Due to exams and the winter break, it had been over four months since we'd last set foot on foreign shores. This was thus a long awaited trip.
When Alex had been over in England, he'd commented how great the Brown Sauce was, so I packed a bottle to take over.
After work, I headed off to the impressive new Eurostar terminal at St.Pancras.
A couple of hours later we were in Brussels. We found a bar and played a game of games of Babyfoot, where it was Barnet 1
Leicester 0
Back at the Gare de Midi we stocked up at the amazing vending machine. In addition to wowing us, it served six packs of Jupiler so we got a couple for the night ahead.
Groovy.
Shortly before midnight, the train arrived to take us to Hamburg.
We tucked into our supplies of Jupiler...
...and Judas.
The first proper stop was Aachen, so we took some photos.
This scouse blokey was in our carriage. He had lived iun Brussels for three years (but didn't speak a word of French) and was off to Gothenburg to see his girlfriend.
Some time later we drifted off to sleep only to be woken again at Dortmund, where we discovered that the front of our train had disappeared. I got some breakfast and a copy of Kicker. Finally the front returned and we were whisked off to Hamburg.
Friday 8th February - St.Pauli v Carl Zeiss Jena
Hamburg Hbf was massive.
We found a food hall where Olly, fresh from an excellent nights sleep, bought some fruit from Mr Clou.
With a day in Hamburg, we set about exploring the city. Set on the River Elbe, Hamburg is Germany's largest port. This is in spite of it being sixty miles inland.
From the Docks, we headed up to St.Pauli and visited the fanshop.
I think it is fair to say that The Millentor is not the most modern of stadiums.
Nearby is the Reeperbahn, where our hotel was located. This had many high class establishments.
Hearing that Pete, John & John had arrived, we met them and headed back to the city centre.
Carpy gave us a tour of the local churches.
We also took in the other sites such as Burger King:
A muddy stream
A statue with a seagull on top
and a deformed tree.
We also found the HSV club shop, although the commercial activities of the football were evidently not aimed at making money.
Still, John found something he could buy.
With time kicking on, we headed back to Millentor, where I was clonked by a stray whisky bottle! 
En route to the stadium we were handed a variety of leaflets, advising us to go green, oppose fascism and encourage lesbians into football grounds.
We met an eclectic bunch of people.
However, sheep were not welcome.
I got the beers in.
The stadium was fairly old, although it was being refurbished.
All-seater stadiums are great. Nobody wants to stand up. These Germans must be crazy giving people the choice.
The pre-match choreo's were most unusual. A bag of shredded paper was handed around and people waved this above their heads as the teams came out. The Sudkurve looked great.
There were also a few sparklers, lighting up the night sky.
The game was highly eventful. Jena were a goal and a man down inside fifteen minutes, yet were denied victory only in stoppage time. Afterwards, the terraces were awash with paper.
Saturday 9th February - Vfl Bochum v Energie CottbusThere are two ways to get from Hamburg to Bochum. Three people chose the direct, fast train. The rest of us bought a Schones Wochenende ticket, costing a quarter of the price. The snag was that we had to use local services. Nonetheless, the five hour trip gave a chance to sleep off the previous night.
The hoodie awakes!
In Bochum, we checked into our hotel.
Then headed off to the Bierkutscher for a pre-match drink.
Onto the ground:
Inside, we received another warm welcome from the locals. The atmosphere and choreography was excellent, as ever.
After the game, we headed back to the hotel where a few people had a nap. 
Awake again, we headed down to the Drei Eck, home of Bochum's nightlife.
Our home for the night was the famous Brinkhoff's.
How many have you had? 
And you?
Lightweight.
We found some tattoos. 
Dreaming of Mr Clou. 
At half two we called it a night. I slept on Alex's couch. He had an amazing array of scarves.
A short way in Andy realised he'd left his bag in the hotel so had to go back and get it. 
In Aachen, we decided to wait for Andy so headed into town for some food and the customary visit to Konig City. 
But was more taken by Alex.
Alex was everywhere!
Reunited with Andy, we bought tickets to Welkenraedt, the first stop in Belgium, from where our Eurostar tickets were valid. We subsequently discovered another stop had been built before Welkenraedt, which will conviniently save us money in future.
Programmes! 
The highlight of the journey was John explaining the rules of groundhopping which had us all in hysterics.
The Stella Brewery in Leuven. It is a little known fact that Stella is sold as Jupiler in Belgium.
In Brussels, we got completely lost before finding our hotel. John and Andy headed off to Waregam, while myself, Olly and Ben saw a bit of Brussels.
Reunited, we had a couple of rounds of Kwak, the best beer ever.
Monday 11th February - Back home 
