Well yesterday I mentioned how I liked the phrase 'rocky outcrops', after this morning I have to say they have gone right down in my estimation. More on that in a bit. First of all a little update from last night... I set out after my blog moment yesterday with ukulele and decided to return to my old Castello haunt. Well it had people in it so I found a bench nearby. I was just cracking open my bottle of beer when I realised there were some tiny mosquitos getting crazy around my lower legs. By the time I'd realised they were on the attack I must have been bitten about 20 times. My calves are a disaster zone now. This morning I took a look and the bites were not only red but had gone ... read more

I've just made it to Riomaggiore - and it's living up to all my expectations and more. It's quite a relief to have a fixed abode for a few days. Although the travel has all gone to plan, it's nice to have some time away from smelly stations and trains. The trip from Marseille was great intermingled with a bit of being too hot. One of the 'scenic routes' depicted on my rail map of Europe it certainly lived up to that - although there were a few too many tunnles for my liking. All along the Cote d'Azure (which, from what I saw was quite pebbly actually) through Nice where I changed trains onto a slower trundling train but which was nice and cool. The Italian train had those nice compartments and I had a ... read more

I'm writing from Hotel Vertigo in Marseille - you'll be relieved to hear that so far all has gone to plan. Here's a summary in brief of the things you really need to know about (I know you've all got things to be getting on with...) The Eurostar - nothing much to report here, other than it's getting more stressy than it used to be. The check in queue took much longer and people on the train were all a bit frantic: "but this is seat 16 and my ticket says 42!" someone exclaimed unsure of how to proceed. People stuffing their gigantic wheely cases in places they don't fit and for a few minutes it all felt very anguished. I was pretty calm with my scaled down backpack and ultra-portable Makala ukulele neatly stowed in ... read more

Greetings from Munich/Grotungs von Munchen! (that's my Eurovision-style opening gambit - and just to make sure I'm waring a garish pink dress, my hair is scraped up into a ridiculous shrubbery-type cascade of overly-moussed ringlets, I have copious amount of cakey make up on my face that gives me a certain orange tinge... mmmm Eurovision!) Anyway, enough of this - I'm on my way home and I feel its time to reflect on all the various aspects of this month's excursive activities... Ha! I was really sad to leave Hungary yesterday. I love it there. I can't say precisely why, so I won't. Since my last poetic outburst I've been a busy thing. I went off on my own to Sopron (pronounced Shop Ron - near the Austrian border). I have to say it was slightly ... read more

Jo napot kivanok Budapestrol! (Hello from Budapest!) Following the craziest train ride so far and an equally mad Sziget Festival experience, I am here in Piliscsaba with my friends in their lovely house and I am about to sleep. For a long time... I did pretty well in Venice - I must have walked about 20 miles through the alleys and I really covered a lot in my 2 days. On the last day I went to Murano to check out the glass and buy some gifts for my Hungarian house mates. Then I stuffed myself with pizza in preparation for the night train journey to Budapest. The journey started out peacefully enough and I had the compartment to myself to begin with. Though there was a frightening moment when a massive American lady and her ... read more