Sniff... sniff...

And We're Off!

Using some sort of Back to the Future type time-travel thingy, here we are leaving the start line in Bruges. We're the big yellow one.

Levels of #citrosity drop to dangerously scurvy levels in our transportation solutions. G-DOCU refuels at DVB before carrying @teamgi to LGW

Woeful #Meriva handed back to Dollar. Tho', unlike Avis, they at least gave us some wheels. #lecitron was a better drive, needless to say.

Day 8: Nobody's actually in tears yet, but it's going to be tough to leave Dubrovnik this morning...

@teamGI working hard on the nightshoot in Dubrovnik having said goodbye to #lecitron

Day 7 - Holiday in Largs

Dubrovnik goes a bit Scottish and let's Andrew finally get wheelspin from the ever so slightly shonky Meriva.

Day 7 - Why Monsieur Le Chiffre...

Not a bad view from the dinner table at the final team evening dinner.

Day 7 - Special european country offer

Team GI benefit unexpectedly from the special "cross 13 and get the
14rh free" deal.

Owing to not really paying attention to the route down to Dubrovnik,
we are surprised to add the tiny sliver of Bosnian coastline to
Scotland, England, Yorkshire, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany,
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

Not nearly as much fun as #lecitron

Day 7 - I would drive 2000 miles, and I would drive 2000 more

Just to be the man who left #lecitron in a scrapyard by the sea in
Spliit

Day 7 - The lemon

Has gone. Now for #lecitron

Day 7 - End of run review

As part of our ongoing performance improvement, we at TeamGI are constantly seeking to enhance, ameliorate and hone our trans-european banger run processes.

Following a rigourous de-brief, we have entered the 360 review phase. Here we see Mark and Andrew continuing the 'twisty road' debate.

Day 7: #lecitron at rest at Hotel Jadran, Split #carparksofeurope. Meanwhile @TeamGI head for breakfast in town...

Day 6 - Split by night

Team GI have dragged thmselves from the Adriatic and are enjoying a
cool one in the very beautiful square in Split.

Day 6 - View of Finish Line

Sucata cars visible below. Split, by the sea.

Day 6 - Portobello by night

Day 6 - Finish Line

Dougie and Mark cool down.

Don't ask...

Day 6. Four tired but happy guys pose with #lecitron at the beach at Split #carparksofeurope

Day 6 - Nice out...

Croatia, 31 and sunny...

Day 6 - It's Adriatic Out There

With a little bit of trans-continental splendour, TeamGI have crossed Europe from the North Sea to the Adriaric in Croatia. 400km to Split, but, as ever, we're going the long way down.

Climatic comditions in the car? Set nadgers to 'boil' Mr Sulu.

Day 6 - Breakfast at the Ljubljana Resort

As Andrew continues his campaign to eradicate the sausage from Europe.
Accompanied, oddly, by the sound of a man steam-cleaning the site's
trees and flowers. Which he started doing at 7am.

Ljublljana, 0903CET, @teamgi prepares for the final run to Split (after breakfast of course...)

Day 5 - Onions Galore

Traditional Bosnian cuisine in Slovenia. Sausages (2 sorts), weird cheese, raw onion and a bread thing. Rather tasty.

Odd that the taxi driver singularly failed to find this place.

Day 5 - Two poofs and a lawyer

Ljubljana mit Bruno(s)

Day 5 - Loobyana Resort

Now, I think I recognise the driver, can't place the car.

Day 5 - The House at Bled

Ok, so it's perhaps not *entirely* a chore. Come to Bled, you will not be disappointed. Now, Slovenian Tourist Board, how about a refund on that *very* expensive Vignette.

Day 5 - Lake Bled, Slovenia

Pretty, no?

Day 5 - Slovenia

Brief pause on the Slovenian border to recalibrate underwear as per arcane legislation.

Day 5.- Penultimate country

Entering Slovenia shortly, having just passed through the
Karawanktunnel. No, really.

Day 5 - Wurst Sleep Ever

Must be that T-shirt, sadly no head slump

Day 5 - Austria a third time

After a leisurely stroll around Munchen this morning (it's very nice,
you should come) we are now passing the Chemisee and lining up our
third entry to Austria in under 24 hours. Then it's a big right at
Salzburg and back through the Alps.

Temperatures rising in and out of the car as we pass through country
designed around a rough theme of woods, lakes, mountains.

#lecitron hearts le citroen #munich

Day 4 - The facts of the day

Epic doesn't even begin to describe the day we've just had. The bare
facts are:

Distance: 750km (ish)
Countries: 6
Borders crossed: 8
Max altitude: 2389m (7818ft)
Hairpins negotiated: 40 (ish)
Max speed: 203kph
Times car spotted on Munich webcam by Matthew: 1

Day 4 - Caption Competition 3

What IS Dougie doing, and just whose legs ARE they

Day 4. For the auto-fans. An Alpine Adventure.

#lecitron tackles the Alps and visits far too many Winter Olympics venues..

Day 4 - Drumochter

Ideal weather for shorts.

Day 4 - Mmmm... Alps

Enough of a short break from the hairpins to post this lovely scene. Getting a slip diff fitted to my rib cage next time.

Day 4 - It's in the bag

#lecitron cooling quietly in a car park on the Austria / Italy border
after also ticking off France, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Expect lots of talk about the Fluelapass when we get back, too.

@teamgi attempting the Fluelapass in #lecitron #whatcouldpossiblygowrong

Day 4 - Our alliteration department had approved

Lunch in Lichtenstein

Day 4 - Vaduz

When in Liechtenstein, Andrew only eats Ecclefechan Tarts.

Day 4 Alpsge

Day 4 - Odd diversions

Slightly random diversion bang through the middle of Zurich owing to
the ring road being shut. Now spat out the other side and moving
swiftly towards country 4.

Sent from my iPhone

Day 4 - Country 3

And as a result of the sneaky "Pay for your vignette in Euros and get
otherwise useless Swiss Francs as change" policy, we had 30CHF to get
rid of.

As a result, I now have a lap containing "Lackerli au citron", "Berg-
Bundnerfleisch", and "Bauern-Landjager". God help the plumbing of
central Europe.

The night before the morning after... @teamgi warm up with the Sucata Split crew in Brugge #lecitron

This no ordinary Service Station, this is an M & *Swiss* Service Station! #lecitron

Trackr fans! No we've not broken down - we're in a big q heading for Luxemburg

Day 4 - Under way

And #lecitron causes some consternation whilst waiting at the lights
next to the morning Market. Miscellaneous trader's messages now adorn
the vehicle. Wonder what sort of messages a French Market trader would
write on a luminous, British driven Cittoen.

Following signs for Kehl and country 2 of day 4's new theme - can we
do 6 countries in a day?

Day 4 - The plans, they are a-changin'

Day 4 breaks in an overcast Strasbourg with the news that the Stelvio
Pass re-opons on May 30th. Which is a week away. Bah.

So that's both of the signature drives dropped (they shut the
Nurburgring when they heard we were coming)

Still planning the big sweep through Davos and Lichtenstein, though.

Day 3 - Outside an arty cultural event

Oh Jeez

Had nearly finished the sausage when the gherkins turned up!

Day 3 - Mmmm... Sausage

Day 3 - Bruges to Strasbourg

In case you were thinking it was all too glamourous...

We left on convoy from the start in Bruges and then spent the rest of the day on some dullest motorways known to man.

The only way we could brighten the journey was to play chicken with a very dodgy fuel gauge and lose. Luckily, we had little green Thunderbird 2 in the boot and we were quickly underway again.

Tonight a rather dull and grey Strasbourg. I'm sure we'll have fun.

Day 3 - 3 countries, 1 'failure to proceed' - done.

Day 3 - Caption Competition 2

Mr Slocombe has a snack.

Day 3 - cultural pursuits

Educating the Belgians in fine British pursuits

Day 3 - let there be Chaos

As ever, the captain arrives in a subtle, understated manner

Day 3 - The Start

Caption competition. Best one gets a mystery prize.

Day 2 - It's Been a Toughy

Weiss beer time at the bar were all Team GI meet. Somewhat lazy day in Bruges. Apart from Mark who ran about a lot. No one can yet explain why Scott hasn't yet had his face in chocolate.

Pre-run meet in an hour, Scott can be heard muttering "the light, the light". He may wander off.

Bruges is lovely if a little, well, quiet. Like a 28 Days Later version of Amsterdam. With chocolate. And horses.

Moules have arrived. Incompatible with touch screen blogging.

Day 2 - 'Planning' Lunch

You may misunderstand. Military precision doesn't just happen in a cloud of frites and Steen Brugge. An extended planning session is in progress in the square in front of the Bell Tower (near where that Irish guy ate floor).

Contrary to movie opinion, 2 weeks in Bruges would not be obviously troublesome.

More frites Vicar?

Day 2 - The Bells, The Bells

Key design features of bells. 1 - noisy; 2 - housed significantly
above floor level.

TeamGI *quite literally* In Brugge

Day 2 - A Question...

...for Mr. Gordon's 3rd Physics class at Airdrie Academy.

A ferry leaves Hull and accelerates at 5m\s\s for 10 mins. It then stays at this speed for 10 hours before coming to a highly unlikely immediate stop in Zeebrugge.

How far did the ferry travel?

And how far out from the actual speed (19mph) was it?

Day 1 - We Are Being Followed

Can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure that boat is following us. Meanwhile, below deck, a game of bingo has broken out. You didn't get that on the Pendolino in Casino Royale. This is real European travel.

En Bateau

On the big boat. The Pride of York. As you can see, our cabin is small and functional. In an Apollo 13 style, we're going to have to fashion air scrubbers from J-cloths and cardboard to survive the night without suffocating.

Who gave Dougie that Murphys?

Methinks the ear plugs may have a dual-purpose.

Rolling Rolling Rolling

After a splash and dash at South Bradford, dodged the closed M62 J28, @thomam learning the idiosyncracies of piloting #lecitron, the sun's out and TomTom says less than an hour to Hull. [Smiles]

On we go... MV The Pride of York #lecitron

View From The Afternoon

Undeterred by them closing the motorway, we are now heading somewhere or other guided by TomTom and Sebastian 'MT' Loeb.

Interested to see if this pic turns up sideways.

Day 1 - Hartshead Moor services

First pot stop for driver change after Dougiea blast down from EK.
Award for most unlikely word used in #lecitron today goes to
"monagasque"

Day 1 - First challenges

Negotiating the average speed cameras at the M55 with only a TomTom
for measurement. And blogging whilst enjoying a french fancy from
Scott's food stash.

Day 1 - 1159am

And the first Nouvelle Vague of the event is heard in #lecitron -
"Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love
with".

Get Thee To a Hullery

And now we are four. Dougie has been taught the launch sequence and is at the wheel. Hull here we come...

Day 1 - A journey of a thousand miles

...begins with a single step (according to Confucius), but this 2000
mile one begins on the 0840 from Helensburgh Central. Game On...

The Night Before

Depart Edinburgh 9am tomorrow. Final check of blog submission from phone. First leg to Hull for the ferry. Don't expect much in the way of sweeping scenery pics...

A demain!

The route!

Here it is, our complete route* for next week. It does look like a long way when you see it like this!



View Sucata Split 2009 - www.generalignorance.org in a larger map


* note : chosen eateries also included!

Parma Ham Canapés - Done

Delighted to reported that all members of TeamGI survived Saturday night's cocktail party. Many thanks to Andrew and Maria for a wonderful time. The cocktails and food were nothing short of spectacular.

Primary mission accomplished, we've now hit our fundraising target. A big thankyou to all. Hopefully more to come.

Thankfully, we were sufficiently awake to do some high quality stickering on the car on Sunday. We even changed an ever softening tyre.

Ahead of it's run to EK today, it was the focus of some attention in the southern reaches of the People's Republic of Leith. ( see TwitPics too <---- ).

So, with a week to go, we're almost ready. But nowhere near as prepared as we were last year. Blasé? Nous?

Reasons to Sponsor Us #1 - Stelvio

Aside from the obvious desire to support the good work of Gemin-i and the fact that we are even considering driving a crazy old Citroen to Croatia, there is another more compelling reason to sponsor us.

We will be taken a (large) detour off the planned route to take the car down the Stelvio Pass. "So what?" You may say. "It's just a road." Nay not so.

Think of the cornering capabilities of a big old Citroen.
Think how bad their brakes are.
Then look at these photos below.
Then give us money.

It's a little brighter than it was in the beginning...