“Every Sunday, Micheal’s family, along with other Jewish families, would go to Monza Park, the largest walled park in Europe. Next to it was the famous Monza Racetrack, the home turf of Ferrari, and the venue of the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix. The dominant driver at the time was Nikki Lauda for Ferrari. In 1976, he crashed his race car during a race, burning half his face off, but continued to race that season.”
– Chapter Three of Improvising in Italian
Inside Monza Park, just outside of Milan, the 18th century Royal Palace resides. The last royal family to use it was the House of Savoy during the Kingdom of Italy. In 1900, King Umberto I was assassinated in Monza by an anarchist named Gaetano Bresci. After the death of his father, the new king, Victor Emmanuel III, closed the palace, no longer wanting to use it. He later donated the palace and its grounds to the cities of Monza and Milan. Today, the public can stroll the vast gardens and lawns of the estate. The palace is now used for exhibitions, and the public can view what was once the private chambers of the royal family.
The other week, Michael and I went to the Royal Palace to see the photographs of the American city photographer Vivian Maeir. It claimed to be the largest exhibition ever dedicated to the photographer with 200 prints, mostly in black and white, of street scenes of NYC and Chicago in the 1950s and 60s, including contact sheets, films and audio recordings of Maeir herself. It was a look at American’s past as the exhibit played old-time tunes such as Coney Island Washboard by The Mills Brothers. Downstairs, in a grand marbled room, was a café where we had tea and chocolate cake afterwards.
The racetrack that is inside Monza Park was built in 1922 and known as the Temple of Speed. It has hosted the Italian Grand Prix, Formula 1, World Sports Car Championship, the Le Mans Series, and Grand Prix Motorcycle racing. There have been many fatal accidents there. In my research I read that 52 drivers have been killed, and 35 spectators. As I wrote in chapter three in Improvising in Italian, this was the location where Nikki Lauda was in a horrific accident and severely burned his face.
Improvising in Italian
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