[alfa] Back from a Wonderful Vacation in Italy

[C2slayman@xxxxxxx]

Hi Alfisti,
    Claudia and I just got back last week from a glorious vacation in Italy 
(my first time, Claudia's second) with our niece (Kira) and nephew (Matt), who 
both just graduated from High School.  We spent time in Milano, Cinque Terra, 
Firenze, Venezia and Verona.  Fantastic!  I now regret not going on any of the 
tours Fred put together while he was active in AROC.  I never knew what I was 
missing.
    The food was great.  The art was great.  The Italian's were very friendly 
and courteos when we greeting them with "Bon giorno!" or "Bona serra!"   
    A big Thanks to all who gave me advice and directions to the Alfa Musuem 
and Galleria Ferrari.  We rented an Alfa 147 JTD 5speed in Firenze and drove 
to Maranello for the day.  I was surprised by the pick up and torque.  It 
handled well and had plenty of power for the autostrada.  They were remodeling the 
upstairs section of the Galleria Ferrari, so the diplay space was limited.  
Most of it was taken up by Formula 1 engines and hardware.  Clearly they are on 
a high with all the F1 victories for the past several years.  I took about a 
hundred photos (including Il Commendatores desk with a vintage Parker Duofold 
pen and Kira and Matt with Ferrari factory workers in red jumpsuits).  Since 
I'm web challenged, I have to get Matt to post them.
    We weren't able to connect with Luca while we were in Verona, but had a 
nice chat with him on the phone.  (Luca - hope you got your new roof on and the 
house restoration is proceeding well.)
    We also ran out time in Milano and didn't make it to the Alfa Museum.  
Oh, well!  Good reason for a return trip.  But it was fascinating to see the 
cross and serpent shield all over the Castelvecchio in Milano.  Now every time 
Matt sees an Alfa back in the states, he will know the history behind the badge!
    I was pleasantly surprised to see so many Alfas.  There were tons of 147s 
and 156s.  166s were not as common, but looked very sharp.  Saw a couple 
105/115 series GTVs and no 116 series Alfetta/GTV6s.  The GTVs still look 
fantastic after all these years.  It was almost as though there were more Alfas than 
there were Fiats!  And Minis LOOKED big compared to a lot of the other cars.  
Kira and Matt both got a big kick out of the Smart cars.  It's all relative I 
guess.
    Well, thats it for now!

Ciao,
Charlie S
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