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INTERNATIONAL |
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Cead Mile Failte! Thousand Welcomes! This was the motto of the 1997 International Mini Meeting in Bandon, Co Cork, Ireland. The Irish Mini Club had done quite a good job to guarantee an unforgettable weekend. Hundreds of Minis from all over Europe lined up on the greens of the GAA area, the training field of the local football club.
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The first little "Mini Meeting" took place at Pembroke harbour where lots of Minis queued for the ferry to Rosslare. Still in cloudy weather we started from Pembroke but the sun came out just when we reached the irish coast line. And we didn't have any rain for the next two weeks! What a stroke of luck! Sunshine is always a guarantee to have a great Mini meeting, so it was in Bandon. People hanging around in front of the bar, chatting and drinking Guinness, Kilkenny or one of the other local goodies. It was more like an european festival than a meeting of car clubs.
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The whole city of Bandon was involved in the IMM. I guess they never had this much traffic in the town streets before. Minis everywhere! A warm welcome where ever you go! Together with the incredible weather this tidy town was an ideal location for an IMM. Even the "Evening Echo" - the local newspaper - dedicated a headline: TOWN GOES MINI MAD!
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T he pictures to the right are from the Concours D'Elegance which took place at the church park on saturday. I'd never seen so many tidy cars together. Various kinds of vans and saloons, rally cars and cars which I know from Mini World features.
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These "Monte Carlo" twins had their rolling home with them. So you can see: it must not be a Puck! Because we expected rainy weather we didn't have any camping equipment with us. But we had a very nice Bed & Breakfast accommodation in Bandon. |
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In
the evening everybody got together for the traditional club presentation in the main
hall. Followed by the band Strings & Things and an international drinking competition.
Again an event with a fantastic atmosphere!
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Mini towing was another competition. Some guys (must have been the finns) confused the rules of the team members. ONE was supposed to sit in the car and the others had to tow it. They did it the otherway around - and had much more fun this way! |
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Slán! Goodbye! We said on sunday afternoon. But only goodbye to Bandon and the 1997 IMM. Once in Ireland we stayed two weeks and had a 1500km trip on the green island. I'm sure we will come back again! The only sad thing was our engine breakdown on the way back to germany. But sometimes shit happens!
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