CRUMBALL RALLY

Paul · Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Posts: 119 Location: Warrington Riviera

Edit 16/01/09......for new teams who may be interested in the oroginal film...

To sum up....it rained and then some all weekend. To give a bit more flexibility to TCrawl we drove the much more scenic west side of the lake to work out part of the day 3 challenge...nothing that your hangover can’t handle, honest. For those intending to have a go at the bungee jump on the Sunday you of course have the option to take the quicker eastern motorway route after your jump. Incidentally, there seemed to more in the way of restaurants and hotels open, especially around the top end of the lake than last year, probably because of the season.

For those of you with a penchant for the esoteric, near to Stresa approx halfway down the lake there is of all things an Umbrella Museum!

Day 2 saw us arrive in Turin and the dreaded traffic. By sheer luck and heading towards the centre via a tram only road (!) we made it to the main railway station which is where most of the mid range hotels are including one of the 3 Best Western hotels in the vicinity. I can recommend the Hotel Genio, very easy to find, almost next to the station and they have use of an underground car park nearby.

As there will be more of us this year, Saturday pm saw us once again working hard and scouring the centre of Turin looking for a suitable new bar for the evening check in. Now this sounds like a barrel of laughs but there seem to be only two types of bar in Turin. Either upmarket eateries or those shall we say that leave a bit to be desired, most of which were too small anyway. There are several of these around the station and I never did find out what those women with the make up and short skirts hanging around on street corners were doing. Anyway, perseverance and a few beers paid off and we have a result (bar, not the women).

Another pizza and another Sunday morning. Still raining but time to go sightseeing. First stop the Le Meridien Hotel, which forms part of the old Fiat Lingotto car factory. It’s a little bit pricy and out of the city centre but if you have the dosh you could stay here and as a guest get to see the rooftop test track as featured in the mini chase sequence. By asking politely at reception however, they gave us free unescorted access to the roof.....brilliant, more so if it was not for the rain....

Next stop down to Parca Italia and the Palavela, site of the 1961 Turin Expo and the funny shaped roof which the minis all drove up pursued by a police car......looks a bit different now but for film fans another place worth stopping for a few minutes, especially as it is on the route south out of town to Monaco on the Sunday........assuming you find your way out of Turin. More rain so we called it a day and managed to get on an earlier Easyjet flight than originally booked...and the bonus, no additional fees.

Stickers are now printed and rally instructions will be finalised next week ready for printing. Expect yours around mid June. See you soon.

Paul · Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Posts: 119 Location: Warrington Riviera

Bump..for new teams information....

Hinds57 · Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 38 Location: Uxbridge, NW London

Does anyone have a nice picture of either road leading up to or away from dear old St. Bernard?

Looking at the Stelvio pic I think the same is true with this little foothill - cooling systems, brakes and clutch need to be in tip top shape as it very arduous on your poor old car. Our experience taught us a valuable lesson as sliding down the hairpins firing on three cylinders and with no brakes in an automatic made us all lose about 2 stone!

The rest of the journey is very picturesque....

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