WOW what another great day. Apart from the satnav letthng us down when we needed it most, in Turin!
Once we found the other Jobbers in Piazza Carlo Alberto, we then made our way through Turin to the Lingotto rooftop Test Track. what a great job the Turin Police did, in stopping the traffic.
After our adventure, through Turin, we've had dinner at the new Eatery opposite the Lingotto. This is a facinating place where all lovers oe should go. Your not only offered an amazhng selection of food, but each section has its own specialist restaurant.
We've arrived in Alba enroute to Turin. This is a fantastic place to shop, and was the starting point for Top Gears challenge, to find the best road in Europe.
We had a wonderful boat trip out to an island here, this afternoon, after which we made our way to our hotel, the Les Iles Borromees. I thought last years hotel was magnificent but this knocks spots off it. The only downside is the bar prices, but we bought some drink earlier on (including a bottle of Jack Daniels for €6) to have a garage party in the underground garage later.
Jacks decided NOT to swim back from our lunch stop on an island in the middle of Lake Maggoire. He's taken control of the boat and said something about leaving the cars behind and getting back to Blighty!
Briancar at Monza have laid on drinks, cakes and a beautiful hot chocolate clubman. An opportunity for Becky and Debs to have a quick laydown before, they're let loose on the mighty Monza track.
We've also met one of GramPys cousins GP0596 complete with checkmate stripes
We arrived in Monza amd had a great lunch in The St George restaurant in the middle of Monza's massive park
Now its back to the Hotel Habitat to get ready for tonights formal lunch at the Monza racecurcuit before (hopefully) getting a few laps in, on the world famous track
With 169 miles to Monza and our next hotel, most of the cars had an early start to meet the 12.30 target time. A group of us have decided to travel along together, with a game of bingo. Crossing of the numbers of those cars that we pass on the way.
Tonights the first formal dinner on the job. One of the MINI2 tables seem to have had their fair share of wine, kindly donated by the Santome winery, who we visited earlier in the week.
Jack had another great day, hitching a ride with Keith, (a classic Mini owner) around Adria racetrack, who helped to raise £250 for the Italian Job Charity last night and paid for the honour of having QQ Jack as a guest for the day.
Don't forget you can help Jack to raise more for the charity by clicking on the donate button.
After last nights auction team 16, have been sponsored to do todays stages in their boxer shorts. There's a definite nip in the air today and the guys are in a classic, with no heated seats!
After last nights drinkathon we've set out on todays route. First stop of the day is to a local orphanage to drop off some toys to the children, before setting off for Asolo.
We've spotted a new Fiat 500 for sale but non on the road yet.
We've all arrived safely at the first stage, and after a hearty meal of various cheeses followed by pasta, its time for the special stages. The first consisting of tackling a coures whilst the navigator holds a tray of balls steady.
Where all roads lead to nowhere. Well we've eventually arrived in Bled after an eventful journey. With no Satnav coverage and the non existence of decent road signs(even significant towns like Bled) it is extremelx difficult to fimd your way round this part of the World. This made the journey very stressful but really was worth the effort to enter Slovinia by the Loibhpass. This is one of the most beautiful passes that we have tackled this year. And madd even more wonderful with the trees in their Autumn colours.
We're going to make an early start tomorrow to get out of Slovinia and hopefully make The Italian Job deadline of 11am
We've tried to get through the Solk Pass, but the road is closed. Unfortunately, although there is beautiful warm sun today, there must have been a recent heavy fall of snow and the plough don't seem to have got through.
QQ Jack took the opportunity to make a snow man. Although, i would have, thought a snow duck would have been more appropriate, but i think he wanted to get to the next hotel, as mentioned something about putting the last of the Chodova beer on ice!
Well we've arrived in Wels after tackling a hectic Linz.
At first sight the town isn't that impressive, however, a short stroll down some of the little alleys, and the town begins to reveal some wonderful gems of architecture.
The town has an excellent sellection of shops and plenty of small coffee bars.
After last nights massive eat and drinkathon, we're staying in tonight with half a ton of cheese and bread that we bought earlier and the excellent beer from the Chodovar Brewery.
WOW what g magnificent time we've had today. This hotel has everything on site.
Great hotel Interesting museum tour Relaxing beer spa with therapys Fabulous restaurant with the hugest plates of food. And beautiful wooded countryside surrounding it.
If you want sample a small bit of eastern Europe, then Hotel U Sladka is most definitely a must.
We cant thank Jiri (our host) enough for the wonderful time we've had here. We just wish we had more time to sample more beers, more therapys and to work through the amazing menu at the restaurant.
We've had a massive blast on the Autobahns, but only managed 140mph today. As we approach the Czech Border, we've stopped of at the Golden Arches (Mc Donalds) and the last Shell garaged to get some 100 octane V-Power.
The weathers definitely getting colder and up in the hills we've been driving through snow.
Only 4 months and we!re back at the Gruuthuse Hof in Brugge for some of their superb mussels. We managed to get an earlier ferry so we decided to stop off for some chocolates on the way.
It's a glorious warm day here, and although there's a chill in the air, its wonderful walking around watching the horse and carriages.
So Chrisandjax insisted that i come to the bar with them. They assured me that the double vodka was a traditional drink to have before taking on the English Channel. As i'm not used to such a long distance on water, i agreed to have one. Hic
The new Clubman was thoroughly tested by the Mini2 regulars today, and I can confirm that the extra 80mm of legroom makes all the difference. We even managed to get 3 of the biggest characters (Poppet, Big Jon and Rakey) in the back seat!!
