ALLGBMINI – Page 419 – M&I / GBMINI

F1 GP: Peel Street MINIs

Posted on June 10, 2005February 11, 2017 by Ian C.

After Corteo, we got a taxi into “modern” Montreal and headed to Peel Street to see the BMW/MINI sponsored gathering of MINIs – part of the activities associated with F1. To be honest it was a little disappointing because none of the owners were present – I think they all were having dinner somewhere. Still, there were lots of people checking out the cars …

Minolta DSC

F1 GP: Friday Practice & Old Montreal

Posted on June 10, 2005February 11, 2017 by Ian C.

In stifling humid heat, we headed over to the Gille Villeneuve race track to watching the Friday practice sessions. Traffic to get there was terrible – a combination of F1 traffic and normal Friday commuters. But once we parked at the metro station, the rest of the journey was easy!
Our seats were high up in stand 34, with a view facing the hairpin – a good viewpoint, except much too high to see any details of the cars / drivers:

Minolta DSC

Minolta DSC

In the afternoon we headed in to Old Montreal – we had a date with Cirque Du Soleil to see their new Corteo show which was, of course, fabulous (except for the ludicrously cramped seating!)
Old Montreal had some great buildings too – worth another visit …

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Later in the evening, we watched various entertainment in Montreal as part of the F1 week – these girls were the most astounding, because of their “disguises” …

F1 GP: Heading to Montreal

Posted on June 9, 2005February 11, 2017 by Ian C.

The drive to Montreal from home was 320 miles total – on the way we decided to take the scenic route by ferry across Lake Champlain. By luck we arrived within minutes of departure and the ferry was not busy … Leaving hot & sunny weather in Vermont, we enjoyed being out on the deck of the ferry and watching the day go by … At least we did until we noticed lightning flashes over New York state, and the wind picked up … then HEAVY rain lashed down and everyone headed for shelter in their car or the depths of the ferry. I got soaked through outside just in the few seconds of taking a picture!

Minolta DSC

Minolta DSC

But we made it over, and soon the weather improved as we continued north into Canada. We arrived at our hotel about 5pm and after settling in found excellent dinner at Asiana, a “Szechuan & Thai” fusion restaurant!
Then we prepared for our first day at the Gille Villeneuve race track (tomorrow) …