Dear all,
If you are not here in Merano, you are not missing much. Most of us had to drive over 1000 km's of motorway and autobahn driving, sometimes at speeds in excess of 140 km/hour (those pesky Germans with their fast cars) just to arrive here safely. Those unfortunate enough to come from places north of Meran (that's 95% of us) even had to navigate challenging mountain passes with 20+ hairpin bends just to get here.
And that with cars averaging over 45 years of age. Today, to add insult to injury we had to be at breakfast at 07:00 te receive a briefing and to depart on a gruelling drive at 08:00. It feels like being in the army even though James H is not here. He's been training Peter M and Rick 007 apparently.
Then, after getting up so early we had to drive at least 312 km's today. Not on straight, level roads. Oh no, We were meant to punish our precious possessions yet again. Slopes too steep to take a lift to, descents so scary your brakes would break out in fire. All our beautifully polished cars dirty, filthy and rims caked with brake dust. It's a good thing if you missed this.
In order to convince you all never to attend a European Event again I enclose some pictures. NOTE: not for sensitive eyes.
The first photo: appalling (appealing) refreshments at the first stop at 11:00 in the morning, note how the Pagoda boot is misused.
Photo 2: the obligatory, cheesy mirror photograph
Photo 3: Something to accompany the drinks of photo one, rightly served from a lowly R107, driven by Peter M's dad
(ps: that cheese was not tasty at all, oh no. Nor was the speck!)
