ITALY 2010

Alfa Romeo Centenary

 

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nder the auspices of the Cape Alfa Romeo Club and the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Association of South Africa, we are busy organising a tour of Italy for 2010. The tour leaves Johannesburg International on Tuesday 15th June and returns Tuesday 29th June or Wednesday 30th depending on whether we get to visit a very special collection after the Centenary Celebrations or not. The proposed itinerary is attached and can also be viewed at www.alfaclub.co.za/alfa100. Please also find at the website an application form that needs to be completed by all delegates.

 

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he tour in brief is as follows: We leave Johannesburg International on Tuesday night 15th June to Madrid where we connect with a flight to Bologna where we are immediately hit the road in our own tour bus to the Ducati Museum. Thereafter Lamborghini, Righini and Pagini before spending  the night in Modena. The next day is Stranguellini, Maserati and Ferrari. Friday we will see De Tomaso, San Martino and Tazio before retiring to Venice for the weekend.

 

On Sunday afternoon we will move to the Garda Lakes area. Monday we aim to visit the Mille Miglia Museum, Monza, and Zagato before spending the afternoon in the Alfa Romeo Museum. Tuesday morning we will visit Quattroruote, Ital Design, Mirafiori and Pininfarina’s Wind tunnel. The next morning, we will try to get to Bertone Stile, Balocco and a private collection of Alfas at Cozzi before taking a boat ride on the Como Lake.

 

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hursday 24th is a rest day in Como and maybe a lightning visit to the Momo Guzzi Museum. Friday 25th is Alfa Romeo Museum Day and then we have the afternoon off in Milan. Saturday 26th is the start of the Alfa Romeo Centenary Celebrations. Please look at the Documents page for the latest info.


 

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he tour can be divided up into the following sections and have been priced as such to enable delegates to arrange breakaways and alternate travel arrangements if so desired. All prices are per person sharing :

 

Flights: Cape Town to Johannesburg return – own account. Johannesburg to Madrid, Madrid to Bolgna, Milan to Madrid, Madrid to Johannesburg included in the estimate below.  Tour officially starts from Johannesburg International. Initial indications are that this could cost about R10,000. As we get closer to the time, we are pretty sure we will get that price down considerably, specially if we book by year end.

 

Tour: Bologna/Modena/la Garda/Milan/Turin/Como. This includes all transfers by tour bus, the hotel accommodation and most of the breakfasts along the way. It also includes Lunch at Il Cavallino in Maranello and supper at Da Angelina in Turin. Plus your very own 1:43 Scale momento of the celebrations and your name included on the scroll sealed in the monument. Excludes trip to Malpensa on the return leg. Once again this is just an estimate – group rates should bring it down a bit closer to the time.

Estimate R10,400 per person sharing

 

Alfa Romeo Centenary: From either the Wednesday evening or the Thursday morning we will be part of the celebrations. The pricing so far is 110 Euros per couple plus your share of a rented Alfa Romeo for the event.

 

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e are pretty sure we will be able to get these prices down quite a bit but it is far too early to get any of them down to an exact number just yet. There is a possibility that we might be an even bigger group as some Brazilians are eager to join us. The bigger the group, the better the discounting. However, be advised that there will be lots of extras. Consider this before you join us:

  • Price does include Airport Tax but it might change before we leave and we have no control over that,
  • Price does include all breakfasts and this time we will be staying in Holiday Inns and Best Westerns largely so that should not be a problem, however be aware that the Italian continental breakfast is several mouthfuls less than the SA continental breakfast
  • Price includes no meals other than those that are part of the Alfa Romeo Centenary, Ferrari and Da Angelina,
  • Virtually every attraction we visit will require an entry fee of approx €6 -€10 at least. (If we get the Lamborghini Factory Tour, add a further 39 Euro) We have included the entry fees where possible in the budget.
  • You think drink and cigarettes cost a lot in South Africa?
  • The Tour price above is based on 36 delegates sharing the cost of the coach. If we are only 26 (the minimum needed to make this work), that portion will cost you approx R800 more than indicated above etc etc etc.

 

 

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o book your tour, please complete the internet application and submit as soon as possible, max delegates is set at 36. (30 delegates have already confirmed at this stage) Certain deposits and costs must be paid by certain times. The payment and information schedule is as follows: 

·         Confirmation of going on the tour by completed application form faxed or e-mailed to me by 21st January

·         Completed Alfa Romeo Centenary Application form and deposit by 21st January , this will give us enough time to get it to R.I.A.R by the cut off date of 10th February

·         Visa’s – More info later.

 

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mallprint. Yes and there is a lot of it. Most of it revolves around the air tickets. The most important small print items are these:

 

  • The names you give me for this tour must be the exact name as it appears in your passport. If it is not and we have to have a ticket changed after 1st March, you will forfeit 25% of the ticket price. Upside is that we can change the name completely to another person before then without penalty. Keep that in mind. The air ticket is non-upgradeable, non-rerouteable, non-endorseable and after 1st March, non- refundable. And just so you know why all the “non” stuff – the ticket is valid for Iberia Airways – special group rate just for us only. Now it makes sense hey!
  • Your passport must reflect an expiry date of not earlier than 28th February 2011. If it does, get it renewed post-haste.
  • Each person is allowed one breakaway as explained. Must be arranged by 10th February. You will not be refunded a portion of the ticket not used nor will you be able to use that portion to fly to or from somewhere else. Be aware, that travel on another date may attract a higher fare.
  • Please accept the “Proposed Itinerary” as just that. None of the attractions have confirmed their availability for our visit at this early stage. Do not worry about that as there are plenty of other places to see. For that matter, should some of them not come through, we are sure you will enjoy an extra hour or two at the ones that have. The tour bus operator says that our proposed itinerary is extremely ambitious, so if a few of the places drop out, maybe that is a good thing.

 

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opefully we have not scared you off. The Tour prices get better each month as we negotiate better accommodation rates, so with a bit of luck, we could have a much better price on that part of the trip for you closer to the time. We are also looking for a bit of sponsorship and should that succeed, the price can only get better. Now if the Rand would just get off its butt and strengthen a bit more, well ……………..

 

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ayment. Bank details will be supplied by return e-mail when indicating your interest in the tour, we would appreciate a fax or e-mail confirming such. It is going to be an administrative nightmare at best, without anonymous deposits into the account making the job impossible. Each delegate will have his/her own account, so should prices change (hopefully for the better) or the exchange rate change, you could end up with a credit at the end of the day which will be refunded mid July 2010.

 

BANK ACCOUNT will be advised on application by return e-mail

 

Please fax or e-mail a copy of any deposit made to:

Bob Corbett

Tel : 021-558-2000

Fax : 086-616-0755

Cell: 082-569-9970

bob@alfaclub.co.za

 

Please feel free to contact Bob Corbett at the above numbers if you would like to chat about the trip, specially if you have a lead on a possible sponsor or some inside info that could influence the arrangements.