Police World Edition 4 2014

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this attraction. Off to Dunkirk to prepare for the tunnel home the following day. The trip was fantastic and lived up to the Group’s ethos…‘just a bunch of friends going for a ride on our bikes’. On this occasion it was a great bunch of people, friends, great roads, great memories and all looking forward to the next one.
 Tom McInally , Region 1 Scottish Motorcycle Touring Group

an accordion as Ian Buchanan plays in a Ceilidh band in Scotland. At the presentation of gifts we stole the show with Ian playing a medley of Scottish tunes before playing an appropriate tune for all the countries represented at the dinner. A real talent!

After dinner Ian played into the wee small hours and full Scottish country dancing was taught to and performed by all our IPA friends.

 The following day we headed west to the Alps and to a place called the Albergo Rosa Hotel in Carenno, situated in a village overlooking

the Dolomites. We arrived in Panchia to a warm welcome from the IPA members from all over Europe. Our host, Mauro, the owner of the Albergo Panorama hotel updated us on the timetable. The following day we all met in the local town square in Predazzo with over 100 bikes on display with Stuart’s 1992 BMW nicknamed ‘The Steed of Steel’ being the oldest bike of the entire gathering. Under escort from the Carabinieri, we headed on a tour of the magnificent Dolomite Mountains before some of us broke away, after lunch, to tackle the famous Stelvio Pass. The pass is one of the steepest and most challenging motorcycle rides in Europe and it certainly lives

Bergamo. It was a family run hotel and ‘Mamma’ made our evening meal that was to die for. The car park was turned into our exclusive bike park and had table and chairs for drinks overlooking the magnificent views of the mountains and distant Bergamo. Off we went in the morning and headed for France and Annecy. What a beautiful city and we were glad that we had a free day to explore and relax. We hired boats and sailed across the huge lake adjacent to the city. The weather was fantastic and we made it a

up to this reputation. At the top they were still digging out the shops from the snow. On our return to the hotel we had noticed that the international flags, flying proudly outside the hotel, had a notable omission... the Scottish flag. Fortunately we had a couple of flags with us and decided to climb up and place them on the roof. Whilst up on the roof we were spotted by the hotel owner - Mauro’s dad. He shouted something at us, which we immediately took as appropriate chastisement. However, a few minutes later he arrived on the roof with his toolbox and proceeded to

At the formal dinner

More Delight in the Dolomites Peter Atkinson, from Bolton branch

habit to gather every evening and have a laugh and a beer. Most of us brought along a folding chair on the bikes which is a brilliant piece of kit and allowed us to gather in the evening outside the hotels in relative comfort. We also used these when we stopped for tea or lunch and were a source of amusement for other travellers.

 Onward north to Luxeuil les Bains and on to Metz in northern France. We were met at our hotel by Georges, the IPA president for the Moselle Region, who had assisted us in booking the hotel. Next day we had organised a trip to the Maginot Line fort at Hackenberg - Georges kindly led the way. We hooked up with IPA members from the Toronto region of Canada who were also visiting

construct two flag poles for our flags. The following day we unpacked our kilts and ‘trews’ and took our place at the formal dinner and presentations. Needless to say the kilts went down a storm and it became a bit of a photo shoot. Ian had also managed to get 20 sponsored kilts from the Irn Bru company which were for the Commonwealth Games but they wanted them tested on a foreign audience. As you can imagine they were a massive hit and all had a real laugh. I think the kilts have now become the standard dress for Mauro and his dad. We had arranged with the hotel for them to get hold of

attended the same event in Italy. The event is named Fiemme & Fasse which is named after two valleys in the Dolomites mountains. Read peter’s story at: www.ipa-uk.org/News/ delight-in-the-dolomites

The reception from the Dutch members

POLICE WORLD Vol 59 No. 4, 2014

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