Month: August 2010

Final day of the Ramshackle Rally.

Out early for the drive to Zakopane.

there for lunch and to get Keith a ride on a cable car.

At that point the rain started which followed us down the hill into Krakow.

Our final meeting place is in the castle where we must present our beermat collection (don’t ask, just another silly challenge) and discover how many of the original 35 teams have got here, with or without their car.

And later tonight after a little liquid refreshment, the prize giving!

Photo is of a typical Polish rural house.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

Another long day today. 400+ miles, plus lots of ascent, in a Volvo which cost £150.

We went over the Brenner pass into Italy and then east to get the road to the Großglockner. We got to the glacier (which looks a lot smaller than when td was last here in 1970), and then on to find some snow for a snowball fight.

Finally in Bratislava we had to identify some statues from around the city which was terribly easy as the hotel receptionist told is where they were.

Roll on Poland!

Today we stayed clear of toll charging autorou
tes and went cross country from Strasbourg to Innsbruck rather than the conventional route.

this allowed for lunch on the banks of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and a climb over the Alps into Austria.

en route we managed to give away some pigs to confused German children. Look at the face of a recipient of a pig knitted by Jane.

Yesterday we gave away a pig to a policeman in a patrol car complete with prisoner.

	early start today as nearly 400 miles to travel. spent time after breakfast on a Ford fiesta trying to work out why the clutch had failed. traced to a broken lever which we left them to get welded. will find out later if they were successful. on to Reims for the mentos challenge and finally to Strasbourg for the night.

	We are staying at an F1 hotel near Sangatte. Pretty cheap, but not en suite. And all doors controlled by key codes. So if you need to go in the night, remember to take your code with you. We checked in at a bar in town. some great cars have arrived, and some have dropped out already. We will see at 8am how many have got to the starting line

	At Dover awaiting the ferry. Penelope pig had her passport stamped on exit!
Link to where we are on Google Maps

	Coming across Salisbury Plain we saw a vast herd of pigs in a field so we had to go and talk to them (with the farmer’s permission of course).
Link to where we are on Google Maps

And they’re off! Not quite Clarkson, May and the Hamster, but you get the idea. First stop Calais, where they will discover if the Pink Pig is as mad as it looks or tame by comparison with other entries

Good luck to them all!