Goodwood Festival of Speed 2017

For gearheads, Goodwood needs little explanation whether they've been there or not.  For non-gearheads, here's the poop.  The Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March in order to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate — a location steeped in British motor racing history. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early 1990s, Lord March wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. Therefore, he instead hosted it on his own grounds. With a small selection of entrants made up of invited historic vehicles, the first event that took place proved to be a success, taking in a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. After the first event's date clash, Lord March would ensure that the event would never be allowed to clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races.  Each year, a representative sculpture is placed on the lawn of the House.  This year, Bernie Ecclestone (who, in his eighties, has recently "retired" as the head of Formula 1 racing...we doubt that his retirement was voluntary) was the focus, and Formula 1 cars took the place of honor:

Mostly what you hear about at the FOS is the hill climb.  This is just what it says:  a fast run up the hill from the House to the Rally area.  Cars compete in classes that include everything from early 20th century race cars to the latest models of super cars.

Getting ready to climb.  Older F1 cars...

 and F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, in a 2014 Mercedes F1:

Climbing:

Now here's Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, driving his Ferrari 250 GTO.  The car competed at LeMans in the early 60's and is valued in excess of $40,000,000.

But there's so much more!  The whole event was more than we ever expected!  In addition to watching the hill climb, one can wander through all the garages, attend the Cartier Style et Luxe concourse, and take a hayride behind a tractor to the top of the hill to watch historic cars take to the rally stage.  From there, walk downhill and pass a off-roading venue (with rides for the fans), a motocross area, an area dedicated to drifting, and loads of vendors selling everything from antiques to ice cream.  It's a steady stream of automotive entertainment and we couldn't see how anyone could get bored.

Another pastime at the FOS is looking for automotive celebrities.  Here's who we found wandering among us.

British racing legend Brian Redman:

Formula 1 hero Rene Arnoux:

The Wee Scot (Sir Jackie Stewart):

Former Ferrari team boss (during the Schumacher years) and now FIA honcho Jean Todt, taking a very French look at an auto on the concourse:

CART and IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti:

Imo!  Emerson Fittipaldi:

And who the heck are these guys?

If we'd spent more time around the House, we'd have also found Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briattore, Chase Carey, Nico Rosberg, Luca Montezemolo, etc. etc. Remember Brendon Hartley, one of the winning drivers at LeMans?  And the Jackie Chan guys in the P2 cars?  There were all out there climbing the hill!

Up close around the garages:

A crowd favorite was a one-of-a-kind that's too good to miss.  It's called the Beast of Turin, and it achieved 116 mph in 1911.  We should have taken a video of this, but we were too busy laughing at this thing living up to its name, roaring and belching fire.   It's a good thing, because this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsdWgmp4TaQ

is much better than we could have done.  In the video, the car actually does the hill climb and finally parks on the circular drive in front of the House at Goodwood.  

Oh, did we forget to mention the airshows?  The Red Arrows:

And finally, the concourse:

So, obviously, we were thrilled.  So much so that we're going back to Goodwood this year for the second annual event, the Revival.  And we can hardly wait.

Edinburgh Part 2: Yacht and Castle

"Yacht and Castle".  Sounds like a pub.  Let's nip across for a swift half!

Really, we're talking about the Royal Yacht Britannia, in Her Majesty's service from 1954 until 1997.  She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht traveled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is open to visitors and is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh.

It's a trip through history, since the interior of the yacht was maintained in original condition through the years, and not really modernized.  For example, look at the Queen's phone:

And Her Majesty's bedroom:

The dining room was set and ready for service (there is a restaurant onboard now, so the kitchen's good to go):

Our last stop on the "must see" tour was the Edinburgh Castle, up on the hill at the top of the High Street (which, if you go downhill, leads back to Holyrood House).  There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison.  As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world".

One thing is for certain.  It's got a commanding view of the city.

The cannon are still there, just in case.

Detail from around the grounds, including a very royal downspout:

Inside the Royal rooms:

And the great hall is ready for the garrisons:

There are lots of souvenir shops on the High Street where one can get hold of kilts, whiskey, bagpipes, tartans, and all things Scottish.  We wound up with two tweed hats for Gordon and a thistle-themed necklace and earrings for Pati.  Overall, visiting Edinburgh was a very happy accident!  Good news is, we'll be back next year.  Twice.  More on that later...

Edinburgh Part 1: Streets and the Palace

We arrived at Portsmouth, England to spend a quick overnight at another boutique hotel, the Ship Leopard.  What a name...we could see that the front windows bore etchings of a ship and inside the lobby/bar there was, indeed, a statue of a leopard that was covered with bits of mirror.  Kind of a disco leopard.  Should have taken a picture of that.  Gordon said it looked more like a Jaguar, but I think he was thinking of the car and not the critter.  Anyway, after a full English breakfast we were off to the train station (right across the street) and headed for Gatwick and our EasyJet flight to Edinburgh.  What we learned:  Gatwick airport does not run on time.  Plan accordingly.

The funny thing about going to Edinburgh is that it was sort of an accident.  We were actually headed for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, outside Portsmouth, which was originally scheduled for the weekend after LeMans.  We'd already paid for the Goodwood trip, booked airfare, ferry, and the Ship Leopard when we learned that the Goodwood event had been postponed for a week due to the Formula 1 race in Baku.  So, cancel or fill in the time?  Doing what?  Ain't that much in Portsmouth.  Hey, Gordon had an idea:  Pati's always wanted to see Scotland, so how about we go to Edinburgh?  As they say in England, why not?

Arrival in Edinburgh is easy.  Just hop on the tram at the airport and you're whisked to the center of downtown.  Here, we rented a serviced apartment and had a beautiful, modern, one-bedroom place that a person could easily live in.  A company called Destiny Scotland is in the business of purchasing properties that were originally huge townhomes from the 1800's and converting them.  Pati looked out the back window at this:

The Big (car guy) Brain looked out.  A McLaren, he said.  A McLaren, worth about a cool million American.  Sitting in the rain next to the trash cans.

Edinburgh has a lot to offer, not the least of which is fish & chips or steak & ale pies, along with local Scottish brews, at the pubs.  It's mandatory to visit the big sights:  The castle, Holyrood House, the Yacht Brittania, Grayfriar's Kirk, and the High Street, so we set off (mostly in the wind and rain) to check them out.

First, a wandering around town to view the castle from below:

Then, to enjoy the local streets (with the adjacent "closes", or courtyards):

And the famous, old Scotsman Hotel.  The hotel was originally home to the Scotsman newspaper and later converted to a "hotel with character":

A stop at Grayfriar's churchyard to see the statue of the famous little Skye Terrier, Bobby.  Bobby's master, John Gray, died in 1858 and the story goes that Bobby never left his gravesite.  The gardener at the kirkyard tried unsuccesfully to evict Bobby many times, and finally the Lord Provost of Edinburgh bought Bobby a dog license and the City Council assumed responsibility for the dog.  Upon Bobby's death in 1872, he could not be buried in the cemetery (consecrated ground) but is instead buried just inside the gate of the Kirkyard, not far from John Gray's grave.

We also visited Holyrood Palace, the Queen's residence in Edinburgh.  The Palace has a long history, all the way back to 1671, and is still used for state occasions and official entertaining.  In fact, the Queen was due in for her annual summer visit and we were lucky to see the Palace on the day before it closed in preparation for the Royal arrival.  Here are a few pix:

24 Hours of LeMans 2017 and St-Malo

Off again to the 24 Heures du Mans.  This year, the race was won by the No. 2 Porsche driven by Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber after taking the lead of the race in the final two hours.  We spent the day wandering around the course and stuffing our faces at the hospitality tent after walking through the pits to get a close up view.

We watched the race as day turned to evening.

Geezers shouldn't spend the night at the track (although some in our party, who could fall into the category, did) so we left the track late at night and arrived back at the hotel just in time to turn on the TV and watch the gut-wrenching clutch failure of the No. 7 Toyota which had been the overall race leader.  He couldn't make it back to the pits under hybrid power and retired.  Only a few minutes later, the No. 9 Toyota collided with another car, causing a puncture.  This led to gearbox damage and out went the No. 9.  We couldn't take it anymore and around 1:00 a.m. we decided to go to bed.  When we returned in the morning, the No. 1 Porsche was leading but with four hours to go it failed and retired from the race.

We continued stuffing our faces at the hospitality tent.  After lunch, Pati emptied half a bottle of wine into a plastic water bottle, to the horror of our table mates, and stashed it in her backpack.  Later on, when we had wine and they had none, the idea seemed better to the assembled crowd...

For the first time in history, a LMP2 car led the race.  This may not mean anything to someone who doesn't follow endurance racing, but take it from us, it was a big deal.  In the end, the LMP2 car (Jackie Chan Racing, believe it or not), finished second overall with its team mate finishing third.  Again, it really was a big deal.  Especially for Jackie Chan.

Our next stop was St-Malo, France.  This is a small, walled city on the northern coast of France not far from Mont St. Michel.  It is famous for its beaches, the Barbary pirates, and seafood.  After a harrowing journey by train that included two cancellations, a run to and from the bus station, a lovely conversation with a very helpful SNCF employee, and a train with no air conditioning on a 90-degree day, we arrived at our boutique hotel, the Des Abers.  We were greeted by the watchdog, a fuzzy poodle mix with an entertaining woof woof woof routine conducted without lifting her head.  Some watchdog.

So, in St-Malo, if one doesn't sit on the beach, there's walking the walls and exploring the medieval town.

And stuffing one's face with seafood, crepes, gallettes, and the local specialty bread, Kouign-Amann.  It's a rolled-up sweet dough with plenty of butter.

Near the Kouign-Amann place, there's the local cathedral.  Beautiful inside and a dream for gargoyle hunters.

Is this a meerkat???

Of course, we found the bakery with the best coffee and croissants around for breakfast, and we enjoyed the galletes at dinner.  The town was really fabulous.  It was an incredible surprise and it far exceeded any expectations we had.  We agreed that we'd definitely go there again in a heartbeat.

For years, we've watched the RoPax's come and go out of Nice.  Don't know what a RoPax is?  It's a ferry:  there's RoRo's (roll on, roll off) and RoPax (roll on/off, with passengers).  We'd never been on one.  So we left St-Malo on the Brittany Ferry, headed for Portsmouth, England and our next stop, Edinburgh.  Maybe we were lucky, but crossing the English Channel, which is known to be a rough ride, was smooth for us that day.  We'll also say that the RoPax's are pretty neat:  restaurant, bar, reclining seats, television, internet, game room, luggage room, gift shop, and so on.  It's great transportation!