The GTS Chronicles - Getting Two/True Sportscars - Delivery Adventure - 2020-2023

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Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - Venice and Imola

A Day in the Lowlands

July twenty-sixth. Wednesday. Our final day - or, I should really say, morning - in the Dolomites. Today we were heading out of the mountains and down to sea level, to the airport near Venice, where we would be picking up our next crew-member: Andy.

First, though, a pack-up of our most excellent corner-view room at the Rifugio Remauro, a quick breakfast at the Rifugio's bar, and then off along the most direct route to Venice, which happened to start off westward, down towards the Zoldo valley. We got to experience a final stretch of twisties while descending from the pass, before catching the SP251 southbound from the town of Forno di Zoldo. This was an arterial valley route and didn't offer that much in the way of driving excitement. Although it was a very scenic valley drive.

Ringed by peaks

Morning at Passo Cibiana

The valley driving came to an abrupt end at a long tunnel. When we emerged on the far side, we were in the wide and busy lower Piave River valley. Much more built-up land and industrial areas. The SS51 led south from here, soon turning into the A27 Autostrada. As we drove south, the surrounding mountains began to get lower, less craggy.

We were on the lookout for a spray-wash relatively adjacent to the highway. Our cars were kind of grimy, what with all of the rainstorm driving in the Dolomites over the last few days. With some dry sunny weather ahead of us, it was time to clean them up.

Our "wish" was soon granted -by the "My Wish Car" car-wash in the town of Paludi, only a few hundred metres off of the Autostrada. I don't know about you other gear-head readers out there, but restoring your grimy sportscar to a state of shiny-ness just feels good!

Luke's Thoughts

[on a sunny, clean, fresh morning...]

Moods have improved all around, the sunshine has come out, tummies have breakfast in them, and we pull off the highway to give the cars a good wash. Amazingly, there is a washcloth rinsing and wringing-out station. Never seen one of those before, but most welcome :-) The car is looking picture perfect, so #detailluke is happy :-) and Andrew is very pleased that I brought all the right stuff to clean them up with. There also is a separate vacuuming / cleaning station just for floor mats. Guess the Italians really know how to take care of their cars.

Post-Dolomites Wash

I swore that the Cayman felt a little lighter, a litter faster, after our cleaning. We sped back onto the southbound A27 Autostrada and continued our drive towards the Venice International Airport.

Luke's Thoughts

[on the arrival of Mr. Brown...]

I am a little bit apprehensive about Andrew's IBM colleague Andy joining us for a few days, although I did obviously meet him in Ottawa and he seemed super-nice. The good thing is that he will ride with Andrew 99% of the time and I can enjoy my alone time in the Boxster. I think it will actually be great for the trip to have Andy riding with Andrew for the next few days. Just to help Andrew relax and enjoy a bit more.

(to read more of Luke's thoughts from this day, check out his blog post)

Andy's Air Canada flight was scheduled to arrive sometime around 10 am. We ourselves arrived around 10:30 a.m., and parked ourselves well away from other cars in an empty section of a short term parking lot. We got out, stretched our legs, and kept an eye out for the tall slim figure of Mr. Brown.

And then there he was, striding towards us. After exchanging some pleasantries and getting his luggage into the cars, the four of us headed off.

A new crew member

Introducing The GTS Chronicles

Lunchtime in Venice

And where were we headed, you might be asking? Well, it turns out, we were headed to Venice. As in the actual city with the canals and barberpoles and gondolas and stuff. Jenn was planning to meet up with her vacation partner there, and the rest of us thought that "hey, it might be nice to casually drop into Venice for lunch ... why not?"

I've been to Venice quite a few times before, so I knew the drill. Rule #1 was to not park at the Tronchetto parking garage at the end of the main Venetian causeway. It's very expensive. Better to find a decent parking garage (there are several) next to one of the train stations on the main line leading into Venice, and then spend one or two Euros to take whatever train comes by on its final leg into the city. The additional benefit to doing this (apart from a much lower expense), is that you are dropped off at Venice's train station, which fronts directly onto the Grand Canal.

Quick visit to Venice

After parking the Boxster and the Cayman safely in a top corner of the Parcheggio Saba parking garage at the Mestre train station (Mestre is the small town on the shore opposite the island of Venice itself), we headed over to the train platform and waited for the next train. Any train, really, that was headed eastward. Since there are no branches in the line and Venice is the dead end of the train line, all one must do is hop on whatever train comes by. Convenient automatic tellers dispense a short-period ticket, and the cost was somewhere around 1.50 Euros per person. A Trenitalia train soon glided to a stop and we embarked and sat in air-conditioned comfort for the 15 minute ride to the Venice Central Station.

Iconic Train Station View

Emerging out the front doors of the Venice Central Train station is always a special experience. The passenger entrance is wide and grand, elevated via steps above a broad piazza. You are immediately presented with a stunning panorama of the packed buildings of Venice and the Grand Canal. Your view is perfectly punctuated by the green-domed Church of San Simeon Piccolo directly on the opposite side from your point of view. Bustling people (probably mostly tourists) hurry back and forth on the near and far sides of the canal. Water taxis, Gondole, and small delivery ships cross back-and-forth through your view. It is an impressive view.

Venice, Italy

We didn't have a particular destination. We simply wanted a quaint and scenic place to sit out and eat lunch, perhaps after a short walk through narrow alleyways to a quieter zone.

After meeting up with Jenn's friend Heider, who was waiting for us at the entrance, we crossed over the Grand Canal at the bridge closest to the train station - the Ponte degli Scalzi. From there, we wandered south towards the San Polo district. Eventually we happened on a relatively quiet square and picked one of the little bar/cafes along its periphery - the Al Prosecco cafe.

The Grand Canal

Quiet back-alley

Lunch in Venice

Our lunchtime break was most enjoyable. Sitting under the shade of some trees on a very pleasant sunny and warm day, watching tourists and locals stroll by, no engine traffic of any kind, thoughts of our road-focused trip faded away. It was easy to imagine that we were simply on a lazy weekend trip to a beautiful Italian city, taking in the art and the architecture.

With lunch finished, we bade our farewells to Jenn and Heider, and set off back towards the train station, taking a lazy wandering path back through isolated back alleyways while doing so. I love randomly walking through Venice, away from the crowds.

Once back at the Venice train station, Luke, Andy and I purchased another round of short-term tickets and waited for the next train back to Mestre. Back up in the parking garage, we re-acquainted ourselves with our two mid-engined Porsche beauties. This was the longest we had been away from them since we had picked them up in Leipzig, and even in that short few hours away, we had missed them.

Rio S. Boldo

Cat de le Oche

Back at the Beauties

To Imola

With our crewmember swap-over complete and with the Dolomites in the rear-view mirror, it was time to start the next chapter of The GTS Chronicles Euro Delivery road trip. We were headed south, across the ultra flat terrain of the Valley of the Po - Italy's largest river. On the far side of the valley rose the Apennine Range - the long, backbone-like spine of mountains than ran down the length of Italy's boot. Our intended itinerary carried us into those mountains, where we would follow them northwest towards France (over as many excellent roads as we could find, of course).

Across the Plains

We drove south on the Autostrada for a bit, making good time, but then after covering sufficient distance, we decided to exit the sterile highway and chart our way along backways. With all of our recent time in heavy-duty mountain terrain, it was novel to be travelling around through ruler-flat farmland fields. Not being a summer tourist hotspot like the Dolomites, the atmosphere was lazy and quiet, unhurried and relaxed.

After stopping in an area of scenic farm fields and capturing some photos and video, we set course for the day's destination: the city of Imola. Imola is located on the plains at the foot of the Apennine Range, and was a good starting point for exploration up into the mountains the following day. But that was not the only reason for going to Imola. Imola is a city rich in motorsport history, and was of particular interest to Luke and I. It therefore fit perfectly in to our itinerary.

Capturing the cars

The Boxster GTS 4.0

The Boxster GTS 4.0, higher

The Cayman GTS 4.0

We arrived on the outskirts of Imola at around 7pm. Seeing as this was a city environment rather than mountainous wilderness, I had earlier in the day hopped onto booking.com and had located and secured some fairly standard hotel accommodations, at a place called the Hotel Donatello. It had good underground parking for the cars, was reasonably-priced, and was within walking distance of the historic downtown sector.

Arriving Imola

We checked ourselves into the Hotel Donatello. It had a nice large modern room more than able to accommodate us. Down below, the gated underground parking was sufficiently uncrowded that we were able to snag a couple of ding-proof spots between two pillars. Perfect.

The entirely generic-looking Hotel Donatello in Imola, Italy

After getting ourselves fully set up in the hotel, we decided to make the two or three kilometres journey into downtown Imola for dinner on foot. We hadn't done much exercise so far on this road-trip, and it would do us some good.

Hotel Donatello Parking

Dusk started to fall as we walked into town. The streets in the outskirts were not at all busy, and we walked mostly alone. Closer into town, we passed by the Rocca Sforzesca, also known as the Imola Castle. It is an ancient fortified complex, built somewhere in the 1300-1400 A.D. timeframe. In the gathering dark, it was lit up dramatically from upward-facing spotlights. The drawbridge was down, and people were chilling out on the grassy grounds or wandering in and out through the open gate. We might just have to check that out on the walk back.

As we were walking, we explained to Andy some of the reasoning behind making Imola a stop on our itinerary. One of the classic tracks of Formula One racing - the Imola Circuit - was located here. Many of F1's racing greats battled here during 80s and 90s. And, of course, we told him about the death of F1 legend Ayrton Senna here in 1994. That event had added a new dimension to the circuit: in addition to it being a world-class race destination, it was now also a kind of shrine. It seemed fitting for two F1 fans on a sports-car roadtrip to stop here and pay respects.

We continued to walk further into the old centro of Imola. The streets narrowed and turned to cobblestone, lined by continuous blocks of stately old buildings of brick and mortar, painted in characteristic Italian "old city" colours, often pale pastels of yellow, pink, and orange. Narrow one-way streets and alleyways criss-crossed the major boulevards. Generally the city's layout was grid-like.

The Rocca Sforzesca

We wandered the narrow, quiet streets, looking for a restaurant that piqued our interest. Given the warm, calm evening, we were considering a spot that had outdoor tables.

In a narrow alleyway, we spotted a quaint little cluster of tables, with diners being waited on. It had the right sort of vibe, and so we wandered up to the entrance to have a look at the menu. Osteria del Teatro. Hm, not bad. It's history was pretty neat, too: the structure was based on an old nobleman's house that was itself based on some much older Roman ruins.

Although sitting outside was tempting, we had glimpsed the super rustic underground cellar room that was the main interior dining area. That sealed the deal, and we decided to eat here for dinner.

courtesy ABrown

Alleyway Restaurant

We descended into the restaurant's interior, where were guided to a free table. Underneath the vaulted brick ceiling, we ordered some wine and mineral water, and reviewed the menu. It was rather hot down here, and we were still a bit sweaty from our walk, which made us question our choice of eating inside versus out on the street.

Andy ordered the Baccala - a type of codfish dish typical to Southern Italy, served with grated polenta (another Italian staple). I ordered the Ravioli in a ragu sauce, and Luke ordered (I think) roughly a fettucine alfredo, but I can't remember for sure. What I do remember is that the meal was excellent, as was the conversation, where we discussed the day's events, sports, formula one racing, and, of course, briefed Andy about our plans for the subsequent days.

courtesy ABrown

Osteria del Teatro

Andy tries the Baccala

Piazza Matteotti

After a most-satisfying dinner at the Osteria del Teatro, we continued with our passegiatta - our evening walk through the streets Imola. In central piazzas, there was actually a bit of relaxed nightlife happening - young people chatting at gelaterias and bars, and open-air music being played on small portable stages. The streets weren't overly busy or crowded; rather, everything just had a relaxed, unhurried, but still-active vibe. And generally, the people seemed to be locals, not having the appearance of tourists and definitely speaking Italian. At the Piazza Matteotti, lined in porticoes of the Bolognese style, we could see acknowledgements to the town's F1 history, with hanging banners in the porticoes showing images the great drivers of the past: Nicki Lauda, Aryton Senna, Nigel Mansell.

From Piazza Matteotti, we started wandering back towards the Hotel Donatello. As we passed by the big medieval fort of the Rocca Sforzesca, we decided to go inside the main entrance, which was still open. We could hear recorded sounds and music echoing off the weathered walls, and presently, we arrived at a large courtyard where seats had been set up in rows and a movie was being projected on a huge screen hung from one of the fort's outer walls. An open-air movie night. Cool.

Leaving the cinephiles to their movie, we continued on, soon arriving back at the Hotel Donatello. It had been really nice to get out and to feel the natural, non-tourist vibe of an Italian city.

Interactive trackmap with photo points - July 26 - click map to view

Interactive trackmap with photo points - July 26 - click to view

July 26 - Drive Data

Start Time: 8:21a.m.

End Time: 11:10p.m.

Duration: 14h49m

Distance: 380.79 km (236.61 mi)

Average Speed: 25.7 km/hr (16.0 mph)

Start Elevation: 4953ft (1510m) *

Max Elevation: 5044ft (1537m) *

Min Elevation: -163ft (-50m) *

End Elevation: 192ft (58m) *