Dancing Horses

I was excited to see my brother again for the second time on our adventure. He decided to bring our niece, Julia for her first international trip and meet us in Italy. Walker has been a car guy pretty much his whole life so we decided to make a pilgrimage to see one of the “Seven Wonders of the Car World” with a trip to Maranello, Italy, the home of Ferrari.

Only in the last few years have they allowed ordinary people to see the factory and test track. It used to be that you had to show “Proof of Ownership” of an actual Ferrari to get behind the gates. Thankfully they have changed that and now anyone can see behind the curtain. However, no pictures allowed inside the factory or test track. We saw where all the Ferrari F1 drivers train and where they build some of the fastest cars in the world.  We even got to take a lap around the test track (except it was in a giant bus, not a fast car).

The factory tour wasn’t that eventful as it was a Sunday and not much was going on.  We saw some new Ferraris fresh off the line as well as a few concept cars they were working on. Ferrari manufacturers about 7,000 cars each year, about half of which are sold in the U.S. Only 300 stayed in Italy last year.

After the factory, we spent quite a while in the new Ferrari Museum.  It was very impressive with lots of beautiful (mostly red) Ferraris and lots of history on the F1 team and their success.

The definite highlight of the visit was Walker renting a 2016 Ferrari California Turbo for a spin around the roads of Maranello.  As you can see this Ferrari is the “family” version with an actual backseat. I sacrificed and let the two kids go on the ride. They had a lot of fun!  I know my brother had a lot of fun and made a long-lasting memory of this trip.