We didn’t go to the Italian Grand Prix Formula 1 Race at Monza on Sunday, September 1st, but we did the next best thing. We took a train from Varenna to Monza (not far from Milan) on Saturday, August 31st and went to the city’s race festival. Another extremely hot day–I spent a lot of money on Lemon Soda and water.

The first thing we saw when we got off our train were the lines of buses awaiting people who had tickets to the qualifying race that day. We had to be content with a giant video screen in the center of town. I didn’t mind, I’m not as interested in racing as Jim is.

Booths featuring older models of racing cars, Vespas, virtual race car driving, activities for kids to participate in bicycle races and make Lego cars, food, even dancers were set up over the downtown shopping area. We chose a restaurant to eat lunch; I used the translator on my phone to ask the waitress for another napkin and a Coke Zero. Once again, although I’ve searched online, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant!

After the qualifier I wanted to leave because I was very hot and had really just been waiting for Jim, who was thrilled to be this close to a Formula 1 race. We headed for the trains but encountered masses of people returning from the qualifier on the buses and boarding the trains, mostly to Milan. It took awhile before our train arrived and we weren’t totally sure we had boarded the correct one! Luckily we had. I don’t know what I’d do without Jim.