Sunday 6 July and we were off ! We had been up at Ripley in Derbyshire at the Horizons Unlimited bike meet. It was an enjoyable 3 days- talking with like minded travellers and they gave us a good send off !

The photo shows us as we are leaving !

The journey to Dover was wet,windy and full of traffic jams. We made the ferry by the skin of our teeth! First stop St Omer in France .

Monday 7 July on to Lieges, Belgium.Still very hairey weather and Colin was really tired when we finally pulled in to the Etap hotel at 6 pm.The battering from the wind was the worst. it actually made the bike move on several occasions!

Tuesday 8 July saw us into Runkel, near Limberg in Germany. Finally the weather had improved and we were basking in 20C. It was a lovely ride through areas with spectacular Schlosses (castles), pretty houses and very little traffic. We called in to the Nuremberg ring but sadly, were not able to do a lap as it was'nt open to the public till 5 pm.

Reckon it would be good fun to do a lap for 21 Euro.

wed 9 July and on to Bamberg.Another lovely drive through small villages of timbered framed houses. It's all very rural with the vines growing on the steep sides of the mountains.There appears to be no 'terracing' for the vines. i bet they are a job to pick ! Higher up, of course, you get the sweet smell of the pine trees.

Bamberg is a beautiful medievil city with buildings made from timber and then painted.

We managed to get a meal there at an irish pub !!!!!!!----- and the owner gave Colin directions of how to get out the next day--- good job he did too. It's all a one way system and quite confusing for the uninitiated!However it was quiet with traffic and that was a big bonus.

Thursday 10 July.5 days away from home and here we are in Prague .We missed the sign for the Chech Republic and the first indication we had that we were over the border were the empty border huts. Traffic built up a bit as you neared Prague but not nearly as bad as one of our towns at school chuck out time !The villages are slightly more 'run down' - not pristine like Germany and not as bad as Romania!

We asked for directions once in Prague and found the hotel by sheer fluke. Colin stopped to get his bearings, looked over his shoulder and there was the Ibis hotel------ we were on the famous Wencelas Square.

Here we are playing with the trams in Prague ---- good game, good game !

more to come -----