For the fourth time in 24 days, we boarded our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, accepted our free bottle of water and piece of chocolate and headed for the semi-finals of Euro 2024.

This time we were based in Dusseldorf again, planning to travel to Dortmund on Wednesday.

Deutsch Bahn are losing their reputation for efficiency and good timing, as we encountered yet another one-our delay on the ICE train, making British Rail look good.

After checking into the NH Hotel in Konigsallee, Dusseldorf, we headed out to the aldstadt (old town) to watch the first semi-final between France and Spain. The atmosphere there was brilliant as fans of many countries had gathered to watch the match in the many street bars and restaurants.

However, the fanzone and the official fans viewing area were both shut, due to the threat of an impending thunder storm. Wisely, we decided to high tail it back to the hotel, arriving back there, just as the sky turned black and the heavens opened. They know how to do a good storm in these parts.

We watched Spain beat France 2-1, in the company of a happy Spaniard, as we made provisional arrangements for the final if we got there. Spain look to be tough opposition but first we had to beat Netherlands.

The big day arrived and after a hearty continental breakfast, we headed for a crowded Dusseldorf Hauptbahnhof to find a train to Dortmund. The place was heaving with England and Netherlands fans with the train getting more and more packed as we neared Dortmund. We emerged from Dortmund Hauptbahnhof to a sea of orange. The Dutch had come out in force, estimated to be well over 100,000 of them to take over Dortmund.

The atmosphere was brilliant, even though they had packed the fanzone early doors, making us look round for a suitable watering hole. We found this in the Mercure Hotel garden bar, where we happily mixed with the Dutch fans as we downed our dehydration allowances of Bitburger Pils.

We met my friend's Dutch boss and his wife and when they were leaving to take part in the now traditional Dutch fans mass walk to the stadium, we decided to join in. Two white England shirts amidst 10,000 orange shirts. It was great as we were welcomed by many fans. As the Dutch were singing 'England's going home', we were countering with 'football's coming home'. Many fans hugged us and three Dutch ladies serenaded us with a rendition of 'always look on the bright side of life.' It was a wonderful, memorable experience.

We reached the Signal Iduna Park stadium in a downpour but we didn't care as it was semi-final day. Could England do it and reach their first ever overseas final? We were about to find out.

We were heavily outnumbered inside the stadium but we weren't out-shouted. The famous yellow wall of the Westfalenstadion was an orange wall for the night and the atmosphere was electric. Gareth Southgate made just the one change, bringing back Marc Guehi after suspension.

We started well but were stunned when Xavi Simons scored a great goal for Netherlands after only seven minutes. But we fought back and a revitalised Harry Kane smashed in a controversially VAR-awarded penalty after 18 minutes. We were up and running and completely dominated the first half with England's best performance so far.

In the second half, Netherlands raised their game and looked to be on top for about 15 minutes but England's number one, Jordan Pickford, came to the rescue when needed. We got control back and just as extra time was looming, Ollie Watkins came up with a brilliant winner, sending the England fans daft, into ecstasy. We were stunned. We were overjoyed. We had done it. It is hard to describe how we felt as it has not sunk in yet.

It was a happy 40-minute walk back to Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, along the green carpet, specially laid out to guide fans from the stadium back to the station. Then it was about 90 minutes on the regional train back to Dusseldorf and our hotel, arriving back there around 2am. The Dutch fans were very generous and gracious in defeat.

Now everyone is making plans for getting to the final. We're going to Berlin.