When in Rome :)

Bloody relieved Wing Commander

I am in the process of moving from my booked apartment.  For a non smoker and ex-cancer patient the smell of stale smoke in frankly this room from hell means that I will be moving hotel which will prevent me from describing the frankly emotional day we had yesterday right now - so here are a few pictures to keep you going whilst I shift hotels and contemplate a frankly amazing 6 days.

Ok so here goes - well when in Rome with my Co-Pilot Hackers we ended in a very nice bar only to find it represents the diverse nature of Rome and frequented by some big rugger types who gave us 20 quid online this morning.

Yesterday was completely uneventful with the except of the breakdown and the traffic in Rome which frankly made me reach for valium and a large whisky.  The burnt fly attached to my pizza was the last thing I had to worry about.

Some old building in need of renovation

For experts note Haynes manual and make up bag!

Two hours into our day we stopped for lunch and when starting off noticed a lack of power.  You put your foot down and nothing power wise though the engine was still ticking over.  We checked the usuals HT leads etc and the weather was dry so no condensation in the distributor etc.  A quick call to Ian and Dave at Alphington Fast Fit and the nature of the problem was established the only problem being that the mechanic was 1250 miles away and although Hackers is an Electrician and the Wing Commander a Rake, Tussler, Rancontuer, and all round jolly nice bloke we were lost without technical help.  Call for technology - by sending a picture by email to Dave at Alphington Fast Fit he was able to talk us the problem.  Hackers armed with her make up bag innovated with nail clippers as a screwdriver and a memory board we were able to produce a gap between the points, clean them up and get on our way.  Splendid effort from Team Myrtle and Hackers.

Naughty boy points

Minis are so simple but it is the know how and thanks to Dave.  I have to say it left us tired and emotional.  I think Hackers was "manning" up more than me as I was left drained and mentally exhausted by a week that had seen us brave the elements only 100 miles from Roma get stuffed by a set of points.  For me this has a personal journey of payback for my cancer treatment and the stories from Ian re Ruby and Neil who for some reason I call Nick about his son James really made myself and Hackers really reflect on what we are doing.  I shouted at Myrtle with tears in my eyes (For the boys at Wessex RFC it was windy!)  I think the exact words were "Don't you offing let me down now" of course she did not, nor did Jenna who I have come to know as friend and a brilliant team player.  You single men and people needing an electrician snap her up quick, and if you happen to own a classic mini, boys you will have a result.

The drive into Rome can only be described as "flipping bonkers" I have never ever driven anywhere like in particular in a small car, across cobbled streets and mad drivers.  Parking then caused a problem taking an hour to find a spot.    My room was rubbish and so was Hackers and we have now moved to a spot just where the pictures were taken.

It is a very emotional experience typing this, lots of things are going on but one thing is sure I certainly did not let onto the girls in the bar last night that I was with a female electrician, who repairs cars, has piercings and a tattoo - that would be taking the when in Rome story too far!

Today I will be mainly drinking coffee and beer and having my picture taken in front Myrtle Mini as the hail starts as forecast! 

Arrived safely

After a challenging day we have arrived safely and gone to the bar - to celebrate will update you with events including the breakdown tomorrow ;) chow

50 miles to go

Despite a roadside breakdown we are just 50 miles away - watch twitter for updates !

Fundraising updates - all targets met!! Thank you

Mr G looking very pleased with efforts this morning in Pisa

This morning as we prepare to drive to a snow covered Rome, yippee (not) I am pleased to announced that we have broken all our fundraising targets for the Myrtle mini trip.

The total this morning stands at £2351.78 - the ELF Charity target of £1500 has been smashed and stands at  £1725.78 plus gift aid of £126 making a total of  £1851.78 plus the £500 from Radmore & Tucker makes the total £2351.78.  A fantastic effort thanks to everyone.  We still have the Poachers bucket and the Rome bucket in circulation and donations can be made online throughout the next weeks.

Keep attacking I am looking forward to pushing this towards 2.5k over the weekend.  Keep attacking and wrap up warm if you are coming to Rome!

Provided byFundraising Ideas Center

Day 5 Pisa

One of my main aim in doing this was to raise awareness of Leukaemia and raise funds for ELF who support the excellent work of the Haematology Centre, based at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, for the benefit of patients in Devon and beyond. The ultimate vision is to try and make leukaemia history in the South West.  It is organisations like these who raised money which enabled me 6 years ago to recover from Head and Neck Cancer to be the reasonable, staid, sane and quite dull character you see before you.  Without people like you the research needed to make some treatments possible would not be round now.  So a personal thank for me and those future generations will benefit from your charitable donations. 

I recall my own cancer treatment and in particular the chemotheraphy which I often described as an oxymoron.  Today I had an update from the dad of James and yesterday on the progress of Ruby who so bravely waved us off on Friday night but has been confined to barracks due to an infection.  Without sharing the full details with you it brought home the bad old days of my treatment in 2005.  I was 41 these guys are 6 and 8, and when I heard that a young “ward” friend had passed away and James was sad it really struck home to me that the ultimate vision “to make leukaemia history” is a worthy vision.

Together lets kick “Leukaemia’s arse” 

I wish I could get excited about today’s trip other than the news of funds raised was fantastic but today was mainly about driving on a long motorway from Varazze to Pisa with a bit of beach thrown along the way as we came down the West Coast of Italy.  Highly recommended for a beach holiday but unlike the Pizza restaurant we stopped of at lunch I hope that they will be able to serve Pizza next time.  The Monty Python "Cheese shop" sprang to mind.

As I reported yesterday Myrtle is only carrying two adults now as I felt that the weight of the extra person and luggage was flogging Myrtle and with another 231 miles to do tomorrow and then 1200 miles back to St Malo next week common sense prevailed and agent dig dropped off at the train station 

Some of you will know that I did my back in the Sunday previous to coming to Italy and then acquired a heavy cold along the way.  Far from feeling sorry for myself a dose of painkillers and over the counter drugs made the frankly last 4 days of difficult driving bearable.  The first proper cappuccino this morning made it all worth while.

We have driven 1024 miles overtaken 4 cars, yes 4 and today 5 lorries and 1 truck, on two occasions managed to get over 60 mph! We have refuelled 6 times and needed an engine oil top up.  There have been zero road rage incidents and many admirers of Myrtle and too few of the Wing Co!  So the girl has done good as some Football Managers may say.  Today we have had 192 web viewings compared with 111 yesterday and the website has been viewed over 1500 times, thanks to retweets from Welsh rugby legend Scott Quinnell and Wessex RFC old boy Matt Hopper now of England and Harlequins.

Fundraising news went well today, slow uptake on the justgiving.com site but a count of the Poachers leaving party bucket which as also used at Wessex RFC gave us a nice £213.66.  So that makes at 2130 this evening with gift aid the justgiving site showing £1501.62p, Cash in hand awaiting banking £312.22 plus further gift aid of £25 and the kind donation of £500 from Radmore and Tucker we have a grand total of £2338.84.  I am aware that the Poachers Inn bucket has been doing very well and with associated collections in and around the stadium I would be really sad if we did not reach £2500 by close of play on Saturday, in fact I know we will.  

Junior officers tend not to understand too many cultural things including a World Heritage Site, at a young age in particular Pilot Officer Hackers who when seeing the 12th Century engineering masterpiece said disappointingly “is that it....I thought it was bigger” 


Alas we could not get Myrtle close enough to the tower without the risk of being shot by the Police so I gave that one a miss as would hate to miss the rugger!

Keep attacking ! 

Day 5 - Comms update & fundraising update

Chums - no wifi still in the Hotel so mobile alas no thermometer update this morning so the total raised to date stands with the just giving site, gift aid plus £99 collected by the fantastic Mr Cockram means that we have broken through the £2000 barrier and raised a whopping £2060.12 to date - we have still have two buckets to count and a rugby match to collect from so things are looking really good - thanks again everyone ;)

Day 4 update - Italian techno problems

Crossing into Italy this shot took 5 seconds to take before I got out of there as you can road conditions a tad edgy

It has been a trying day but we are safely at the Hotel in Varazze and in Italy.

Pictures to follow !

I am writing this blog on my iPhone due to the WiFi not working at the interesting named Hotel Lido - whilst the visiting Uncle is able to access the Internet one has to query what he is actually watching to block off the Hotel's wifi connection.

The Hotel has an air of the 1930s about it than chic 2012 Italy. However we need to thank Fifth Consultancy for their kind sponsorship of all accommodation.

Day of contrasts Varrase at the end of the day

I am not Peter Prefect and we all make mistakes but today was a real whacky race. My huge hippo mistake today was not checking the relief of the route assuming that it was fairly flat cause it looked like that on a map. At 2000 metres in falling snow and with 6 feet of snow either side, failing light, deep snow covered mountains and ravines icy road and snow covered Myrtle we did no more than 10 mph in reaching the top. We were all frankly bricking it , of course being a bloke only admitting this about three miles down the other side of the mountain whilst eating a chocolate eclair - true leadership for you ;)

Fortunately it's all downhill from here well so it likes on the map but will check the terrain tomorrow just incase.

I know we have reached the magical £2k today and supporting Wooden Spoon and ELF's vision to eliminate Leukaemia in the South West I will brief you tomorrow and hopefully normal service will be resumed due to third world communications - the Uncle is smiling so it must be good what he is watching.