A 450 mile round trip is not the best preparation for a European semi-final, but Fulham have already proved capable of rising above obstacles placed in their path this season.
The cloud of ash belching out from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland means the Fulham squad will have to travel to Germany the old fashioned way, in a coach with frequent rest stops to keep the poor lads fresh and alert. But given the prize awaiting them, I'm sure the hours will fly by.
A place in the Europa League last four is unfamiliar territory for the Cottagers, but so is being in Europe in the first place - this is only their second ever campaign on the continent. However, they have progressed in the competition with all the smoothness and assurance of European veterans.
Much of the credit has to go to Roy Hodgson, who has no doubt used the wealth of experience garnered from his time working across Europe to plot Fulham's path to Europa League glory.
Hodgson has won honours in Sweden, Denmark and Italy, as well as guiding Switzerland to their first World Cup in nearly 30 years back in 1994 and to the European Championships in 1996. But after an ignominious departure from Blackburn in 1997, who were bottom of the league at the time and were eventually relegated, it looked like he would never prove his talents to a domestic audience.
However, if he can somehow lead "plucky little Fulham" to Europa League glory in this money-driven era it should be considered his finest ever achievement as a manager.
It isn't as if they have had it easy either. Last year's UEFA Cup winners Shaktkar Donesk were disposed of in the last 32 while Italian giants Juventus were famously dumped out in the last 16. The Europa League betting might make Fulham outsiders, but then no one expected him to go this far.
When Hodgson was given the boot at Ewood Park 13 years ago it came only 12 months after he was tipped to succeed Glenn Hoddle as England manager. Now, with his domestic reputation restored, he could still make a claim for the top job all these years later.
Indeed, if England fail to live up to their billing as many people's World Cup 2010 tips and get dumped out of the tournament early on he could find himself in the hot seat sooner than he'd imagined.
