The time is 1.45 in the morning, we are heading towards Dover. Everybody
has fallen asleep and I find myself pondering the next few days. What
are my beliefs? Why am I going? I find myself feeling many emotions in
relation to the trip, a new sense of journey and adventure has come to
me, so I have decided to keep a log of what I do. At this moment in time
my biggest worry is the capacity of my mp3 battery. although the
other coach has built in DVD players and they are watching “The Last
Samurai”. lucky buggers; my coach has only a cd player, hence me
listening to my own music. The coaches music is some terrible 80's cd
that's been repeating for hours. The coach does have a TV and video;
however we only have DVD’s on us. We nipped in a service station for a
good videotape but to our amazement they only sold DVD’s, typical....
Anyhow I best stop writing now and conserve battery power. My next entry
will be after the ferry I think.



03.04: I am sat in Dover waiting for the boat to come in, which
unfortunately is going take ages, so I have bought a pasty and some
lucozade as a new high-tech nutritional diet by yours truly. So we wait
ever on......



Ok, it is now 03.30 and we have boarded the ferry, from now on entries
will be gmt+1 for the Germany time zone. The sea looks very calm however
it is very dark. The crossing takes about 90 minutes. As it is night
time, half the ferry is off limits including the deck, boooo I was
looking forward to the deck, but never mind, I may be able to get up
there on the return journey. On a brighter note the bar is still open!!!
So a few pints and Jack-Daniels+Red Bull; lovely jubly! So here we go...



Well, it’s now 05.30; we can see the French coast. Everybody is
completely knackered. I’ve just tucked into a Jack Daniels and Red Bull,
its working a dream! However my back is killing from the coach and we
have another 6 hours or something on the other side. A funny
announcement was made; that a packed lunch has been found in the shop!
Oh well...another 30 minutes or so and we are back to the coaches!



It is now 6.03 and we are back on the road, although the wrong bloody
side! Anyhow, the sun is rising and everybody is sort of refreshed and
ready to tackle the next leg. Just got a text message too, saying
welcome to France, amazing but sad... Anyway, battery is at 50% now so I
hope it lasts till I can get it charged! The atmosphere is good, let the
second leg commence! Although as I’m writing this some people are trying
to go back to sleep, although most people are wide awake! Here we go
again….



06.29: the sun has just risen over the lush green scenery, whilst a soft
mist subdues the colours, a very moving image, the calm before the storm
one might say.



06.58: We have entered Belgium; the soft mist still shrouds the
landscape. We are making good speed, the roads are very quiet, nearly
everybody is asleep now, one bad thing however is my music, PDA (palm
top computer) battery at 40% now, but my mp3 player is at 5%....as I
write this it has died, dammit, spare batteries are in my main luggage,
which is stupid; I know, just have to listen to music on my pda and hope
the battery lasts....



Well its now 8.21, we have not stopped since the ferry, my body refuses
to sleep, and what’s worse is my back is still killing me, AND my
battery is now at 13%, music is really draining my battery, not going to
be long before I cannot write these logs.... I hope we are stopping soon
so I can walk about a bit...the journey goes on.... and no I am not
obsessed about batteries, I’m just scared of pens!



Ok, so its 09.00 and we have finally stopped for some breakfast, so I
had cheesecake because I did not know how to say anything else. We got
45 minutes before the last 4 hour length, hopefully it will pass
swiftly.



Well, it’s taken 16 hours so far, but we are finally in Germany, already
it has absolutely chucked it down with rain, I wonder if this is a bad
omen....well anyway, hopefully it won’t be long till I arrive with my
family. I have just remembered I have forgotten a towel, dammit! Anyway
the trip goes ever on...and for the record the battery in this thing is
at 8%, will it last? Anybody care!? Guess Not...



We have finally arrived at Ahrweiler, we are now all cramped inside
presumably waiting for registration and to meet our families, so we
wait, and by the way, someone SERIOUSLY underestimated how many of us
were coming, they are staring the introduction now.....



Its 12.57 ,This is taking bloody ages, still appointing us to our
families and stuff, looks like we’re not going to get sleep either which
sucks royally! Anyway batteries about to die, so we await

information....


Ok, its 13.55 on the first day with our family; Ellen the mother, two
daughters called Manuela and Franziska and the father is called Jürgen.
The house is very nice. Jürgen seems to be a very experienced glass
worker, with an amazing portfolio of work including windows and stained
glass.



Just finished our meal with the family, the German language is way
beyond me, we just sat there confounded, anyway, Me and John both have
our own rooms, well; the kids rooms. They are now sleeping outside in a
tent; which makes Me and John feel rather guilty. But the family seems
bubbly enough. We are to set off soon for a meeting and tour of the
town, which starts at 15.00, its past that now; so who knows....



Ok, so we like just went on like a two hour walk, took loads of
photographs of the scenery, very historical. We are sitting down for a
quick nibble before a very long Mass. Apparently we are then going
somewhere else; although I would just like to get some rest; but this is
a journey of faith and strength, so we will all carry on till we drop.



18.15: finished munchies, so just having a beer before Mass. I could
live here if it was not for the language; we are all very tired now. 15
minutes till Mass.....



19.33: Mass was less than an hour, it has started chucking it down so we
have retreated to a youth community room thing with Manuela. We are
standing out like sore thumbs right now....time may help....time has
passed; naff all has changed...perhaps more time; and if the music loops
one more time I will not be held responsible for hurting something
bad!!!!!! Time goes on......



Loads of time has passed; and I am bored bad, soooo we are going to go
explore the frontier that is this town; first got to say bye to all
these Germans.....bye.



Anyhow, we ended up walking home on our own; Me and John that is. We
finally found the house; this was tricky because we had only seen the
way once, but we remembered in the end.



21.51: I sign off my first day here, the family has been very kind and
the next few days are not looking so daunting anymore. I cannot wait to
go to sleep; it will be the first decent sleep I have had since Tuesday.
The next log will hopefully be made on a fully charged pda and attitude.