Toy Story

Toys (1 of 1) Niccollo (1 of 1) Minis at SOS (1 of 1)Saturday 26 October 2014 Trento, Italy: Day two of the rally. After yesterday’s debacle of ever decreasing circles before finding our way out of the city we were on a mission and the first few miles went without a hitch. The weather is fine and warm, such a relief after all the rain earlier in the week. The Mini floor well is very soggy, the carpet sodden so Peach is enjoying a bit of sun.

We had a tour of a hydro electric power station in the morning – there are an amazing 297 lakes in this area around Lake Garda. We walked around 1,600 metres inside a mountain to see how the plant works, followed by an amazing “taster” lunch at a farm with around 14 courses … We lost count in the end – it was delicious but too much! 

After lunch we visited the SOS Villaggio del Fanciullo in Trento where orphaned and abandoned children live in family groups with a house mother. This was where our toys, colouring books, pens and other items kindly donated by friends and colleagues  were destined for. We met some of the children who sat in our car, like Niccolo, left, who revelled in beeping the horn! It was a really happy place and lovely to see the teddies and other toys bring a smile to the children’s faces. This is one of the children’s charities supported by The Italian Job and we were greeted like old friends.

Later we visited the Muse Museum in Trento, like a miniature Natural History  Museum which was fascinating. The clocks go back an hour tonight but there’s no extra hour in bed for us … Our time trial starts at 8am for the long drive to Modena Autodrome where we’ll have a chance to drive the track before heading off to Alessandria where we are based for the next four days.