We used Hodgson's of Barnard Castle with their Y60 HCU, and they provided an excellent service. Here's a log;
Saturday 12th July
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Got up 4:30 - left the house at 5:30, boarded and then left the school at 6:00. Put my head down until about 9:00, when we arrived at Grantham Services. Here, while we all ran in for the toilets etc, a driver changeover occured, and the guy who took us around Germany, Ian, took over. Wasn't many facilities food-wise, and by 13:00 we'd made it to the EuroTunnel terminal, however trains were delayed. Eventually we got to our hostel, in Gahlen, near Koln at 23:00, was absolutely shattered and couldn't be bothered to eat the mank food that was put before us (stale bread and butter), nor could anyone else.
Sunday 13th July
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Due to brilliant time-keeping by our Head of German, we were all woken up at 6:30 and thrown into the dining room for breakfast (again, stale bread and butter). Left the hostel at 7:30, and despite not already being sick of being on a coach, endured a 2 hour journey to Koln city centre. First stop was the Olympics Museum - the tour guide spoke great English and explained absolutely everything, was very impressed. Then we walked to the riverbank and ate our food (one more, stale bread and butter, but this time with a slice of ham) before walking to the cathedral. Was too tired by this point, and after doing some challenge thingy, went to an ice cream parlour. That waitress had some attitude - and after a few of us told our Head of German, we watched her and her manager battle it out in front of the entire audience. Luckily we got 5 hours free time at the end of the day, so after having dinner (no prizes for guessing what it was) I hit the hay.
Monday 14th July
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Today we got a bit of a lie-in, weren't disturbed until 8:00 and didn't leave until 11:00. We went to a town centre and did a quiz on shops and places blah blah blah, then in the afternoon went to some Roman Fort. Praise Jesus - they had A BOUNCY PILLOW! Spent about 20 minutes getting on then being pushed back off, but after a few of us capitalised on resources and got our paws on large branches, I found it a lot more enjoyable. The bloke who was in charge, who again spoke superb English, even joined in
. Once more we got a few hours free time at the end of the day, and now having catched up on sleep, I played football (despite originally thinking it was hit another kid in the backside with a ball) with the others. Tuesday
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Was a lazy day - lay in until about 11:00 then just explored around the woods that surrounded the hostel. Found a family of hedgehogs and built them a shelter with sticks.
Wednesday 16th July
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Today was Phantasialand - wasn't at all impressed. Only went on one ride - and queued for 2 hours to spend 2 minutes getting absolutely drenched.
Thursday 17th July
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Travelled home - stopped at the EuroTunnel, Peterborough Services and Leeds.