A late start for everyone today, we all missed breakfast. Mum and I went door a swim in the lake and it was lovely today, no chop or weed. Bought some pastries for the girls after we had coffee and pastries on the way back to the hotel. Drove down to Dani and Jonas' just after 1pm and followed them to Pfullendorf, where Jonas' parents live. Had a lovely time sitting in their garden chatting before going for a walk down to their little lake to check out all the historic cars, motorbikes and tractors. Also some very nice new cars. Lake was lovely but you have to pay to sit on the bank so we pressed on. Back at Elspeth and Wolfgang's we had a lovely BBQ cooked by Jonas' younger brother Lucas and his ... read more

A magical day! After a typical German breakfast we engaged our new GPS, named him Guido, and headed for mad King Ludwig's Bavarian castles. It was a beautiful picturesque drive, every little village could grace a postcard. Arrived at the castles, paid to pee (50c each!) and then headed up to the ticket office. Joined a long line and then spoke to an information lady who said that the next available tour was at 5pm (5 hours away), so we took her advice and just caught the bus up to Neuschwanstein and then walked to Mary's bridge where there were spectacular views to be had from a very old bridge. This is the castle that Walt Disney based Cinderella's castle on. We then walked down to the castle with some spectacular views of Schloss Hohen-Schwanghu (the ... read more

All packed and ready to go by 0930 and went to breakfast! Taxi's booked for 1000, one come about twenty past, so Emily, Jemima and I went in the first one and hoped that we would meet up with Mitchell and Erin at the airport! We reunited and collected our bags from left luggage, checked in and had a snack, then headed to immigration. One long walk, and train ride later, we made it to our flight just on time. The plane sat in the ta I line for over an hour but other than that it was an uneventful flight. Arrived in Milan at 1930, collected our bags and straight through customs (couldn't even see an official) and then we had to work out how to use the public phone to call for our hotel ... read more

We woke up just before seven,when the attendant bought us the tea and coffee we had ordered the night before. We got ready, used the shared amenities and arrived right on time at 8 am. We were met by Dingyi who escorted us to our car and driver and we planned our day. First we went to Badong museum. This is a 6000 year old village that has been discovered and excavated. It was very interesting but very hot and humid. There were also a lot of Chinese tourists and the heat in the hall with the excavations was almost overwhelming.We then headed to the Terracottoa Warriors. The drive out was interesting but the views were disappointing because it was very hazy again. When we got to the Terracotta site our driver took us to a ... read more

It is one week before we set of on our new adventure. We are all pretty much organised if only we can get the girls start packing! Only four days of work to go, I think I will make it. Mitchell and I have mostly packed just a last few things to go and hopefully I can fit my softball gear in the girls bags. Bring on next Saturday........ read more