The hills are alive with sound of Rovers

My week started with a marathon journey from Manchester to Salzburg via London Heathrow and Frankfurt Main so when I finally arrived in Austria around 2pm I felt I'd already done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. No time for a quick kip at my hotel, however, as Rovers were due to kick-off at 5.30pm and SU Abtenau's ground was a good hour's drive away -- or so I thought. It took me roughly that long to work out how to get the hire car off the multi-storey so with time already starting to run-out I had to put my toe down to make the kick-off, winding my way through some stunning scenery in the process.

Abtenau itself was an amazing place -- a tiny, picturesque village set deep in the heart of 'Sound of Music' territory.

The ground itself was virtually slap-bang in the centre, surrounded by mountains off which people were paragliding, and I doubt whether Rovers have ever played a match in a more breathtaking setting.

However, any thoughts of a bumper crowd piling into the Union Abtenau Stadium soon disappeared as a funeral at the local church seemed to attract half the village.

When the match finally kicked off in glorious sunshine, it soon became apparent the opposition weren't up to much as Rovers roared into a 4-0 lead in double-quick time. And the goal-blitz continued unabated in the second half as the men from Ewood finally ran out 12-0 winners -- Matt Jansen leading the way with a four-goal blast!

Afterwards, the 30 or so Rovers fans who had made the trip then mingled with their heroes before Souey whisked his players off for a spot of tobogganing down one of the surrounding mountains -- a spectacular end to a bizarre night!

I KICKED off day two of my week-long tour with a spot of sight-seeing in Salzburg before embarking on the arduous three hour drive to Nuremburg, which was to act as my base for the German leg of the tour.

Nuremburg itself is a bustling place steeped in history but the main reason it appealed to me was the fact it's jam-packed with bars!

That evening, however, I decided to go on a reccy mission so I hopped back into the car and made the hour-long trip to Crailsheim where Rovers were due to play their second match 24 hours later. The ground itself was easy enough to find and, by a stroke of luck, I happened to catch coach Werner Rank putting his team through a last minute training session ahead of the big game. With one of the players acting as interpreter, I asked him how he was feeling about the prospect of taking on Graeme Souness's promotion heroes fresh from their goals avalanche in Abtenau but he candidly replied 'Graeme who?' insisting he'd never heard of the Liverpool legend!

After that I then had a drink with the club president before heading back to Nuremburg via a bar in the town centre which seemed to have a fixation with Sixties crooner Pat Boon -- very strange indeed.

AS Werner Rank had confidently predicted, Rovers found Crailsheim a far tougher nut to crack than Austrian amateurs Abtenau had been on the Monday night.

A crowd of around 1,500 packed into the modest Schoneburg Stadium in anticipation of an upset but before I'd had chance to take the first bite of a Bratwurst butty, David Dunn fired Rovers ahead with a sumptuous finish from the edge of the box, triggering chants of 'We want 12'.

However, in typical German fashion, the home side were far more organised than Abtenau had been and, on a difficult pitch, Rovers made increasingly heavy weather of finishing them.

Martin Taylor did finally add a second after the break but then Ghanaian striker Joseph Fameyeh suddenly came into his own, hauling his side back from the brink with a deadly double as Rovers were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at the end of what was a poor game.

One consolation for Rovers fans, though, was the opportunity to catch their first glimpse of new £6.75 million signing Corrado Grabbi.

The former Juventus striker made his debut as a second half sub and, though it was a low-key start as far as debuts go, he showed the odd flash of skill to leave the visiting fans hungry for more.

I WOKE up early on Thursday with the best possible intentions -- get in the car and head for Rovers' training base at Illschwang, about a 50 minute drive away. When I'd told Souey of my plan the night before, I thought nothing of it when he said 'Yeah, come down, you're more than welcome but you'll have a job on because it's difficult to find.'

But that was perhaps the biggest understatement he's ever come out with in his life. I consulted FIVE different maps and not one of them bore the slightest reference to this Godforsaken place. Eventually, one of the waiters at my hotel finally came up with a suggestion so I set off east in search of the Holy Grail. Amazingly, about 40 kilometres later, I managed to find the right place -- a tiny village slap-bang in the middle of nowhere.

But it was like a ghost-town, there wasn't a soul in sight. After knocking on a few doors, I finally managed to rouse a villager and in my best pidgin English tried to explain I was looking for a Fussball team called BLACK-BURN ROVERS. Surprisingly, no-one was any the wiser so, after two hours and several more interesting exchanges, I finally gave up and went home to console myself in a couple of bars around Nuremburg.

DAY five of my excursion took me to the old East German town of Plauen, where Rovers played the third and final game of their mini-tour.

Again, it meant another arduous three hour drive and once I got to the city itself, it soon became apparent that the setting was going to be a complete contrast from the spectacular mountain scene at Abtenau.

I'd offered to give a couple of Rovers fans a lift and we arrived at the ground in plenty of time -- so much so that we decided to go into the city centre for a spot of nosebag before kick-off.

Being adventurous, my two travelling companions decided to try one of the local delicacies -- some kind of meat dish accompanied by 'Vogtland' dumplings.

And I can still see their faces now, contorting in horror after shovelling the first forkful into their mouths.

Let's just say they weren't Hollands!!

The Vogtlands Stadion was quite an impressive venue with two stands on one side and a section of concrete terracing running the full length of the other three sides.

As for the match, it was instantly forgettable as Rovers again struggled to find top gear on another difficult pitch -- don't they have lawnmowers in Germany??

Afterwards, our German hosts were most hospitable banging out extra Bratwursts on request before it was back to the car for the journey home, via an hour-long detour, which brought us out three miles further down the road from where we started! And then, home, sweet home...