Day 2

What a great day.  I left my 'interesting' hotel somewhere near Cologne - never did see any of the city - at about 9.30 after a surprisingly good night's sleep and a good breakfast.  My route took me onto the autobahn almost immediately and then I took flight.  There is something very civilised about German motorways, the fact that on many of them there is no upper speed limit. Traffic seems to flow well and it helps that on long stretches lorries are not allowed to overtake.  I spent much of the day cruising at about 85/90 mph and got to Ragensburg at about 2.30. A journey of over 400 miles.  OK, I didn't see much scenery and my few stops were at motorway services but the point of this journey is to arrive in time to start work, not to do the touristy bit! However, the drive through Bavaria was very beautiful and I went from cloud in Cologne, torrential rain for about half an hour - yes I did slow down!! - to souring temperatures that reached 33 this afternoon.  I was trying not to use air conditioning in order to save fuel so I had windows and sunroof open which meant that I arrived looking just ever so slightly dishevelled! 
This night's hotel is brand new, so new that it isn't finished yet and the outside rather resembles a building site.  However, inside it is beautiful, the car is parked just outside the window and the shower is amazing.
After unpacking and freshening up I walked to the local shopping area via an ice cream parlour where I managed to buy an ice cold weiss beer and resist the lure of the ice cream.  A trip to the local supermarket furnished me with a picnic which I have just enjoyed.  On top of all that there is unlimited free wifi connection so life is definitely feeling good.

Tomorrow should see me in Vienna on almost the last leg of my journey.  So far it has been a great experience and I am looking forward to crossing yet another border tomorrow  ( 5 in three days) and visiting Vienna for the first time.