Whatever, Prologue: I'm just a teenager who enjoys seeing the parts of the world you wouldn't normally see and thought I should tell people how great the world is. I decided recently that what I see in the world will be determined by the Scooby Doo World Of Mystery magazine collection I collected as a child. There are 100 issues, 100 places to visit. Each place is worth 1%. At present I have seen 12%. (Loch Ness, Edinburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, The Tower Of London, Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, Neuschwanstein Castle, Prague Castle, Knossos in Crete, Kennedy Space Centre and the Fort of Hammamet in Tunisia) So as you can see I like to think I am well travelled, you may disagree, that's fine but I'm happy with what I've witnessed in my 16 years and this is just a snippet from my first 'tour of Europe'. I'm planning a second one as we speak that will take me across Germany to Berlin, to Krakow in Poland and the famous Auschwitz concentration camp. Then to Budapest in Hungary followed by Bratislava in Slovakia after that I'll be seeing Vienna, Austria before making my way back up Germany stopping at Nuremberg, Würzburg, Worms, The Nurburgring and the capital of Belgium, but first in 2011 I went on my first holiday abroad that didn't involve a plane. I believe that'll do for a prologue. (For those interested ill post the 100 Scooby Doo magazine locations at a later date) The First 'Tour of Europe' We left Sheffield at around 30pm after I had been to play snooker with some mates at our local club. My mother, father and I made our way from Sheffield down to Canterbury stopping the night there in a budget hotel in the centre, I only saw Canterbury at night but from what I saw it looked nice architecturally and boasted many bars and boutique shops so it's probably somewhere I will return to. After our brief night there we got an early morning crossing on the channel tunnel from Folkestone to Calais. The Channel Tunnel is a great way to get across to France as it's cheaper and quicker than a ferry and on the whole more pleasant as well. It's probably time I introduced you to our means of transport, our Audi A3 2.0l 170bhp S-line, a magnificent touring car if I do say so myself as I've spent well over a month of my #life in that car. After departing from the tunnel onto French soil it was incredibly bright and unnerving driving on the wrong side of the road but you soon get into the flow of things and we blitzed across France, Belgium and the Netherlands in no time and got across most of Germany before it was getting late and with no hotel booked for the night we decided to stop driving at 210 a full 13 hours since we had started at Calais, we settled for a quiet Etap hotel just outside of Leipzig. The Etap hotels are wonderfully cheap standard rooms perfect for just a nights sleep and, I believe they are owned by Ibis hotels now? Anyway the next morning we checked out and headed for our first point of interest, Colditz Castle. Situated on a hill overlooking a small village and an Aldi we ventured into the notorious prisoner of war camp and were taken aback by it's stunning architecture and quite chilling corridors and tunnels. After wrapping things up there we went for a spot of lunch in a cafe recommended to us by the local tourist information point. Well, the food was foul and on reflection if the prisoners of Colditz were being fed that I can see why they were so desperate to escape. After escaping Colditz we drove a short journey to a local town called Chemnitz where at a traditional market in a beautiful old square. In an attempt to buy a hundred grams of cherries I ended up with a kilo instead thanks to the little amount of German I can speak. Walking round a town with a bag full of cherries, (which were delicious by the way) we left Chemnitz and headed to what would be our second overnight stop in Dresden where upon our arrival they were erecting a massive orchestral/opera type stage with an enormous chandelier, it was in the main square where, for the other 364 days a year the square is open to cars. This was unknown to our sat-nav as it took us straight through the middle of the square between a row of chairs and an angry German man with a clipboard. We made a hasty exit. We eventually parked up and stayed in a high rise ibis hotel on the 5th or 6th floor in a lovely big room with a view overlooking another square with a few restaurants and a cinema just up the road. And to my astonishment the windows had now safety catch, so here we are about 40ft up and with a big window that opens to a ninety degree angle that in this country no hotel would be allowed to get away with as it is so dangerous. Thankfully I didn't fall out of it and I survived the night so that the next morning we could travel from Dresden to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. After what should have been 4 and a half hours but turned into 6 hours due to the Czech roads not been as smooth as the German ones we arrived in St. Wenceslas square and made our way into the maze of streets that is Prague we eventually found our first sight, the wonderful astronomical clock. We decided to have a drink in a cafe opposite and wait for it to chime. Afterwards we purchased a map so that we can find our way around and made it to the Charles bridge then swiftly to the McDonald's nearby. After a delicious lunch we made our way round the European stag capital back to our car and made our way to the hotel. Which had a charming koi pond. The room was spacious but basic but we didn't plan on spending much time in the room anyway. We ventured out for an evening meal to get stuck in traffic as we watched the inline skate festival take place. One man caught my eye particularly as he was on quad skates but he was doing all these spins and twist and jumps, he was pretty good. That evening we ate at a Italian in a lovely back garden type and the street reminded me of something from Disney's lady and the tramp. The next morning we awoke to discover that in the Czech Republic they aren't big fans of curtains so the sun came blazing in. That day we planned to see the largest castle on Earth. Prague castle is very nice inside with a little cute street where I read that a woman who lived there was taken by the Nazis and was executed by firing squad for being insane but her neighbours thought she was just fine. Bit sad. We then returned to the McDonald's to take advantage of their free wifi. Tonight was our last night in Prague, so as we dined opposite Europe's biggest nightclub and watched the sunset we enjoyed our meal. The following morning we started the long voyage to Salzburg, Austria made famous by the film, the sound of music. We arrived late afternoon because again of the slow Czech but also because we passed a lovely village with an amazing river flowing through it that was entirely green, not because it envied me, but because of the limestone in the water. In Salzburg we stopped in a small hotel with a little garden and a river that run through it, the river looked like it had come from the mountains it was gorgeous. Also they had a small go kart track with pedal cars, I ended up braking one of them. The first day we visited Salzburg castle which is only accessible by funicular railway and at the top you can see for miles in all directions. On top of the castle I sampled some local cuisine of a long donut covered in sugar but I couldn't enjoy it due to the autocratic rule of the wasps. That evening we parked in this magnificent car park which was inside a mountain with the walls as rough rock just blasted and carved away it was fascinating and cheap. We ventured into the centre by the river and on this bridge going across the river there is hundreds of padlocks we names of couples carved into them, they say it's good luck for your relationship if you attach a padlock to the bridge and through the key into the river. The river banks were lit up by purple lights which made it look amazing and after a meal we strolled back to the wonder out car park in a cliff and headed back to our hotel for the night. On our second day I believe we visited the birthplace of Mozart, the famous composer, enjoyed a milkshake at an expensive cafe before being attacked by wasps again. The next morning we left early, travelling to our longest stay in Blaichach with husband and wife, Alfred and Mary ( and their dog Lara) but first we had to get there. The roads between Salzburg and Blaichach are slow but rewarding with views and the quaint Bavarian villages you pass through every few miles with their typical Swiss-chalet style buildings. It was fantastic. We arrived at our accommodation to be greater by Alfred, Mary and Lara. They showed us our ground floor apartment with magnificent views, then Alfred insisted on showing us round the town which was very helpful of him. On our first full day there we visited Neuschwanstein Castle the whole reason of our trip to Bavaria was to see this castle as I had dreamed about visiting aver since I read about it in one of my Scooby Doo magazines and it is also the castle where Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is set although it is just aerial shots of the castle is used. Neuschwanstein Castle was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the late 19th century. It is also what the Disney princess castle is based upon, it is the most visited castle in the world. After fur filling my dream we stopped in Oberammergau home to the famous passion plays that occur only every 10 years. Sadly there wasn't one on that year but they make delicious ice cream which made up for it. On our second full day we visited Lake Constance a vast lake. Firstly we went to linda I which was 'ok' nothing special by any accounts but Bregenz was different as it is where every year they build a stage on the water. The stage had just been built when we got there and is the largest stage not on dry land in the world, in the Bond film Quantum of Solace it is depicted. Afterwards we went to Meersburg where there is a lovely open air swimming pool which was pleasant and they also do good ice creams there. On our last full day we were unsure of what to do and ended up seeing Linderhof Palace. The only building King Ludwig II ever finished. It is the most extravagant Palace I have ever witnessed, mostly made of gold and other precious metals it is small but still grand and very decorative. In the grounds surrounding the palace there is small building with different themes, one being an underground grotto based on a opera by Richard Wagner, in the grotto is a lake and on the lake is a solid gold bots with ore which the king would sit in and be rowed around in listening to the operas. The following day we set off heading north towards Heidelberg, but stopping for lunch in Ulm. Ulm is the birthplace of Einstein, the famous scientist. Ulm also has a large cathedral with some magnificent architecture, the stone masons who worked on it must have been bloody good. When we eventually reached Heidelberg we checked into our studio apartment, I had a room overlooking the aldstadt or old town if your German isn't upto speed, that evening we ventured into the city stopping for some lovely Thai green curry at a restaurant. That night I sat staring across the landscape watching the river flow and the night grow darker. The next morning I was awoken by a loud noise, across the river was some train tracks with the longest train I had ever seen about a mile long full of brand new cars. After breakfast we headed into Heidelberg again seeing a big brass baboon with massive testicles! The day after we drove to Rothenberg O.D.T the village where again, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed. Also there is the famous Kathe Wohlfart Christmas shop which was incredibly well decorated and they sell some great bourbels. On our last day in Heidelberg we visited the castle ruins and walked round the city again. After leaving Heidelberg we headed through Luxembourg because the fuel is so cheap which the French love, hundreds of them filling up their cars then going in the boot, getting out 6 or 7 jerry cans and filling them. A quite interesting thing to watch. In the service station they were playing some classic oasis; shakermaker, let there be love, she's electric and a few others. After this out stop we arrived back in Calais and headed back across the tunnel back to Blighty. And that concludes really my holiday and experience of the wonders of Europe, it's a great place I really recommend it. First time writer, long time traveller. No hate please haha.