Kempenrit & the European event of the Year, Zug

[colintf]

great day today - but now pi**ing it down - hope its dry for the days of driving !

We just said goodbye to Herbie!

[colintf]

A new day, and the rain has at last stopped!

Let the adventure begin!!

[Herbie]

I got back home safely at 7 am
The travel was very exhausting with heavy downpour most of the time in the night. There was lots of aquaplaning and in the near Duisburg I thought my F wanted to start to swim .... a huge huge puddle on the Autobahn (almost a little lake, might have been 30 cm deep) almost stopped me !!! I took lots of breaks and I slept for about 2 hours on a carpark near of Münster.

What a stunning weekend, was so bloody good to see and talk to you all again
Sorry I couldn't say bye bye to the other "Beer group".

Special thanks to the mgf.be team for organizing and planning the fantastic day before:
Luc & Veerle, Bruno, Lucas & Danielle, Kasper & Marion, MG metro Man, Cedric & Nathalie, Elton, Jos & Nathalie, Peter & Jarno.

My pics are just uploaded, will get sorted to the right place and I'll post the links later. I am so proud to be a member of this great MG family, and as I recalled the weekend whilst my night trip I couldn't stop smiling.

THANKS !!!!

[Daved]

Just got home from Kempenrit and Moira and I echo everything Herbie said. Great to meet you Stephan, it really was. What a fantastic weekend. My first drive in Europe and the .be people made it sooo easy.

The hotel and food were absolutely out of this world and Mechelin is such a beautiful place. It was great to meet new faces from the UK and very new faces from the Continent.

Very many thanks to Adrian at the UK end and as Herbie said to Luc & Veerle, Bruno, Lucas & Danielle, MG metro Man, Cedric & Nathalie, Jos & Nathalie, Peter & Jarno.

A very special thanks to Kasper & Marion who lead the mini convoy we were in and to Elton who Moira christened the "Babysitter" for being tail end Charlie of the convoy and looking after us so well. Also special thanks to Nigel and his son (Steven I think ) for ensuring we got back to the hotel OK from the Forest An equally great thank you to Dave & Michelle for guiding us back to Dunkirk this afternoon and all the best for your wedding guys.

The hospitality and friendship shown, especially by our European hosts including those at the Hotel was exceptional. As we all said, you would not get this much respect and camaraderie from any other marque. We were simply overwhelmed by it all. Many thanks to all who took part for your great company.

My overriding memory is the road run during which we followed a right hand drive Belgian registered MGBGT who appeared to be out for his Sunday shopping and when four of us all pulled over completely lost and the drivers got to give a Gallic shrug. Absolutely brilliant

My pictures are here. http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t203 ... ug%202008/

Dave & Moira

[Herbie]

Glad you made it back home safe and sound David and Moira ! Really pleased to have met you both for the first time.
Lovely pics you've got there (esp. from the canal tour) I must have missed the silver modded F but okay you just can't see everything. WTF am I doing / thinking in pic 76 ? LOL ->

Btw. my abonnement ticket did work for entering the carpark that late but not for the barrier !!! That was another experience with the tickets, had to grab me old one from when we returned and pay € 9,60 hahaha

I still did not unpack my bag until now

Here are my pics:
http://mgf.dennisfleurbaaij.com/The-day ... 008?page=1
http://mgf.dennisfleurbaaij.com/Kempenrit-2008-Herbie

Edit: ohhh and I did a little write-up over on.org
Feel free to have a look here
http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=257277

[Chris Tideswell]

I have just made it back from a 9 hour (including the time on the ferry) 310 mile 3 country topless blast! What a fantastic weekend, totally mad but fantastic.

One of the funniest things was being stopped at immigration and asked to open my boot for inspection.

[petevick]

.....One of the funniest things was being stopped at immigration and asked to open my boot for inspection.

I thought you wore trainers for driving

[Nigel H]

I would just like to add my sincere thanks to all those from both sides of the Channel, many of whom have been mentioned in the previous posts, who helped to organise and run what was a truly memorable event. Stephen and had fantastic time thanks to the organisers, the hotel, the tours and, most importantly, the people. What a a weekend, such great people. I'll be back next year.

[John Ponting]

.... I'll be back next year.

Thanks for the advance notice Nigel - helps me plan my summer 2009.


Seriously, can only add my name to the various 'thankyou' posts ... it was a truely wonderfull weekend yet again.

The organisers do a superb job, the road books produced for we non-euro Brits are faultless and the group leaders ensure that nobody gets lost.

Especial thanks to Kasper who not only kept us together and got us to checkpoints on time but also ensured that we saw parts of Belgium that we would have missed if we had simply followed the routes. Thanks Kasper & Marion.

If you have never been then I can not recommend the Hotel Ve to highly; Hanelore and her staff always go the extra step to help us enjoy the weekend.

[David A]

Glad to see that the "returnees" are posting from home, having arrived safely.

I can't add much to what's already been said... thanks Dave (Scotian Wolf) for your kind comments about the homeward run - I feared a vote of "no confidence" after I got lost trying to get out of the hotel car park! Everyone has their part to play in a convoy like that, so we all did well to stay together - all I did at the front was steer and listen to Michelle's map-reading!

Truly a memorable weekend - if the travellers to Switzerland continue to have such a good time it'll be the trip of a lifetime - I hope so guys!

Roll on next year!

[Dieter K]

of course they have a good time !
Just have received this mms from SF

Dinner time 05-08-2008 19:07:30

Chateaubriand in the Ochsenwirtshof - see you soon - Andrew (SF)

http://www.badenpage.de/ochsenwirtshof/e/index.html

btw. what's the english name for the small mushrooms ? (German Pfifferlinge)

[John Ponting]

of course they have a good time !
Just have received this mms from SF

Dinner time 05-08-2008 19:07:30
...
Chateaubriand in the Ochsenwirtshof - see you soon - Andrew (SF)

http://www.badenpage.de/ochsenwirtshof/e/index.html

btw. what's the english name for the small mushrooms ? (German Pfifferlinge)

Button mushrooms ?

[petevick]

..........

send it back, that meats not cooked !!!

[Dieter K]

........

send it back, that meats not cooked !!!

LOL

and John,
just looked up for Pfifferlinge.
Not button mushrooms but
chanterelle also: chantarelle [bot.] der Pfifferling

... yam, yam !!

[Herbie]

Mhhhhhhhhh Pfifferlinge *drools*
Thanks Dieter, I am hungry now .... AGAIN

[ErikB]

Thanks for showing up at the MGF Kempenrit event. It's an honour to be the host for such an international group/family. All the comments afterwards are usefull for following editions.

Also a big thank you for Luc, taking care of the day beFore.

Pictures:
http://mgf.dennisfleurbaaij.com/IntMGFKempenrit2008

[Daved]

You are more than welcome Eric. I wish I had talked to you longer as you have always expressed an interest in the Wolf and the red interior but I haven't had the chance to talk to you much about your F.

How is the trip going guys?

Cheers

Dave

[Nigel H]

It must be going well as there are no updates!

[Chris Tideswell]

See viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1934

[D&K]

Hi Guys,

Just felt that as newcomers to this event we should just add our thanks to all those in the U.K. & Europe who made the event what it was. It was a fantastic weekend, and one we thoroughly enjoyed. It may have been our first, but certainly won't be our last, as we're already looking forward to the next one. Have looked at the photos coming in, and there are some great shots, which bring it all back!
A huge thanks to all those who made us as first timers feel so welcome. Look forward to meeting up again

Kevin & Debbie (Dover White)