Travel: Maranello and Modena, Italy (Ferrari)
His candy shop. Need I say more?
This is one of the few times Carl really kept quiet. He seriously shut up. If you know Carl, he’s either a really chatty and friendly guy or the exact opposite, a man of few words. (I guess it depends if he likes you or not.) But if you felt him beside you, you’d know he was ready to burst out anytime, kicking and screaming too because you could clearly see the subdued panic and excitement in his eyes. That took a lot of self control, I’m sure. And I was on the passenger seat trying to calm his nerves while trying to figure out the directions in Italian.
In our Italian holiday of 2019, out of the 20 days, one day was specially dedicated to Carl. One whole day of CARS. And we went straight to the legend... Ferrari.
This day started out a bit stressful. We just left Florence, got our rental, and even took a wrong exit turn. Yup, at some point we had to hit reverse with a manual guide at the boot of our car. Good thing there wasn’t any oncoming traffic.
When we finally hit Maranello, it began. You’d hear it. The revving of the engines. The wheels spinning. You could feel it. The power vibrating off the ground. The heavy presence in the air of being where history was made. You’d smell it. The rubber, the artistry, the fine leather. What an adrenaline rush... and we were just on our way to look for parking. We haven’t even gone in yet. By the time we got out of the van, there were people offering us ride packages and so on. Of course, being a supportive wife and a pseudo-car-enthusiast-by-marriage-and-association, I was all, “Carlo do this! Carlo do that!” Stupidly excited for my husband’s happiness and basically pointing everywhere like an obvious tourist!
Thank you to Mama and Camille for arranging this for Carlo. He was such a happy boy! And “happy” is obviously an understatement. It was a mixture of joy, bliss, excitement, ecstasy, and pure admiration. We were able to visit 2 museums (Museo Ferrari at Maranello and the Enzo Ferrari Museum at Modena), we got the insider bus tour to see the actual Ferrari grounds, and Carlo even got to do a Ferrari Drive Test Simulation. Of course, we were just playing it cute in the background with our “auto-inspired outfits”. I was such a stage-wife trying to film every bit of happiness my husband was experiencing. But because I’ve been with Carl for almost 15 years, I’ve come to gain an appreciation for cars, their parts, their speed, and their vicious and playful looks. Yes, I understand car lingo. (And most men in my office were shocked I could carry out a car conversation without looking like a dumb-dumb. Thank you, Carl.)
Out of all the sights and cars we saw, it was when Carl was looking at the engines that warmed my heart the most. He looked at it like it was love. The way he studied it, explained it to me, drifted off unconsciously, and then eventually finding himself back to reality. I’m sure it was so surreal for him. He was literally in his candy shop.
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