Ciao everyone!
Time is definitely moving quickly here at CIMBA. In my last post, I wrote about the group of people I met at the Frankfurt airport after our winter weather delays. We've been traveling together on weekends, and we recently finished a great long weekend attending the Men’s Big Air Freestyle Skiing event at the Olympics (a few of us even made it on TV!). Traveling with this group has been a major highlight of my time abroad. To wrap up that weekend, we had an incredible day trip that came together completely by accident.
Our travel weekend started in Tirano, a small ski town near the Olympic events. After the competition, we made our way to Milan. Walking around the city, seeing the Duomo, and trying the local food was a great experience. However, when we first sat down to plan our final day on Tuesday, we ran out of ideas. We could either stay another day in Milan and shop, or try and squeeze something in. Puzzled, I pulled up the map on my phone. I zoomed out on the Milan area to see what else was nearby, and there it was: Monza.
As a Formula 1 fan, this was an easy decision. Monza isn't just a regular town; it is home to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, widely known as the "Temple of Speed." It is one of the most historic sites for F1 racing in the world and the home turf of Ferrari. For an F1 fan, going to Italy and not seeing Monza is like visiting Rome and skipping the Colosseum. For any NFL fans, it is about the equivalent of the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field. I pitched the idea to my group, and fortunately, they agreed to go.
Researching the logistics was a little bit of a hurdle at first. It was only a 10-minute train ride from Milan. The challenge was figuring out how to get from the Monza train station to the main entrance of the track, which was nearly six kilometers away. After a bit more research and some helpful advice from Jayme, we found a local bus route that worked perfectly. Once transportation was sorted, we checked if the Monza track offered visitor tours. Luckily, they did. We booked our tickets and headed to the station, making us the first students from CIMBA to visit the track.
The tour was exactly what I was hoping for. We were driven around the historic track in a van, which was a unique experience. Even though we weren't traveling at race speeds, being on the actual asphalt and seeing the famous corners up close was highly memorable. We also received a behind-the-scenes look at the facility, touring restricted areas like the press rooms and race control.
One of the best parts of the day was walking out onto the actual podium. The Monza podium is unique because it extends directly over the pit lane and the main straight of the track. Standing there and looking out over the empty stands, it was easy to picture what it looks like on race day, with thousands of Scuderia fans holding Ferrari flags and cheering for the drivers. Getting to stand where so many racing legends have celebrated their wins was a great way to end the tour.
This entire experience started from simply zooming out on a map, yet it ended up being one of the best days of our travel weekend. It really highlighted the importance of staying flexible with travel plans while abroad. The Olympics might be the main theme for our semester here, but after standing on that podium, I think F1 would make a great focus for the future.
I am grateful for these spontaneous trips, and I am looking forward to seeing where we travel next.
Grazie,
Srikar