In the latest ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ style jolly jaunt, Sam & Lisa (the Number ‘9s’) go to prison for watching England, in Austria….hop on board and enjoy the ride!

Friday 20^th August.

Our day started at 4am, with the alarm clock signalling that it was time to get up and start our latest football adventure. We left for the airport at 5am, and by 6am we were checked in and ready and waiting to get on a plane to fly off to Austria.

We took off about half an hour late but somewhere along the way we found a shortcut and landed in Vienna on time. We'd been given instructions on how to get from Vienna to Krems by train, so were ready and prepared for the next part of our journey.

So, three trains (all with scenery filled with sweetcorn, sunflowers, vineyards and train stations that were little more than a concrete break in the greenery) and one cab ride later, we arrived at our hotel. No problems raised their heads at any point in our journey. (At some point the travel gods will get angry at our good fortune on recent journeys and rain on our parade, so let's all pray that that doesn't happen for a football adventure and occurs on one of our few non-football holidays shall we? Thanks.)

We stayed at the Orange Wings Hotel on the outskirts of Krems. Their by-line is ‘travel easy, sleep orange’, I think it needs to be changed to ‘we look like a cross between a prison and a self storage container, but we're really a very comfortable and clean hotel’. It's not as catchy, but far more accurate.

The two highlights of the journey were the ticket inspector on our first train who wrote down the trains that we needed and times they left the relevant station for us, to make sure we didn't get lost on the way (has anyone experienced that in the UK? No? There's a surprise!) and the taxi driver who drove us to the hotel, who entertained us with Austrian dance music after declaring ‘the English are in da house’! Marvellous stuff.

The hotel is a self-service hotel, so we had to figure out the translated English on the self-service check-in machine - an experience after only a few hours sleep - before we got our room key. Once we had unpacked and settled in, we discovered one of the lights didn't work, so we went to reception - once it was manned - to ask for the bulb to be replaced. The little lady behind the desk had to make a phone call to discover where the bulbs and the step ladder were kept before she could do anything. We went back to our room to wait and get changed to go out into town for something to eat. She appeared at our door minutes later, apologising and saying she couldn't find the step ladders and would it be an inconvenience if we changed rooms. It was no problem at all, especially when she said it was to the room next door (reducing our step count to the ashtray in the external corridor from 10 to 5!). We packed up again and shifted our things next door, got changed and went out for the evening.

Krems itself is a small picturesque town, with some beautiful architecture and an incredibly slow and quiet way of life. We reached town early evening, just as most of the cafes and bars were closing for the day. We strolled through town looking for somewhere to eat when our Chinese homing devices kicked in. We turned the corner and there were the Browns having a beer outside one of the few bars still open. Naturally, we joined them for a drink. (By drink I mean lemonade. By lemonade I mean we were given pink lemonade. Never in my life..!)

After a brief catch up and some excellent touristy tips we parted ways and found ourselves a restaurant that was still open - most restaurants seemed to close between 9 -10pm - and had our first (and last) proper meal of the day. A short stroll through the town at night revealed to us that this was one quiet town. It was a Friday night and there was barely a soul around. So very different to the Friday nights back home! And a very refreshing change.

 Saturday 21^st August.

Game day. We were both very excited! This was the first time that we had been to a qualifying game that was a formality. Yes, three points and lots of goals would help with the chance of getting top seeding in the play-offs, and yes I'm a firm believer in playing for pride. But this felt lovely!

(Dear England Women, can we please have more games like this? It was a lovely experience!)

We decided since we were a half-hour walk away from the centre of town to take our football gear with those so we didn't have to return back to the hotel before the game, or be stressed about time at all.

It was another sunny and very hot day, so armed with water, cameras and football shirts, we headed off to stroll into town and do a little moseying around before the rest of the gang hit Krems. We walked along the river (canal!) bank, and came to a lovely spot to sit and have a smoke. Naturally, it being a hot day I took off my flip-flops and put my feet in the water. It was freezing cold and felt fantastic on my hot feet. Lisa also cooled her feet down, and we sat and watched the world go by for a while, enjoyed the hot sun on our faces and the cold water on our feet.

Eventually we made it into the centre of Krems and wandered through the old part of town, ending up in the park opposite a small shopping centre and the information centre. We got a text to say that Linda, Pete and Emma were in the Brauhof (a pub, unsurprisingly) for something to eat and drink or two before the game. We let the German and the Browns know where we were headed, and off we went to join the gang for a drink or two. Food and drinks were ordered, and whilst we were waiting the German and the Browns joined us. We swapped tales of what we had got up to whilst in Austria, and all had a good laugh at the fact that we were staying in a prison/hotel. Time passed quickly as we reminisced and caught up, and it was soon 3:45pm, time to get the bill and wander down the road to the stadium.

The hot morning had quickly turned into a swelteringly hot afternoon, and we were all a little relieved that our stand was in the shade. The ground itself is small, holding approximately 6000 people. There was one seated stand (the one that we were in) with the two stands behind either goal being terracing, and the stand opposite us was a combination of terracing and grassy bank on which people were sat. The pitch itself was in full sunlight, it would be one hell of a hot game for our girls out there.

We met up with Mike in the ground, so initially there was a whole nine of us there, all in good voice, ready to cheer on the mighty Lionesses. We were then joined by four more England fans, making us a gang of 13. We then swelled in numbers again to 18 as another family turned up, this family were Austrian. None of us have any idea why the Austrian family was supporting England but we fully appreciated the fact that they were.

When England came out ready for kick-off, we were a little surprised that they were wearing their away kit, and Austria were wearing white. I'd always been under the impression that Austria played in red when at home, and others in our gang agreed with this. It was a little strange to see England playing in red when away, as I've got very used to them always playing in white these days. Anyway our away kit does look jolly nice though.

The starting line-up looked strong: Browny in goal, Alex, Casey, Faye and Unitt in the back four, Kaz, Fara, Jilly-bean, Nails and Yanks in midfield, and Kelly in the number nine shirt. We were expecting goals, lots of them.

The match kicked off and straight away the girls showed that they were out to score goals and get points. Within the first two minutes Kaz delivered a corner which Unitt almost put away. Six minutes later we were all up on our feet and cheering as Kelly scored our first goal of the game. Eight minutes in and we were already 1-0, we were definitely in for goals, lots of them! The next 20 minutes saw Kelly, Yanks, Nails and Alex all have shots at goal, and be called offside.

Then the ref blew her whistle and the game stopped. She had called a drinks break! This is something we had never seen before in a game. And neither had anyone else in our gang. Very peculiar! Although, it was ridiculously hot out there, we were all sweltering in the shade, so it must have been a scorcher on the pitch.

A minute or two later the ref blew her whistle again, and play resumed. As did the goal scoring. Kelly makes it look easy again. 2-0! Hat-trick please Kelly! I wanted at least 3 goals before half time. And I wasn't to be disappointed! Yankey had a couple more shots, and Kaz joined the offside gang. Then 10 minutes after our 2^nd goal, Kelly made herself some room just inside the box with the ball, looked up & saw Alex running in, she crossed the ball, Alex put her foot through it & it sailed through to the back of the net. Goal! 3-0, and a blinding one from Alex at that. Brilliant stuff! 5 minutes later the ref blew for half-time.

Lisa, Linda and I ventured out into the sun to have a half time cigarette, and discovered just how hot it was. It was ridiculously hot! No wonder the ref blew for a drinks break – there was no way any of the players could have been expected to play right through the half without taking on board as much fluid as they could.

Kelly and Faye were subbed off at the beginning of the second half (no Kelly hat-trick for me then!) and Ellen “Goal Machine” White and Sophie Bradley came on. Ellen on the pitch? That would surely bring a goal or two then!

The second half kicked off, and 2 minutes in Browny earned herself the title of “Safe Hands” for the game, saving a snap shot from Austria. A few more offsides and shots on goal by England, and a disallowed goal by Fara, who was (unsurprisingly) called offside, filled the next 10 or so minutes. Then Steph Houghton came on, replacing Nails, and straight away earned her membership to the offside gang. Several offsides, shots saved and shots put wide later and Ellen scored! That's 4 in 6 games, surely best goal:game ratio of the squad! The girls were clearly hot and tired. They shifted down into cruise control. This was an odd experience for us fans. This was our last game of the group and we weren't borderline pacemaker candidates. We were relaxed, having a laugh and cheering on our team. We were also clearly out-chanting the Austrians. The stadium was fairly full, but they were quiet. Very quiet. We could have out-sung them if there was only one of us there!

We had another goal disallowed for offside, and then two minor scares right at the end of the game. Alex gave away a free kick just outside the box, fortunately the effort went wide. Then in the final minute of added time, the Austrians had another shot on goal. Safe Hands strikes again. Clean sheet for Rachel Brown. The ref blew her whistle and it was game over. Four goals for, none conceded. Just how we like it! There was another drinks break half way through the second half as well. Apparently the ref had told both sides that she would be pausing the game halfway through each half for a drink break. Blooming good idea really, it was so very hot.

A few of the girls came over to say, “Hi,” after the game, and all looked incredibly hot and tired. We had a chat with Jilly-bean, Casey and Alex. They all seemed in good spirits and were happy with their performance. After congratulating Alex on her goal I had to solve the mystery of the month and ask where her red wristband was in the last game (for those of you who haven't yet heard, it hadn't been washed after her Breakers game just before she flew over to the UK. Not very rock 'n' roll for a professional player – better excuse next time please, Alex!)

Eventually, after spending a good 20 minutes or so standing in the ground chatting, we decided that there was only one place we could go: the pub. So we slowly made our way out of the ground, pausing only for Mike to persuade the lady in the box office to give him the match poster, to watch the Kremser men’s players (who had a league game straight after the England match) come strolling down the street wearing their shinnies and boots ready for the game (Sunday League stylee) and then to chat to the officials, thanking them for the game and telling them not to call so many of our players offside (to which they all laughed and told us that our players needed not to be so quick) and ended up back at the Brauhof.

Food and drinks flowed, as we celebrated our success in this part of the qualification process and discussed who we would like next. The consensus being anyone, we could take them! (Although we would prefer somewhere that is easy to get to, preferably with the away leg on the weekend dates, so if someone could sort that for us, it would be greatly appreciated!)

Linda, Pete and Emma were the first to leave. They had to catch the last train back to Vienna. That left me, Lisa, the German, Mike & the Browns. We all eventually decided to make a move, and weirdly the pub wasn't anywhere near closing! We walked back to Orange Wings (our hotel, keep up!), finally turning in after a very long, but very successful day.

Sunday, 22nd August.

The next day was a free day for us. Another novel experience for us. We normally fly home the day after a game, but this time we were flying back the day after the day after the game. So we decided to take a walk along the Danube and visit Durnstein (beautiful village/small town) about 8kms away. We came across a river cruise jetty just as a boat to Durnstein arrived. How handy! So on we got, and watched the scenery go by as we sailed along the Danube, and slowly heated up with the day. It was hotter on the Sunday then on the Saturday. How the girls played in that heat is beyond me, it was hard enough putting one foot in front of the other just to walk down the road.

After 30 minutes of gently cruising along the river we reached Durnstein. We disembarked, as did the rest of the boat (full of tour groups, and lots of families – we hadn't been around so many tourists during our stay, so it was a little weird being with so many other people). Strangely, it being a Sunday and Austria being a Catholic country and all, the shops were all open. They obviously work to the tourists, with there being plenty of small souvenir shops (all of which sold anything made of apricots) and wine tasting going on. There was also a path that led up the hill (presumably) to the ruined castle at the top. We thought a stretch of legs would be enjoyable, so armed with only a half bottle of water each, off we set. The steps were as even and user-friendly as the Great Wall of China (yes we did climb that when we were in China for the 2007 World Cup, and where we first properly met the lovely SheKicks editor! – Yay, flattery will get you everywhere! SK Ed).

Soon the steps, the heat, and the lure of a large rock overlooking Durnstein, persuaded us to sit, drink and enjoy the view. We eventually left our place of refuge and instead of heading up the hill, we headed back down the slope (mainly because we didn't have that much longer until the last boat of the day left). Then it was back on the boat & back to Krems. The cruise back was gorgeous. We found ourselves a lovely position on the upper most deck, right at the front. There was a strong breeze blowing into our faces which felt delicious after the sweltering heat and boiling sun in Durnstein!

Back at Krems, it was time for food. Now we hadn't really thought it through properly and it took a good 30 minutes or so (Krems really isn't that big!) to find somewhere to eat. Finally our persistence (and my hunger) paid off and we found somewhere to eat before wearily heading back to our hotel for the night.

Monday, 23rd August.

Monday came and it was time for us to leave. We armed ourselves with water ad our luggage and walked the path to the town centre for the final time. Boarded a double decker train (and yes we did sit on the top deck peering out of the window commenting on how much better the view was) and headed back to Vienna. Two further trains later and we were back at the airport, very hot and very tired. Easyjet kindly flew us back to the UK without a hitch, then it was a short car journey back home to rest our weary heads once more.

So now we have to wait until August 30^th to find out where our footballing adventure takes us next.

Where ever it is, you know we'll be cheering on the mighty Lionesses!

Come on England – We Believe!