Today, the route book says to be at the Piazza Europe in La Spezia by 11:45 and use your satnav! Why can’t all days be like this?

The first task is to wrestle the bags back into the mini. Secondly, join the 10 minute queue for coffee and breakfast. The satnav says our journey should take us 2 hrs 15 mins. Fortunately, we left early because it took us 3 hrs 30 mins. I must update my satnav because at every change of motorway, it took us off, around a couple of roundabouts, then back onto the motorway. It’s all very confusing.

We arrived at Piazza Europe to join up with the mini and classic car clubs of Italy.

We were all taken to a cafe on the edge of the square for a drink and a snack before heading off in a police convoy to a local Italian airforce base. They are having a 100 year celebration and we are invited to join them for lunch.

Now, this is where the fun started. Typical of the armed services, there was a lot of hanging around, followed by intense activity. We waited for the police escort and then struggled to keep up. We waited outside the mess for dinner, and we waited for speeches and the meal. Then this was followed by a dash to Turin to arrive before dark. The road was fast, windy and through lots of tunnels

The hotel is in the iconic Fiat factory that had the test track on the roof. Sadly, no longer available to drive on.

We went out for a meal in Eataly, followed by a far to late night in the bar so we are suffering this morning.