New tyres and my Italian trip in the Tuscan
Discussion
Rather than hijack the R888 Toyo tyres thread here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I thought I'd write my update on the tyres and my journey in a separate thread for anyone who might be interested....
Tues 19th June 11.00pm...
Writing to you from 50 miles inside France in the Campanile at Bethune...wifi is so handy ...
It took some getting used to....the tyres and set up have made the car even more 'pointy'. Grip is amazing...especially with new springs at the bag (mine had started to sag)
Got here just as the heavens opened....absolutely tipping it down here, lightning and thunder all around. Hope its gone by tomorrow, as everyone says these tyres are slightly less than great in heavy rain and standing water.
Fingers crossed.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I thought I'd write my update on the tyres and my journey in a separate thread for anyone who might be interested....
Tues 19th June 11.00pm...
Writing to you from 50 miles inside France in the Campanile at Bethune...wifi is so handy ...
It took some getting used to....the tyres and set up have made the car even more 'pointy'. Grip is amazing...especially with new springs at the bag (mine had started to sag)
Got here just as the heavens opened....absolutely tipping it down here, lightning and thunder all around. Hope its gone by tomorrow, as everyone says these tyres are slightly less than great in heavy rain and standing water.
Fingers crossed.
Update plus a little more from the start of the trip...hope this doesn't bore people to death
Thought I’d write a little update on my travels across France, Switzerland and Italy in the Tuscan, with the new Toyo 888’s…and armed with my new photo stuff. Lots of the scenic pics are only ok IMO, due to working around the sun and rain (especially at the Emosson dam in Switzerland) but a bad workman always blames his tools as they say
Dover to Bethune for the first night…leaving England, I could see horrible rain and lighting on the south coast, and knowing it was following me…phrrrrt.
Uneventful trip to Bethune, and luckily the heavens opened just as I arrived. Next morning was sunny, and took a leisurely trip to Beune, just south of Dijon, avoiding the motorways. Fortunately, the place I stayed at (only a cheap Campanile) had a manager who was a mad petrolhead….came out straight away before I even got out the car, and directly me to a sheltered bay where he parks his car. Out he came with a big bucket of hot water to clean the car, and then proceeded to talk about all the car clubs that use the place for meet ups.
I offered to take him out for a spin, but the weather was closing in too rapidly and within 30 minutes the sky was black and lightning and thunder all around. Bugger. He’d never seen a TVR before, and apparently they were his favourite (I bet he says that to all the guests lol)
Leaving there and heading to Vallorcine, just east of Chamonix, took in some fantastic roads and scenery with beautiful lakes, and glimpses of the Alps turning into great big mountains. Wonderful. The car was epic…roof off, great sounds, great view, and awesome stopping power lead to much fun.
Checked in to the hotel, only to find there was no TV in the room (never had that one before). Not to worry. Went off to the Emosson dam to photograph….its 6000ft up, and commanded spectacular views. Unfortunately the weather was closing in and it was pretty misty and overcast….plus the awkward sun was in the wrong place, as I was shooting into it…hey ho.
Vallorcine, was where the morning began on Friday….and it was absolutely pouring with rain…which filled me with dread on these tyres.
I thought about leaving it a couple of hours, but figured the rain and mist were here to stay, so headed off. Here begins the usual TVR issues
ECU fan failed due to the rain, so there was no demisting…ohhh great ….and water was entering the cabin at a fair old rate from the tops of the a-pillars where perhaps I had not fitted the roof perfectly. So stuffing those with tissues and putting a towel on my lap to stop the dripping from distracting me too much…off I went.
At a steady 40-50mph all was fine, the rain-x doing a great job, and the sat nav showing the bends afters the up coming bend. All seemed ok….tyres were fine, no hint of drama….then I remembered I was 5500 feet up in the alps, and all of a sudden found myself in the middle of a great big cloud. Visibility reduced to about 3 car lengths….marvellous…lots of hairpins going from Vallorcine down to Orsieres on the way to the St. Bernard pass, not that I could see any of them approaching….tom tom to the rescue…what a fantastic tool. I don’t think I blinked for a half hour. It certainly focused my concentration.
No dramas, tyres had no doubt much more ability than I wanted to try, but best not to find my small limits and the tyres while careering down a mountain saying to myself “so that’s where the grip runs out”
Had to go through the tunnel rather than over the pass, which was very frustrating, but I believe I made the sensible choice. There were loads of fantastic opportunities for playing around on the Italian side, and even lots more on the rest of my journey to come.
The Swiss side was 13c, and the Italian side 23c and climbing. Ferrari’s were everywhere, all on their way, some in huge convoys, to Maranello for the 60th birthday weekend. Played tag with a stunning F430 for about 30 miles from the Alps towards Milan. This made me stay on the Autostrada, which despite the appalling roadworks, was quick and fun when there were other cars to play with. After we went our separate ways, an M5 (with a d’Ahler badge on the back ??) picked me up. What a machine…whenever there was a break in traffic on the autostrada, his hyperspace button was clearly MUCH BIGGER than mine….he just disappeared…phenomenal pace and I wasn’t exactly hanging around either.
Again, in the sunshine and dry, the tyres were awe inspiring….so much confidence, and so much fun. Braking later and later for the approaching hairpins probably meant I took more and more late overtakes knowing the car would simply deal with it. I found it very demanding, both mentally and physically, due to the concentration, and heat (it reached 36c on Friday). Obviously I could have taken it very sedately, but there was too much fun to be had.
And the ecu fan starting working again, so I had half decent aircon again…yippee. Car needed about 1.5 litres of oil, due the heat, and it being 0w40…luckily Phil Keen is staying at the same hotel as me (FIA GT weekend in Monza), so happily gave the car a good check over, and showed me a few new things about getting the front bonnet open when the spring is knackered. And we also turned the Tuscan into a 3 seater, Maclaren style, as I took Keeny and Phil Quaife (another GT driver) to a restaurant. Funny looks we got lol.
A long days shooting today at the race track, practice and qualifying. Heat became oppressive peaking at 38c, but having seen the UK weather, I’m not about to complain. Will put up some photos later, of the trip so far, and today’s action from Monza.
New camera is simply amazing in every respect. Autofocus is blistering quick, rapid fire defies belief, and the richness is wonderful. Luckily, I got polarisers for each of the lenses before I came out….the drop in filter for the 300mm is great…but I’ll let you make your own judgement.
Will update this thread as and when I get the chance.
LB
Thought I’d write a little update on my travels across France, Switzerland and Italy in the Tuscan, with the new Toyo 888’s…and armed with my new photo stuff. Lots of the scenic pics are only ok IMO, due to working around the sun and rain (especially at the Emosson dam in Switzerland) but a bad workman always blames his tools as they say
Dover to Bethune for the first night…leaving England, I could see horrible rain and lighting on the south coast, and knowing it was following me…phrrrrt.
Uneventful trip to Bethune, and luckily the heavens opened just as I arrived. Next morning was sunny, and took a leisurely trip to Beune, just south of Dijon, avoiding the motorways. Fortunately, the place I stayed at (only a cheap Campanile) had a manager who was a mad petrolhead….came out straight away before I even got out the car, and directly me to a sheltered bay where he parks his car. Out he came with a big bucket of hot water to clean the car, and then proceeded to talk about all the car clubs that use the place for meet ups.
I offered to take him out for a spin, but the weather was closing in too rapidly and within 30 minutes the sky was black and lightning and thunder all around. Bugger. He’d never seen a TVR before, and apparently they were his favourite (I bet he says that to all the guests lol)
Leaving there and heading to Vallorcine, just east of Chamonix, took in some fantastic roads and scenery with beautiful lakes, and glimpses of the Alps turning into great big mountains. Wonderful. The car was epic…roof off, great sounds, great view, and awesome stopping power lead to much fun.
Checked in to the hotel, only to find there was no TV in the room (never had that one before). Not to worry. Went off to the Emosson dam to photograph….its 6000ft up, and commanded spectacular views. Unfortunately the weather was closing in and it was pretty misty and overcast….plus the awkward sun was in the wrong place, as I was shooting into it…hey ho.
Vallorcine, was where the morning began on Friday….and it was absolutely pouring with rain…which filled me with dread on these tyres.
I thought about leaving it a couple of hours, but figured the rain and mist were here to stay, so headed off. Here begins the usual TVR issues
ECU fan failed due to the rain, so there was no demisting…ohhh great ….and water was entering the cabin at a fair old rate from the tops of the a-pillars where perhaps I had not fitted the roof perfectly. So stuffing those with tissues and putting a towel on my lap to stop the dripping from distracting me too much…off I went.At a steady 40-50mph all was fine, the rain-x doing a great job, and the sat nav showing the bends afters the up coming bend. All seemed ok….tyres were fine, no hint of drama….then I remembered I was 5500 feet up in the alps, and all of a sudden found myself in the middle of a great big cloud. Visibility reduced to about 3 car lengths….marvellous…lots of hairpins going from Vallorcine down to Orsieres on the way to the St. Bernard pass, not that I could see any of them approaching….tom tom to the rescue…what a fantastic tool. I don’t think I blinked for a half hour. It certainly focused my concentration.
No dramas, tyres had no doubt much more ability than I wanted to try, but best not to find my small limits and the tyres while careering down a mountain saying to myself “so that’s where the grip runs out”
Had to go through the tunnel rather than over the pass, which was very frustrating, but I believe I made the sensible choice. There were loads of fantastic opportunities for playing around on the Italian side, and even lots more on the rest of my journey to come.
The Swiss side was 13c, and the Italian side 23c and climbing. Ferrari’s were everywhere, all on their way, some in huge convoys, to Maranello for the 60th birthday weekend. Played tag with a stunning F430 for about 30 miles from the Alps towards Milan. This made me stay on the Autostrada, which despite the appalling roadworks, was quick and fun when there were other cars to play with. After we went our separate ways, an M5 (with a d’Ahler badge on the back ??) picked me up. What a machine…whenever there was a break in traffic on the autostrada, his hyperspace button was clearly MUCH BIGGER than mine….he just disappeared…phenomenal pace and I wasn’t exactly hanging around either
.Again, in the sunshine and dry, the tyres were awe inspiring….so much confidence, and so much fun. Braking later and later for the approaching hairpins probably meant I took more and more late overtakes knowing the car would simply deal with it. I found it very demanding, both mentally and physically, due to the concentration, and heat (it reached 36c on Friday). Obviously I could have taken it very sedately, but there was too much fun to be had.
And the ecu fan starting working again, so I had half decent aircon again…yippee. Car needed about 1.5 litres of oil, due the heat, and it being 0w40…luckily Phil Keen is staying at the same hotel as me (FIA GT weekend in Monza), so happily gave the car a good check over, and showed me a few new things about getting the front bonnet open when the spring is knackered. And we also turned the Tuscan into a 3 seater, Maclaren style, as I took Keeny and Phil Quaife (another GT driver) to a restaurant. Funny looks we got lol.
A long days shooting today at the race track, practice and qualifying. Heat became oppressive peaking at 38c, but having seen the UK weather, I’m not about to complain. Will put up some photos later, of the trip so far, and today’s action from Monza.
New camera is simply amazing in every respect. Autofocus is blistering quick, rapid fire defies belief, and the richness is wonderful. Luckily, I got polarisers for each of the lenses before I came out….the drop in filter for the 300mm is great…but I’ll let you make your own judgement.
Will update this thread as and when I get the chance.
LB
Some of the scenery pics:
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
1
2
3
4
LB
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
1
2
3
4
LB
Edited by Luca Brazzi on Sunday 24th June 00:02
Stunning write up L.B just what we need to read and wish more posts like this appeared, still with summer coming up let's hope. Sounds like you made the right decision to go through the St'Bernard rather than over in the rain, but last year we were blessed with puuurfect weather and went up and over- sensational drive.
General request though if anybody else makes a long European trip like this, please post a report they make such good reading after the doom and gloom we sometimes get
P.S L.B that last shot of the Tuscan should be a on a hundred screen savers IMO.
General request though if anybody else makes a long European trip like this, please post a report they make such good reading after the doom and gloom we sometimes get
P.S L.B that last shot of the Tuscan should be a on a hundred screen savers IMO.
Glad you're enjoying the story so far....
Spent Friday afternoon, Saturday, and today at Monza photographing the FIA GT series....astonishing machines, ear splittingly loud, and mighty fast.
I was with the Keen Partnership and the Quaife's driving the Tech 9 Porsches. They had a number of unfortunate mishaps, both off and on track, and were down on power due to the heat (up to 38c air temp). They were saying this gave significant advantage to the Vipers which could keep a lot cooler with the engine at the front. It was not a level playing field though, regardless of temp, as the Corvette's were running 4-5 seconds a lap quicker than the fastest Porshche, which is frustrating when you consider the immense costs involved in competing at that level (I'm talking GT3 now).
Took several thousand photos, and will post up a few on here shortly...just need to send some to the race teams, and sift through the best ones. The camera by the way is the new Canon 1D Mk3....an extraordinary piece of kit...a Ferrari spun in front of me so I held the button down, and the results are staggering in that a) it looks like a freeze frame movie, and b) it just didn't stop shooting.
Tomorrow, after I've given the Tuscan a jolly good wash, I'm off to see the Pagani and Lamborghini factories down in Modena...not sure if I'll have internet access again before Saturday night, but will continue posting when I can
Back shortly with some Monza pics.
LB
Spent Friday afternoon, Saturday, and today at Monza photographing the FIA GT series....astonishing machines, ear splittingly loud, and mighty fast.
I was with the Keen Partnership and the Quaife's driving the Tech 9 Porsches. They had a number of unfortunate mishaps, both off and on track, and were down on power due to the heat (up to 38c air temp). They were saying this gave significant advantage to the Vipers which could keep a lot cooler with the engine at the front. It was not a level playing field though, regardless of temp, as the Corvette's were running 4-5 seconds a lap quicker than the fastest Porshche, which is frustrating when you consider the immense costs involved in competing at that level (I'm talking GT3 now).
Took several thousand photos, and will post up a few on here shortly...just need to send some to the race teams, and sift through the best ones. The camera by the way is the new Canon 1D Mk3....an extraordinary piece of kit...a Ferrari spun in front of me so I held the button down, and the results are staggering in that a) it looks like a freeze frame movie, and b) it just didn't stop shooting.
Tomorrow, after I've given the Tuscan a jolly good wash, I'm off to see the Pagani and Lamborghini factories down in Modena...not sure if I'll have internet access again before Saturday night, but will continue posting when I can
Back shortly with some Monza pics.
LB
First couple...and the spinning Ferrari...
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
1
2
More to come....lots more...need some sleep now
LB
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
1
2
More to come....lots more...need some sleep now
LB
The other couple of Monza pics are here:
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
Spinning Ferrari at 10 frames a second on the new camera:
http://www.streaky-fish.com/holiday2007.htm
Spinning Ferrari at 10 frames a second on the new camera:
Excellent write-up Luca and great pics, looks like you are having lots of fun with your new camera. Shame about the weather on the way over but I had to laugh at you saying you didn't blink for an hour - I have been in that position in the rain and I know exactly where you are coming from! 
Great stuff!
Andy
Great stuff!
Andy
Well after washing the filthy car on Monday morning after Monza, I headed south east towards Bologna and car country.... appointments to visit Pagani and Lamborghini beckoned.
Even with Gruffy giving me the exact details of where Pagani were, TomTom still got in a muddle as the road layout did not match the sat nav version....found it eventually though.
I have to say I was a little underwhelmed, knowing it was a small place, but it was tiny, and despite swapping emails with them for over a month in advance, the chap seemed in such a hurry to get me through and out, I became irritable.
Must say though, what an incredible factory it is...they only let me take photos of the showroom car, a red Zonda F, but nothing inside the workshop areas, which were amazing. The Zonda belonging to Harry Metcalfe from Evo was in there being worked on, but again, they would not let me take a photo. Saw some of the others in there for service, my favourite being a pearlescent white Zonda with a carbon lower colour scheme...WOW.
Even with Gruffy giving me the exact details of where Pagani were, TomTom still got in a muddle as the road layout did not match the sat nav version....found it eventually though.
I have to say I was a little underwhelmed, knowing it was a small place, but it was tiny, and despite swapping emails with them for over a month in advance, the chap seemed in such a hurry to get me through and out, I became irritable.
Must say though, what an incredible factory it is...they only let me take photos of the showroom car, a red Zonda F, but nothing inside the workshop areas, which were amazing. The Zonda belonging to Harry Metcalfe from Evo was in there being worked on, but again, they would not let me take a photo. Saw some of the others in there for service, my favourite being a pearlescent white Zonda with a carbon lower colour scheme...WOW.
Then off to Lamborghini, armed with a gift of a hundred photos from the GT races that I went to, including the FIA GT and GT3 series at Silverstone, and the Gallardo from the British GT at Snetterton. I have to say they were outstanding pics, and the nice lady who showed me around the factory was thrilled to get them.
Upon leaving, she gave a gift of a couple of Lamborghini books, "Issue 1" and "Issue 2" I think...I have not had time to look through them yet. Again in the factory, no photos permitted, and I had to leave my camera at reception...but as we were walking around, she kept making phone calls, and continued to talk about the photos, and asked if I could perhaps return, as despite never allowing photos to be taken in the factory before...she would like me to take some, if she could arrange it. Fingers crossed, I can return there next week with my father, and shoot some more stuff.
The factory was utterly incredible...some of the facts were fascinating, and I promise to recount it more completely when I get more internet time...only 30 minutes in the hotel today.
Lots of photos to upload, from both Pagani and Lamborghini, and Tuscany and Umbria as I continue my travels.
Car is mostly ok, save for a couple of issues which I am working around....more later.
LB
Couple of photos from Pagani and Lamborghini:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Upon leaving, she gave a gift of a couple of Lamborghini books, "Issue 1" and "Issue 2" I think...I have not had time to look through them yet. Again in the factory, no photos permitted, and I had to leave my camera at reception...but as we were walking around, she kept making phone calls, and continued to talk about the photos, and asked if I could perhaps return, as despite never allowing photos to be taken in the factory before...she would like me to take some, if she could arrange it. Fingers crossed, I can return there next week with my father, and shoot some more stuff.
The factory was utterly incredible...some of the facts were fascinating, and I promise to recount it more completely when I get more internet time...only 30 minutes in the hotel today.
Lots of photos to upload, from both Pagani and Lamborghini, and Tuscany and Umbria as I continue my travels.
Car is mostly ok, save for a couple of issues which I am working around....more later.
LB
Couple of photos from Pagani and Lamborghini:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Edited by Luca Brazzi on Monday 2nd July 22:01
Canon EOS 1D Mk 3 and Canon EF 16-35 2.8L Mark 2 USM, and 300mm 2.8L and other stuff, all with polarisers...makes the world of difference, even though I have to up the ISO to around 500, but the camera is so good, the pics look fine at 500 ISO, with fabulous saturation thanks to the polarisers
LB
LB
Latest update, from my parents' apartment sitting on the balcony in front of the beach on the Adriatic coast, a place called Francavilla al Mare. A little cloudy at the moment, but when its sunny again I'll take a photo to show what its like 'working from home' in Italy .
No word from Lamborghini yet...I have a feeling they'll not be writing...but if anyone visits the factory in the future, let me know if you see any of my photos up, they are all A4 in size with a black border, and my name in the bottom right hand corner, of the race cars from the FIA GT and British GT series.
After leaving Lamborghini, it was time to find Monday night's accomodation, about 20 miles south of Bologna, in a town called Lodole, near Monzuno. It seemed I had programmed the TomTom incorrectly, and paid a steep price. Taking the winding roads out of Monzuno, I was happily following the directions to a beautiful looking country house, so knew it would be up in the hills. Took a left turn where indicated, and started up a rather steep road, which soon turned to stones. Bugger. 1st gear, inching forwards, the destination being 1/2 mile further on....supposedly. Stones getting larger, grip reducing...then hearing a few scraping sounds underneath the car as the exhaust boxes were grounding out. The sound is absolutely awful, and surely much worse than the actual damage....I hoped.
After about 100 metres of this pain...I decided that I would find another route, and realised that I would have to reverse down the trail, knowing I would scrape the underside in the other direction. Getting really angry..obviously, and hot and bothered. Literally crawled the car backwards down the slope and managed a tight 19 point turn before I reached the bottom...only to fear grounding the front of the car as the slope ended in a big dip where it met the main road. Seething now, at myself, it was my poor mother who suffered, as she had decided to phone at that very instant, to ask how it was all going Poor mum.
Left there and proceeded to find another route, which took in some great little roads, steep and twisting, but perfectly manageable...got to the destination after another 10 minutes, only to find there was no country house there. Sh*t, f*ck, boll*cks. Up at 4000ft, a couple of empty looking houses, in an area where Italian is the only language, and in an area that looked to be deserted. It was getting late, I was tired and hungry, and obviously not best pleased with myself....could help laughing though.
Luckily I saw a girl in a garden on a mobile phone, so got out and approached. Up in the hills, girl on a phone, all alone, a man approaches, looking foreign (ie. pale in comparison)...not a good start potentially. Then her father comes out of the house, with a weak high pitched voice that you get in all the Godfather type films. I'm not feeling totally safe right now, but that's just my paranoia.
I explain I'm lost, and what I'm looking for, and off they both go...mum and son come out and dad returns with a huge map. We all start smiling, and get on with trying to find where we are on the map, and where I need to be. Wonderful people, even helping me turn the car around on the narrow road, with the only other bot of traffic being a dog. Off I go, down the valley, and up the other side to my country house.
.No word from Lamborghini yet...I have a feeling they'll not be writing...but if anyone visits the factory in the future, let me know if you see any of my photos up, they are all A4 in size with a black border, and my name in the bottom right hand corner, of the race cars from the FIA GT and British GT series.
After leaving Lamborghini, it was time to find Monday night's accomodation, about 20 miles south of Bologna, in a town called Lodole, near Monzuno. It seemed I had programmed the TomTom incorrectly, and paid a steep price
. Taking the winding roads out of Monzuno, I was happily following the directions to a beautiful looking country house, so knew it would be up in the hills. Took a left turn where indicated, and started up a rather steep road, which soon turned to stones. Bugger. 1st gear, inching forwards, the destination being 1/2 mile further on....supposedly. Stones getting larger, grip reducing...then hearing a few scraping sounds underneath the car as the exhaust boxes were grounding out. The sound is absolutely awful, and surely much worse than the actual damage....I hoped.After about 100 metres of this pain...I decided that I would find another route, and realised that I would have to reverse down the trail, knowing I would scrape the underside in the other direction. Getting really angry..obviously, and hot and bothered
. Literally crawled the car backwards down the slope and managed a tight 19 point turn before I reached the bottom...only to fear grounding the front of the car as the slope ended in a big dip where it met the main road. Seething now, at myself, it was my poor mother who suffered, as she had decided to phone at that very instant, to ask how it was all going Poor mum.Left there and proceeded to find another route, which took in some great little roads, steep and twisting, but perfectly manageable...got to the destination after another 10 minutes, only to find there was no country house there. Sh*t, f*ck, boll*cks. Up at 4000ft, a couple of empty looking houses, in an area where Italian is the only language, and in an area that looked to be deserted. It was getting late, I was tired and hungry, and obviously not best pleased with myself....could help laughing though.
Luckily I saw a girl in a garden on a mobile phone, so got out and approached. Up in the hills, girl on a phone, all alone, a man approaches, looking foreign (ie. pale in comparison)...not a good start potentially. Then her father comes out of the house, with a weak high pitched voice that you get in all the Godfather type films. I'm not feeling totally safe right now, but that's just my paranoia.
I explain I'm lost, and what I'm looking for, and off they both go...mum and son come out and dad returns with a huge map. We all start smiling, and get on with trying to find where we are on the map, and where I need to be. Wonderful people, even helping me turn the car around on the narrow road, with the only other bot of traffic being a dog. Off I go, down the valley, and up the other side to my country house.
Unfortunately my woes were not to end there....the engine had become extremely hot, and started showing EFI code problems, 'E' I think....then started stuttering and jerking. In the middle of nowhere, I really did not want the car to fail on me, as a) I was in the middle of nowhere, b) it would take a recovery vehicle a long time to reach me, if at all, as the roads were incredibly tight and steep, and god knows how they would have recovered me. Images were flashing through my tiny pessimistic mind about spending the night in the Tuscan, oh what joys.
I carried on as best I could, and after about ½ of going up, the road levelled and started to descend, so I decided to coast as much as possible. The engine cooled as started behaving again. I put it down to crap 95 octane fuel (the only thing available at the last service station), the oxygen sensor perhaps not happy with the altitude and temperature, and the engine heat. Phew….huge sigh of relief.
Found the country house, about 8 miles from where I programmed it into the SatNav…how odd. What a place though, and apart from the dirt track (oh no not more I thought), it was stunning.
1.
2.
.
Called Lodole Country House: http://www.jpmoser.com/lodolebandb.html
Fabulous place, beautiful views, yummy breakfast. Went to a restaurant that night, and that got the full 5 stars….the waiter was the owner, he didn’t speak or understand a word of English… he held the only menu and read out to me what was available…then proceeded to eat his dinner at the next table. All of which was amusing, so I proceed to order the lamb cutlets. Outstanding food, and cost next to nothing.
The next day brought fabulous weather, clear skies and 28c…the car was behaving properly again, so off I headed to Assisi, a 160 mile journey across the Appenines, going through towns like Borgo San Lorenzo and Poppi.
The scenery was incredible, and the roads almost totally empty. Fantastic driving, but after 120 miles of hairpins, I was absolutely wasted…so finished the rest of the journey on the autostrada.
As Assisi appeared in the distance, it is hard to fathom just how big the place is…a stunning place.
3.
4.
5.
.
Spent a few hours wondering through the narrow streets, grateful for parking in an underground car park, as the temp was around 36-37c.
I carried on as best I could, and after about ½ of going up, the road levelled and started to descend, so I decided to coast as much as possible. The engine cooled as started behaving again. I put it down to crap 95 octane fuel (the only thing available at the last service station), the oxygen sensor perhaps not happy with the altitude and temperature, and the engine heat. Phew….huge sigh of relief.
Found the country house, about 8 miles from where I programmed it into the SatNav…how odd. What a place though, and apart from the dirt track (oh no not more I thought), it was stunning.
1.
2.
.
Called Lodole Country House: http://www.jpmoser.com/lodolebandb.html
Fabulous place, beautiful views, yummy breakfast. Went to a restaurant that night, and that got the full 5 stars….the waiter was the owner, he didn’t speak or understand a word of English… he held the only menu and read out to me what was available…then proceeded to eat his dinner at the next table. All of which was amusing, so I proceed to order the lamb cutlets. Outstanding food, and cost next to nothing.
The next day brought fabulous weather, clear skies and 28c…the car was behaving properly again, so off I headed to Assisi, a 160 mile journey across the Appenines, going through towns like Borgo San Lorenzo and Poppi.
The scenery was incredible, and the roads almost totally empty. Fantastic driving, but after 120 miles of hairpins, I was absolutely wasted…so finished the rest of the journey on the autostrada.
As Assisi appeared in the distance, it is hard to fathom just how big the place is…a stunning place.
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Spent a few hours wondering through the narrow streets, grateful for parking in an underground car park, as the temp was around 36-37c.
Edited by Luca Brazzi on Monday 2nd July 21:45
Off to Cortona from there, to spend a couple of nights at the same hotel as last year.
http://www.villamarsili.net/cortona-hotel/en/home....
It was fabulous turning into their courtyard, as the cocktail manager came running up to me to say hello Italian style, and simply said “OK let’s go”. I took him out last year, and gave him some memories….the kitchen staff said he did nothing for half an hour after last year’s little journey…he could not stop smiling or trembling
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Cocktails and nibbles at 7pm, there was nothing too much trouble….including a wonderful room upgrade to the top floor, with a spectacular view over Tuscany.
7.
Had some more fabulous food, extremely inexpensive, in this most wonderful of restaurants: http://www.trattoriadardano.com/home_eng.htm
Returning down the narrow streets to the hotel, even at night the place looks wonderful.
8.
Breakfast at Villa Marsili is a feast with easily the best coffee of my holiday…setting off to see Siena, where the city was busy preparing for La Palio…bare back horse racing in the Piazza.
The size of the churches was epic, with each one looking bigger and grander than the last.
9.
10.
As you can see, I’m doing a flying visit to various places, obviously not exploring places in the manner they truly deserve, but enough to get the atmosphere and flavour of the true beauty of Italy.
Back to Cortona and up to the very top of the town for some more churches…
11.
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A sad farewell to the hotel staff…and off towards Tivoli, a hill top town about 20 miles east of Rome. I decided to go on the motorway this time, as I wanted to make some progress and hadn’t quite gotten over the hairpins from 2 days ago. Great journey…wonderful quality autostradas….and passing a police car in lane one at over 120 ( I simply hadn’t seen him), and he didn’t even bother to do anything. Another “phew”
http://www.villamarsili.net/cortona-hotel/en/home....
It was fabulous turning into their courtyard, as the cocktail manager came running up to me to say hello Italian style, and simply said “OK let’s go”. I took him out last year, and gave him some memories….the kitchen staff said he did nothing for half an hour after last year’s little journey…he could not stop smiling or trembling
6.
Cocktails and nibbles at 7pm, there was nothing too much trouble….including a wonderful room upgrade to the top floor, with a spectacular view over Tuscany.
7.
Had some more fabulous food, extremely inexpensive, in this most wonderful of restaurants: http://www.trattoriadardano.com/home_eng.htm
Returning down the narrow streets to the hotel, even at night the place looks wonderful.
8.
Breakfast at Villa Marsili is a feast with easily the best coffee of my holiday…setting off to see Siena, where the city was busy preparing for La Palio…bare back horse racing in the Piazza.
The size of the churches was epic, with each one looking bigger and grander than the last.
9.
10.
As you can see, I’m doing a flying visit to various places, obviously not exploring places in the manner they truly deserve, but enough to get the atmosphere and flavour of the true beauty of Italy.
Back to Cortona and up to the very top of the town for some more churches…
11.
12.
A sad farewell to the hotel staff…and off towards Tivoli, a hill top town about 20 miles east of Rome. I decided to go on the motorway this time, as I wanted to make some progress and hadn’t quite gotten over the hairpins from 2 days ago. Great journey…wonderful quality autostradas….and passing a police car in lane one at over 120 ( I simply hadn’t seen him), and he didn’t even bother to do anything. Another “phew”
About 5 miles from the hotel, as I just left the motorway, and heat-soak started to get oppressive, the aircon ecu unit packs up again. Air temp was 36c. Unfortunately for me, the unit had decided to go to full power, on the HOT setting….and there was no way I could switch it off. Not a problem normally…as you would just close the vents….trouble is that the vent in the footwell was broken, and with no replacement, Racing Green just took it out, leaving a 3-4 inch hole….now blasting air at engine bay temperatures at my right foot. Ouch was an understatement. I laugh about it now, but it was absolute agony at the time. I put a flannel over my foot, which helped a little, but the cabin was really becoming hot….cue me getting irritable again
Got to hotel, jumped out of the car, nursed my poor foot….wanting to kick the car with it
A quick phone call to Racing Green, and, as always, they fixed it for me. Simply unplug the control box from under the passenger side dash, reset it and try again. After a few attempts, it seemed to work again….yippee.
Hotel Torre Sant'Angelo: http://www.hoteltorresangelo.it/hall.htm
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Tivoli is a fabulous place I remember from visiting as a child, with the gardens being the most impressive display of fountains on a huge scale. http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm
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Into Rome for an evening’s driving around….they are truly mad drivers….scooters stopping in front of me, just to take photos and wave and smile….not caring about the mayhem around the streets. It was incredibly busy, but huge fun…with me being so shallow and loving the attention the car brought.
Got to hotel, jumped out of the car, nursed my poor foot….wanting to kick the car with it
A quick phone call to Racing Green, and, as always, they fixed it for me. Simply unplug the control box from under the passenger side dash, reset it and try again. After a few attempts, it seemed to work again….yippee.
Hotel Torre Sant'Angelo: http://www.hoteltorresangelo.it/hall.htm
13.
14.
15.
Tivoli is a fabulous place I remember from visiting as a child, with the gardens being the most impressive display of fountains on a huge scale. http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm
16.
17.
18.
Into Rome for an evening’s driving around….they are truly mad drivers….scooters stopping in front of me, just to take photos and wave and smile….not caring about the mayhem around the streets. It was incredibly busy, but huge fun…with me being so shallow and loving the attention the car brought
. Edited by Luca Brazzi on Monday 2nd July 20:07
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