A light jolt makes me open my eyes and the slumber that I have been lost in for the past few hours is instantly lifted from my tired body. I sit bolt upright as I realise I am in the middle of a vast expanse of water, hemmed on one side by gleaming montain peaks. Little by little I become aware of my surroundings. I'm on a boat, to quote "The Lonely Island", or more accurately sitting inside a bus on a mini-ferry. In the middle of a lake. Discovering the joys of travelling from Friedrichshafen Airport to Kostanz, the Paradise Town on the Boden Lake. Actually, the word is "Paradies" - the residential area where my beloved cousin Eva lives in a flat intended for two people all by herself, her only neighbour being so ... read more

Christmas begins about the first of December with an office party and ends when you finally realize what you spent, around April fifteenth of the next year. P.J. O'Rourke, Modern Manners Well in Germany Christmas begins as early as mid-November with the building of Christmas markets! The first signs of them were already popping up here and there over the weekend. My brother and I spent Saturday on an improvised tour around Cologne, from the first to the last of its three remaining city gates. I chose to leave England in November for a reason - to get away from the dreary greyness of English winter, but on that Saturday afternoon the North of Germany was no better. It was chucking it down with rain and my boots were soaked through, an unfortunate circumstance considering I ... read more

I bet that title alone has drawn the attention of my male readers. You should, of course, all be ashamed of yourselves, since I am not in the business of using cheap tricks to attact attention to my blog. I did, however, meet a girl today who reminded me of the importance of seizing every opportunity as soon as it comes along. Her name was Maria. Oh how easily this could turn into a poetic description of a momentous encounter of two lost souls in a foreign land...In reality it was just an advert for a language exchange, which I saw and decided to act upon. A Spanish - English exchange, no less! A slightly unusual opportunity in the middle of Germany, but didn't they keep telling us to think outside the box? I didn't think, ... read more

Your mind is in a restless state which only travel will satisfy Even a fortune cookie can read my mind! I must say seeing this written on a tiny piece of paper crumpled inside the crispy dough really hit the nail on the head - this short sentence describes exactly how I feel. Or should I say felt? My travel started 36 hours ago with one of the shortest journeys possible. It takes a mere 55 minutes to fly from Gatwick to Bonn/Cologne! Yet even such a short flight was enough (for now) to satisfy my burning, overwhelming desire to look at the world from above in anticipation. I rarely fly in the day; flying, like many other things in life, is best enjoyed either in the early hours of the morning, when the sun is ... read more