Had an uneventful trip to Passau in first class splendour. The trains are all stainless steel and sliding glass doors, your allocated seats have your destination on a small LED display above your heads and they don’t even go c-shoomp, c-shoomp; c-shoomp, c-shoomp…just whoosh, at 156km/h! We changed trains at Nuremburg, and found an elderly couple in our seats in the second train. I went for my ticket to prove our credentials, but they were out and off like startled rabbits. We guessed later that maybe there’s a system for retirees where they can travel and take pot luck on unused seats? A great new idea, where the elderly give up their seats for the young(er)! We felt mean, but when you’ve paid several hundred Euros you sort of want to sit for the journey.

Here’s the excited group at the bike station. We met up the morning after our arrival in Passau. Our first allocated hotel hadn’t heard of us, but a bit of ringing around revealed that a typo had been made in an email to us at one stage and our original hotel was, in fact, the one we should have gone to! The Spences had had a big night out with a German friend. The Halls were in bed by 8.30, declining invitations to meet up. We had cycling to do the next day, and didn’t want any sore heads.