This annual event takes place in Horsham Town Centre on three days over the Easter weekend and offers visitors and shoppers to Horsham an exciting taste of Italy in the midst of a very English medieval market town. Packed full of fabulous cars and bikes, tasty Italian foods, lively street entertainment and a huge choice of independent shops, cafes and restaurants – Piazza Italia is fun for all the family!

We would taking centre stage on Saturday in Horsham town centre and we were allocated 100 space for all our MINIs I head down to London on the Friday to stay over at my cousin house and i thought driving my JCW in Birmingham was bad!!! There were the mother of all potholes, speed bumps and undulations within the road and my JCW isn’t even lowered and I was struggling not to make it scrap!

I recent put the sports cat on my JCW so it was quite loud but more so much amongst the concrete jungle that is London. I was getting onlooker fascinated the looks of my JCW and the noise it made through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I can see why a friend of mine gets 18mpg out of his JCW given all this start stop traffic.

Lets not be all doom and gloom, it was nice seeing my mum’s side of the family up in London. My younger cousin wanted to come along with me to the MINI event as bit of car nut like and he is always telling his mates about my JCW. I wanted to give him some pictures and videos to brang about at school.

It was a nice change not driving a million miles early in the morning and driving through London city I must woken up a few people as we rolled through London’s tunnels and narrow side streets. The closer we got the dealership the more minis we spotted a few familiar MINIs from our club and they were driving in convoy so I accelerated and nipped in between them.

I caused quite a steer at the meet point as everyone could hear me coming and this DINKY blue thing was in my rear view ; ) I had sure they hear the backfire on the overrun as I lifted off the accerelator

We drove into the dealership carpark and soon filled it up MINIs leaving us to wondering where everyone else would park. We headed inside for our goody bag and door vinyl for our MINIs.

There were some new faces at the meet with Emily with her brand new Cooper S

Billy’s Refreshed Cooper S

Ashley with his Pepper white Cooper S (There is alot more mods now)

Mr & Mrs Swan with their Countryman WRC Edition

Dave in his Olympic Edition MINI

Phil aka Bandit his John Cooper works with lots of carbon trim

There must have been easily 100 MINIs there alongside classic ones which is very unusual sight given we were at BMW/MINI dealership all chatting together.

Even thought it was very cold this time of year in March it was worth seeing both classic and new minis people getting on. I grabbed some breakfast with wifey number 1 Christine whilst my cousin and little brother were blowing their brains out with all the minis present.

Garry decided to arrive at the last few minutes before we handed out which was ironic as he brought along his factory fresh GP2 the fastest MINI buy can buy. I bet he did it to show off to everyone!!!

All done with the poser and his GP2 we all headed out to Horsham town centre with a Police escort. Yes i did say police escort, they were holding up traffic for us and waving us through red lights and whizzing ahead on bikes to block traffic off for us.

I felt like an ambassador with the police riding alongside us and the temptation to wind down the window and wave to my discipline as we passed by

As we arrived into Horsham town centre we were ushered on to the high street with SNM taking centre stage along the busy side of the high street

We managed to get both a GP1 & GP2 together

Me and Christine and few others pulled on to other section of the High street just in front of the classics

It was a really busy day with alot of families out enjoying the event and looking at all our MINIs. But it was a little nervous knowing people would be touch, brush along side it and walking around my JCW whilst I was away from it.

I finally got dragged away by little brother and cousin and showed them around pointing out all the members i know and introducing them and point out all the models and details on each MINI we saw.

There was some unusual classic minis and some mint examples which makes me want have a classic even more

We had a spot of lunch with GP Garry and asked him how he was finding owning a GP2 and the livability of it all. Most of his answers involved the word UNBELIEVABLE with him saying I remember taking this corner in my WC50 at this speed but now in the GP2 I taking it 15 – 20mph quicker!!!

The event was coming to a close so we headed back to our MINIs and waited for all the classics to leave in a parade as they were being let loose first to onlookers gathered along the Horsham streets. It was nice having people waving and little children being all excited by the departure of all us.

Once we were let out I made sure my JCW gave them something to remember me by letting a few Pops & Bangs on the overrun.

I waited for GP Garry to arrive as he wanted to go for a little hoon around the back roads. It was great fun playing between us on the backroads as we keeping braking down to its bare minimum and carrying the speeds in the corners. But GP2 was better sorted and the GP slightly left me at the roundabout : /

It was great fun as always with the SNM crew and I would be staying in London longer as I had a wedding to attend the next day so London had to put up the sound of the Birmingham Beast living it all up. My JCW gave my cousins E92 M3 something to quite down abit after I gave him a rev off ; )

Next Blog Post: London to Brighton Run 2013

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The post MINI Vines: Piazza Italia VII appeared first on JCW Adventures.

My JCW & Me had the time of our lives with my JCW appearing on the National Geographic channel, travelling to MINI UNITED 2012 and various MINI Events and visiting a different city every month

This year has been the best year of my life and actually alot of it to my MINI given i wouldn’t have done half things if i didn’t owe one

Through owning my JCW i got to drive a classic mini at TV Shoot for the National Geographic show and made some new MINI Mates

Dave – The owner of the Classic mini & Photographer

Michael  – Another awesome photographer with Degree in Automotive design

Becoming a proud member of Surrey New MINI (SNM)

Travelling across France to reach MINI UNITED 2012 in a convoy of 5 MINIs from the UK

Meeting the Monte Carlo MINI Rally winners –  Rauno Aaltonen & Paddy Hopkirk

Visiting Monaco & Paris – Still cant believe we drove the whole track of the Monaco F1 Circuit

Meeting Automotive Legends Russ Swift & Chris Harris at Brands Hatch

Pushing my JCW to its limits on various tracks across the UK & France – Brands Hatch, Castle Combe, Monaco Circuit, Paul Ricard, Goodwood & Santa Pod

Having Hot laps in the MINI CHALLENGE Race car

Holding the Olympic Torch

Being invited by MINI UK to see the New MINI GP

Modding my JCW and meeting some many new people and MINIacs

Meeting some of my followers & supporters : D

Becoming the Fast Five – Christine, Janet/Phil, Garry and Phil

Starting the blog as just away to share my passion and watching it take off beyond my expectations

I made so many great memories this year with liked mind people who make the most of life has to offer

But behind every smile there is a tear

But we rewind to 2011 which was the worst year of my life and towards end of the year i gave up as i couldn’t take the pain no more

What everyone doesn’t know or didn’t see was my pain both mentally and physically as i had so many problems and my BMW got written off as i travelling on a motorway and slowed down for an accident and the truck driver behind me didn’t pay attention.

I suffered alot from that pain in March 2011 with me having whiplash and unbearable lower back pains with unable to sit down for no more than 10 minutes. On top of that i had insomnia for months and when i did sleep to be suddenly woken like someone had stuck a knife in my back

I had lost alot at this point but this wasn’t the end as i had another two car accidents again people who weren’t paying attention

This was the time where i gave up and couldn’t see the end to my pain and suffering

I still battle with that pain to this day and i don’t think my back will ever be the same

On a last minute thing i went to London for New Year’s Eve to celebrate the beginning of 2012 with my cousin and close friends.

As i watched 2011 come to a close and watched 2012 begin with the fireworks, something clicked and this where i came up with my bucket list of things to do in 2012

I made a PROMISE to myself that i would do them all and i did

I have never been more happier in my life

The advice i have to everyone is stop putting things aside and there are no excuses

If you want to go do something just go and do it

Trust me you don’t want to be sitting there all old with no stories to tell

Always remember everything happens for a reason, you just cant see it at the time

Thank you Christine for 2013 Calendar & bringing me into the club xxx

There are BIG PLANS for 2013 for Me & JCW

Here is a sneaky peek for 2013 plans…

Next post: SNM Goodwood Meet

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The post MINI Memories appeared first on JCW Adventures.

This is what i love about the MINI brand that there are always events or something going on surrounding the brand

It was quite heavy and it felt special in my hands

Its all fantastic earning money but something its best that you give back to the world

I decided to do a fun run for charity

I didn’t train at all for this 5K fun run so i wasn’t sure how it would go but it was all for Air Ambulance who i am proud supporter of.

I was all excited for the run and i want to see how far i could push myself

I managed to do the 5K fun run in 29 minutes which i was quite proud of

After recomposing myself my cousin who i call ‘The Doc’ (he really is a doctor) said for me to come down and spend a couple of days in London and he would show me all the sights.

I have been to London millions and squllions of times and i have always passed through or just visited specific places and drove back home i.e. So i haven’t done all the touristy stuff

With all my MINI Adventures the JCW was cleaned & fuelled and off i went to London

Then it was quick hop on to the Tube to reach the town centre to go to the famous Hamleys Toy store to pick some little pressies for little nephews 1st birthday.

I brought him this awesome Spider teddy

I cant believe how big it was with 5 floors FULL of toys

I am huge LEGO fan and picked up a few things for myself

Next up was London Dungeons which i was quite impressed with the actors who took you on the tour of the dungeons and gave an insight in to the torture and misery this happened.

An overall history London was given during this age about the plagues, great fire of London, Jack the Ripper and Mr Sweeney.

I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who is planning to visit London as you get free access to Madame Tussauds as well if you buy the package deal.

You should never keep a lady waiting so it was straight to Madame Tussauds to mingle with the stars

Me and the Doc didnt mess around and went straight in for the punches with Mohammed Ali

Mohammed Ali’s is one of my favourite athlete for all time with his witty tongue and punch to match

I was surprised to she Jessica Ennis and Lewis Hamilton having wax works given they are relatively new to sporting greatness

It wouldn’t be right if i didn’t go the Bolt with the man himself

Still miss the King of Pop as i was going to see him at his return tour but he sadly passed away

If you ever hear ‘You Rock My World’ in my JCW it only means that i am on Top of the world

That was the just half of Madam Tussauds given there was the Marvel Comic section

Me and the Doc are comic nerds with him being a HUGE spiderman fan and me being a MOOOSSSHIIVEEEE Batman fan

Part of the Marvel section was 4D experience which was quite cool to be fair but slightly cheese. I guess it was more aimed for the kids but a good experience regardless.

Next up was Nom Nom Time and we went to Oscars for a Steak El Paso – Juicy steak, chargrilled and basted with spicy barbecue sauce, served with a cheese enchilada, Mexican rice and Mexican salad.

This was it, we were off to MINI STORE!!!!

I had heard about it and i was super excited to see it all and it didn’t disappoint!!

The MINI on the wall is an awesome sauce touch with the tyre marks going up the wall

MINI had clearly gone with a simple chic design with everything having its place with no clutter with glass cabinet for the small items

The back wall of the store is creative genius with mini accessories making up the UK flag

No other brand is as quirky as MINI and it always makes me smile.  I am proud every time i hold my keys and say that i own a MINI.

The UK flag theme is pervilant within the store with alot of the items being laid out in the flag pattern or swinging 60s vibe with hearts and references

I love the MINI Pilot Luggage especially the black one with the white viper stripes

Its on my wishlist *hint hint*

There was the Uber cool JCW Roadster with its top down and spoiler up

I brought a few bits for myself

JCW Keyring

I loved the pouch it came in and strangely the tags it had on

I brought the beach towel for my next holiday in the sun – Red with white viper stripe

I also got the MINI wall clock in black with viper stripe

The Doc promise me for my next birthday he would get me the MINI racing helmet as he know i track my JCW and plan on getting my racing license soon…

I would recommend anyone without a shadow of a doubt to go down to have a look at the store even if you not a MINI fan.

The MINI store is located at Westfield Stratford City (Montfichet Road, E20 1EJ)

The people who worked there were super cool, friendly and quick to help you if wanted some advice on anything

Bonnets up to MINI with the store

Next Post – MINI World Action Day 

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