To finish catching up, on Saturday we drove back to Rome via Lago Bolsena in the southern part of Tuscany. It was slightly overcast but warm. We drove through the town of Bolsena and ended up stopping for lunch in the town of Montefiascone. Both of them were very picturesque but we were tired so we did not stop to explore. We were back in Rome by late afternoon.
On Sunday we went off to a car/motorcycle mostra scambio (swap meet) at an ippodromo south of Rome. Contrary to the impression English speakers get an ippodromo has nothing to do with hippos but is a horse track. The mostra scambio was interesting but not nearly as large as the annual event in Padova. The track was fascinating as well. There were the old, unused stands standing not far from the modern stands.
We cruised around and looked at everything—the restored cars and motorcycles, the vehicles in need of restoration, the parts and tools, manuals, books and documentation and t-shirts, jackets and other motoring related paraphernalia. There were even a few stalls with a few pieces of antique (?) furniture and bric-a-brac.
It took us an hour or so to work our way through the stalls. The early brisk fall air had warmed up to the point where it made one think of escaping to the sea or mountains. Our first impulse upon leaving was to head for the Alban hills but we soon found ourselves in the middle of a traffic jam. Obviously we were not the only ones with that thought.
We turned around and decided to head back to our apartment by heading right through the middle of Rome. Being midday Sunday there was not a lot of traffic. After driving directly to S. Giovanni in Laterano we made began to rely on the GPS, sort of. Our route took us past the Baths of Caracalla, Circus Maximus, Piazza Venezia and then along the Tevere until we arrived back at the Ponte Milvio neighborhood. Although we enjoyed the trip it was a relief to put the car back into its parking place.
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| Old, unused stands at track |
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| Mostra scambio under raised terraces |
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| New stands at track |
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| The Ferrari symbol seems to be everywhere in Italy |
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| View across the track to the mountains |
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| Parade area and winner's circle |
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| Vendors have many methods of storing small parts but I like this low budget option--chopped off water bottles |
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