With some advance planning (and a little luck), travel from the U.S. to a European country like Italy can be surprisingly straightforward. For this year’s third consecutive visit to the Auto e Moto d’Epoca in Bologna, I purchased my flight tickets and secured my hotel reservations months in advance. We live only a forty-five-minute car ride from Newark airport, so my wife dropped me off around 2:30 p.m. on Monday October 19, sparing me the hassle of driving and parking. Clearing the security checkpoint took about fifteen minutes, and it took longer than expected to find the gate for my United flight, but I was seated at the gate in plenty of time for a 6:30 p.m. departure.

While I waited, I bought a sandwich and a drink as I was not intending to eat during the flight. I paid United an extra $169 for a seat in an emergency exit row, planning to use the extra legroom to stretch out and sleep. Before we began taxiing, I befriended my stewardess and told her not to wake me up for any meals! I donned blindfolds and managed to get perhaps four hours of shuteye. The nonstop flight to Milano arrived as scheduled at 7:30 a.m. local time. A ten-euro bus ticket brought me to Milano’s train station in about an hour. My hotel said they would gladly store my suitcase until the 2 p.m. check-in time. I sat in the lobby and waited for my high school classmate and good friend John Rasiej, who lives in Torino. He took the train and met me at the hotel around 10 a.m.

I told John that he could help keep me awake! We walked around Milano a bit, grabbed lunch, stopped for coffee, and as always, found plenty to chat about. John generously gave me his entire day, which I greatly appreciated. He headed back to Torino later in the afternoon, at which time I checked in, had dinner, and hit the hay. My plan was to spend one night in Milano to adjust to the six-hour time difference, then board the train to Bologna the following morning.

The hotel was an easy ten-minute walk to Milano’s Central Train Station. I bought a one-way ticket for the high-speed train to Bologna, and arrived at the AC Marriott hotel at 2 p.m., just in time to check in. I’ve stayed at this Marriott during all three visits, and I’ve gotten to know the area well. After dinner, it was another early-to-bed evening, as I planned to arrive at the BolognaFiere exhibition hall the next morning close to their 9 a.m. opening time.

Thursday was opening day, and the crowd seemed lighter to me than it had in the previous two years. Still, there were plenty of spectators, and the show organizers were ready for us. Thirteen separate buildings housed over 5,000 cars and motorcycles. Most of them were for sale, and most of those were brought in by vendors. A small number were offered by private individuals. Several buildings featured cars brought to the show by car clubs, organizations, and vehicle manufacturers. One large building was dedicated to the sale of parts, accessories, and automotive memorabilia.

You need to be able to hoof it if you want to see the entire show. My pedometer app shows that I walked between 14,000 and 16,000 steps each day from Thursday through Saturday. It was more crowded on Friday, and was so jammed on Saturday that at times it was difficult to move around. Saturday is also “car club day,” and several hundred privately owned cars arrived and arranged themselves outside on the paved walkways between buildings. The sunny and temperate climate helped make that part of the event especially enjoyable. Even though I had prepaid for a four-day ticket, I was able to take it all in over three full days. My third annual visit to the Auto e Moto d’Epoca was another wonderful immersion in Italian classic car culture. After this, though, I told myself I’m taking a break. Let’s see if I’m true to my word when the 2027 event rolls around!

Upcoming blog posts will focus on cars for sale, car clubs, and a very special and unexpected conversation with two Alfa Romeo executives.

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