And it came with shredded potatoes that were fried (yum), ketchup (yum), toast, and jam (yum).

I am so going back when I get homesick, because I hear they have the best burgers (ohmigod beef.) and I still have my 10% discount coupon. #Win.

I am a Terrible Blogger

So it has been about a month since my last post, and I've been meaning to write down everything that I've done, but I keep getting distracted and then I forget. But for right now, let me catch you up on all the "happenings" since my last update. 

Florence is just as beautiful and interesting and amazing as when I first got here. The weather is a little bit colder, but there are still so many world travelers right by my house!! (I live right next to the Galleria dell'Accademia, which is where the real Michelangelo's David resides) I love hearing all the accents when I walk to class and get stuck behind a tour group. It's amazing how many Italian tourists there are--it just dawned on me the other day that you can be a tourist in your own country. I've never thought of it that way before. All the times I've been to Disney, Ohio, Atlanta, or Wisconsin, I was a tourist. Huh. 

Anyway, I left off in early September, about ten days after I had arrived in this beautiful foreign country, and I want to share my travels before they all pile up on me!

The day after my last post, I went to Monza with two friends for the Formula 1 race! It was like a dream, I have always wanted to go to a Formula 1 race, and my dad said that this is one of the fastest tracks in the series. Of course, I was surrounded by Italians, so when Sebastian Vettel won, and I cheered, they all looked at me like they were going to murder me. "Yayyy, Alonso!..."  Haha, oops. When the race was over, which I'm sad that it didn't take that long, we all got to walk on the track! It was so exciting!

Our journey was smooth sailing for the most part; we arrived in Milan with no problem and there was already a huge mob of people waiting to catch the train that would take us right to the race track. Once we got to Monza however, was a different story. We arrived at the train station which is somewhere in the upper left-hand corner, right near the light brown section that looks like a baseball field. Now, if we had gone up to the top, we would have found buses to take us to where we needed to be. BUT, we were told at one of the ticket booths to walk, all the way around the track, with no map. We had to get to the ticket booth located further down the road (& off the map) that starts in the bottom right-hand corner.

It took us over an hour, one phone call to my dad, three track employees, five officers, and a shuttle bus, to get us where we needed to be. Which we never would have found if it weren't for the nice cabby who drove us (Thank you sir, for making my day). The race had just started as we were walking into the track area, thank gawd, so we only missed the first two or three laps. The way out was much easier, as we just followed the swarms of people flocking towards the buses which, were all the way in the top left-hand corner of the map... again. 
We had dinner in Milan, because we had about an hour before our train home arrived, and that is where I had possibly, the best slice of pizza in my life along with a scrumptious little honey melon tart. YUM. I'm hungry just uploading these photos for y'all to see... The slice of pizza was cheese, basil, and prosciutto BTW :) and I went back for another slice--I was so hungry, but they didn't have the prosciutto one anymore so I got plain cheese. Still delicious, and the best pizza I've had so far in Italy. Totally worth it. That day was amazing, and I am so thankful that I was able to have this once in a lifetime opportunity and I will cherish it forever. Viva Monza!