I was meant to be leaving tomorrow, however, I decided that as the chamions league final was involving barcelona and only required me staying another 2 nights I would stay and watch the game. Anyway, today I went for a wonder down La Rambla again (it provides a useful reference point). I saw the port and went for a walk around the new shopping center. The only way to get to it was to walk across la rambla de mare which is a bridge/walkway thing that is completely built on the water. Some very nice spots to sit down by the sea and watch the port. I then went for a wonder around the east side of the old city, again ncie old streets to get lost in. What a wonderful city. I´m in love with ... read more

I went out for a walk today. I walked down the main street in Barcelona, La Rambla, which was very tourisity and was populated by postcard kiosks and moving statues. Also by people trying to sell you crap that you would never in a million years want or need. I had alreadyh decided that after walking the length of La Rambla to get my bearings I would go for a wonder in the western half of the Barcelona old town (Bari Gothic). Wonderfully narrow small streets that are perfect for walking around getting lost in. I also saw the cathedral today. Very interesting and gothic. Though I thought that it was the famous gaudi church... which it turned out it wasn´t. Oh well still very impressive. I also saw all the students protesting in the Plaça ... read more

Ahhhh Barcelona. One of the great cities of the world. But before we get to what I did in this wonderful city we´ve got a fun journey to get here first. I got up at 5 this morning (never fun) got to the bus station (luckily just across the road from the hostel) for about half 5. My coach was due to leave Marseille at 6 and get into Barcelona at 1. The coach didn´t arrive until half 6, left at 7. It then reached Barcelona at half 3. So after arriving two and a half horus late I decided that I would leave my bag at the station and go for a walk around the city because my host wasn´t due home until about 7. I decided that I would get my puch of electronics ... read more

Finally. I'm actually blogging about what I did today, instead of what I did a week and a half ago. I wanted to get a feel for the city today, so I decided to walk to the port via the old town and the cathedral and then see the 3 castles that guard the port. Also I wanted to have a look at the jardin du pharo (the Pharoe's Garden). Before heading back to the hostel via the new town. The old town was run down and not very interesting. The port was OK the closer you got to the centre-ville. Away from there it was all under construction, or so it seemed. One of the castles had scaffholding all around it, another was just a squat concrete block on a hill, and I couldn't see ... read more

There is almost nothing to actually blog about today. I got on a train at 9 in Florence. After a couple of changes I got to Nice. In Nice I had an hour and a bit to burn. I witnessed my first bit of crime so far on my trip. A bag snatch at the station. I got into Marseille at 8pm. It took me half an hour to find my hostel even though it is right opposite the station. No matter. I went for a wonder around the shopping arcade of the station (how fun) but didn't go into the town proper. This was mainly because I'd heard that you should be very careful after dark in the city and also because I was very tired. France is country number 10. The principality of Monaco ... read more

Today over breakfast I got chatting to the two English ladies I was talking to last night. We decided to got out together to Michealangelo's plaza. This is where all the postcard views of Florence are taken from. The views over the city were absolutely stunning. After the plaza we went for a walk further up the hill and saw a wedding party arrive. All very spectacular and beautiful. After sitting down and recuperating our breath we went back down to a bar/cafe place we'd noticed by the plaza. We sat down and had three pasta dishes between us. We then all had a cocktail. I went for a maritini which was very nice and refreshing. I didn't pay for any of this as one of them had already offered to pay. Me and the other ... read more

I arrived in Florence and found my hostel OK before heading out to the town. I went for a bit of a walk before heading towards the Duomo. However, just as I arrived my camera ran out of power. So I sat down on the steps of the Duomo in the sun reading. After about an hour there was some very loud thunder cracks. About 15 minutes after that the heavens opened and torrential rain poured down. The raindrops were actually bouncing back up off the pavement. I ran back to the hostel and got completely soaked in the process. It was about 4pm by this point, and I just spent the rest of the evening in the hostel. I got chatting to 2 English women, 2 American art sutdents and a Canadian backpacker. All very ... read more

I did a day trip to Assisi today. It is only 20 minutes away by train. When I arrived in Assisi I got a bus from the train station to the town proper. I walked down to the centre and immediately fell in love with the town. It has small cobbled streets with beautiful buildings flanking all the roads. It is the kind of town that you could easily get lost in but not be at all bothered about it. I went for a wqonder and had a look at the duomo as well as St Francis' basilica and other churches. I then headed up to rocca maggiore. This is a castle perched high above the town. I had a good look around there and climbed the towers to get amazing views of the town and ... read more

OK I arrived in Perugia early this afternoon at half 12ish. I left my bag at the station as I knew that the hostel would be shut. I went for a nice walk around the town after getting the minimetro service up the hill then walking from teh minimetro station to the town without realising that there were escalators to get you to the top. Ah well. Perugia is a very nice small town. Even though it is the capital of Umbria it is still has a very provincial feel about it. I spent a couple of hours wondering around and fell in love with the town. I then stopped at a pattiserie for a croissant filled with proscuto ham and a soft cheese and a flaky croissant for a few euros. I then went for ... read more

Today I decided to visit 3 of Rome's most famous and historic monuments. The forum, the palatine hill and the colosseum. It cost 7.50 instead of 12 to get a ticket for all 3 because I am an EU citizen aged between 18-25. The Forum and palatine hill were very impressive. Large areas of ruins that constituted the centre of ancient Rome. It took me a good 4 hours to see everything in those 2 areas. I then moved over to colosseum, which i found a lot less impressive. Yes I know that it is very large and imposing, however, I felt that as it is only one building that it was nowhere near as impressive as the other two areas which were hole areas of the ancient city. Anyway after this I headed back to ... read more