Schwangau, Germany

We left the Ibis Hotel in Bregnez, Austria and headed towards the
German border, criss crossing back into Austria from time to time as
we drove through some amazing mountain ranges. The views were amazing
from the top of the mountains and we took lots of pictures. We were
heading in the rough direction of Fussen, Germany, home of
Neuschwanstein Castle, which we arrived at just after 3pm, and
annoyingly ticket sales closed at 3pm. We drove the short distance to
Schwangau and eventually found a hotel (Helmerhof - www.helmerhof.de).
The picture above is the view from our window, you can see the castle
if you look closely. Tomorrow morning we will return to the castle,
have a look round and then head in the direction of Luxemberg. My
brother will be excited to know that the castle we can see from our
hotel window (and will be visiting tomorrow) is the very castle
featured in the film 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.

France - Germany - Switzerland - Austria

We woke this morning in a 'B&B' brand hotel and started the short
journey to the German border stopping at a hypermarket to get a few
bits for the journey (including my new favorite drink, ice tea). Once
over the boarder and with Justina as navigator we headed into the
black forest. The black forest part of the journey was amazing, as we
ventured further in the higher the hills and the deeper the snow, we
have some great pictures. Once through the forest we headed south
towards a lake and eventually found the crossing car ferry port which
would take us to Switzerland. Justina had spotted the car ferry on our
European map so we decided to fund out how much it would cost in time
and Monet to cross. Arriving at the ferry port there was one empty car
and a motorbike queued up to cross. We parked behind the car and
walked over to the biker to ask if he knew the next ferry sailing time
and how much it was going to cost to cross and how do we pay. The
biker did not speak much English but understood my very bad rubbish
sign language, we understood his too. We got talking to other
passengers waiting for the ferry and learned that the crossing would
depart soon and we pay on board. Swim customs checked our passport as
we drove onto the ferry on the German side and we paid €25 for the
crossing. Once parked on the very unbusy (for vehicles) ferry we
headed upstairs to the lounge area and were served hot drinks. In the
lounge was an amazing selection of people and animals. A drunk man
irregularly burst into loud song every now and again during the 40
minute journey, three massive dogs laid sprawled across the floor and
Jus kept pointing out '80s pop group man' who she decided, with his
massive hair, looked like he was famous (for singing). Once in
Switzerland we drove (avoiding toll roads (as we had no Swis cash))
looking for a hotel. Within an hour we had not found a hotel, but did
find the border to Austria, so we crossed it. We kept driving and
driving till we found a big town and an Ibis Hotel. I don't know where
we are (Jus does, but she is asleep) and have no idea which direction
we are heading next (Jus does, but she is asleep). We found a
restaurant and had pasta, the restaurant, although very nice, was very
smokey...... How I love the UK smoking ban (I just wish UK smokers
would not smoke right outside entrance and exit doors, which kind of
defeats the object as non smokers have to choke through it to get in
and out). We ate a really nice meal and headed back to our hotel,
ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Jus is asleep.

491.5 miles later

Justina and I have been driving most of the day and are now in
Strasbourg in France on route to who knows where on our anual European
roadtrip. Tomorrow we will head in the direction of Germanys Black
Forest and see where we end up. French people drive way too close to
each other on motorways.

We missed the ferry

Justina and I are on route to Europe for an unplanned road trip. We
were up at 4.30 this morning and were meant to catch the 8:00 Norfolk
Line ferry from Dover. There are big queues into Dover port (roadwork
signs, queues, no sign of the actual roadworks!) and then lorry
jamming confusion surrounding Seafrance cancelling all their ferries
due to strike action, resulting in a ton of Seafrance customer lorries
with nowhere to go and nothing to do but jam up the port - we, and
other cars, missed our ferry. I've always liked Norfolkline, they
were helpful and moved us to the 10:00 ferry free of charge. So glad
we did not book with Seafrance, or P&O (whose 6.35 ferry has still not
left yet(!). All we have to do now is sit here and wait. Dover is in a
bit of a mess this morning.

Millie & Molly

£10 Marketing

Running a small business we get lots and lots of marketing literature
from other companies looking for business. Until today the best "free
stuff" we have had includes a really nice pen, and a Cadbury Boost
chocolate bar from a marketing promotions company who wanted to give
us "something to eat while browsing our magazine". Today came the
strangest item.... a £10 used note attached to a letter addressed to
me from a company who manage training for other companies. Apart from
the letter being passed around the office and read by everyone (rather
than the usual skim read by me, then file in the recycling bin) this
'clever' idea to read the letter brought one question to mind......
Can you think what it might be?

Cleveratom plants start growing

Here are the Cleveratom branded plants after a couple of days watering
back in early January. They have grown a lot since the picture was
taken, if you would like a Cleveratom plant let me know.

Cleveratom plants