KS2 Geography: A location in Europe - Inzell, Germany

Josephine: My name is Josephine. I'm 11 years old and I'm a speed skater in Inzell.

Josephine - TRANSLATED: Inzell is world-famous for speedskating. Inzell is at the foot of the Alpsin a region called Chiemgau. And it's in Bavaria.

We have lots of beautiful mountains. These are the Alps and the Alps are in Germany. Over there, where you can see the snow caps, that's all Austria. The river is made from melting ice water that runs down from the mountains. It's a little bit cloudy, but otherwise you could see Munich. And Munich is where my mum works.

Sometimes, I like to go walking in the forest. The forest is very important in our area. It protects us from rock and snow avalanches. It gives us wood as we still build many houses from wood. We also use the wood for our heating.

There are lots of farms in Bavaria. Some of the farms are very old. The animals, mostly the cows, are now brought into barns because it's getting colder and the snow will come soon. They'll stay there until April. Some cows are still in the meadows but they'll soon be brought in.

In the autumn, like now, we still get sunny days. So, sometimes, I like to go wave boarding with my friend, Susanna. I especially like wave boarding with her, because we can do lots of good tricks together. Soon, we won't be able to anymore, because in winter we always get a lot of snowfalls. Sometimes more than a metre.

Here, in Inzell, you can do lots of sports in the winter, like skiing, cross-country skiing and sledging. But, for me, the best is speed skating. Speed skating actually started at a lake here called Frillensee. In the 1950s and '60s, people trained here in winter, and there were very important competitions here. It's the coldest lake in Germany. And one of the coldest in Europe. In the winter, it's completely frozen.

Now, all the competitions are held at our new indoor arena. The ice stadium in Inzell is really new. It was officially opened for the world Championships in 2011. It's the most modern speed skating arena in Europe, and in Germany there are only three. Teams come from all over the world to train here. Inzell, can offer teams the best training facilities all year round.

I trained three times a week with my two friends, Anita and Susanna. We get on really well and we joke around and chat. Anita and Susanna are both really nice. When we train, we often skate in a threesome, one behind the other.

We are all the same speed and level, so we can keep together, which is always much more fun. It's great racing around the track together, feeling the air rushing passed us. At competitions, we wear a skin-tight suit. Then we feel so light on the ice. Almost like you're flying. And, yes, that's just such a great feeling. I hope you can come and watch us one day!