We could sleep in this morning as our train to Genova doesn't leave until 11:44am. We had a leisurely (if not boring) breakfast and headed out into the rain to look for somewhere to buy lunch for the train ride. However, we didn't get far until we decided to get our bags down to the station and go looking from there. It's only 500m walk from our hotel to the station but not much fun in steady rain, holding an umbrella, trying (unsuccessfully) to keep our bags dry. Then Karina went and found some lunch and we waited for our train to arrive. Fantastic - a nice new, clean 6-seater cabin to ourselves. We stowed our bags and stretched out for what was a pretty comfortable 3 hour trip to Genova. In the end we had ... read more

Looking at the weather forecast again, we decided to chance the weather in Florence since it was more or less definitely going to rain in Pisa. The usual breakfast, and we headed off on the short walk to the station in heavy rain. The trip to Florence by regional train is just over an hour, though we were delayed a little by a medical emergency on the train. In Florence the rain was steady but not heavy. We headed straight for Galleria Accademia, to see Michaelangelo's David, as we'd heard the line was quite long. Well, I can confirm it is! We stood in line for just under 3 hours in all! Whilst in line we struck up a conversation with an American (a lieutenant in the fire dept in Kentucky) who was there with his ... read more

Another early start before we head out to the Collosseum. At least this time, we sort of know how to get there, so we're not wandering around trying to work out where to go. Today, for the 1st time since London 3 weeks ago, it's looking like rain. And when we get to the Collosseum, it starts to pour! I always thought the Collosseum was larger than it is standing outside it! Lining up to get in (the qeueues aren't so bad) we're offered a guided tour, which will only cost us 10 Euro each since we have the Roma Pass, so we take it, skipping the short lines. We join the commentary which has already started, spending another 10 minutes or so outside the inner arena before heading in. The rain has backed off a ... read more

A late breakfast and unhurried checkout and a short walk to the station before a long(ish) wait for the train to Rome. I go for a walk while Karina waits at the station, and for the 1st time since Paris I can actually walk normally! I don't want to overdo it, but hopefully with the 6hr train ride and overnight rest in Rome I'll be 100% tomorrow - yah! I buy some sandwiches and drinks for lunch and we drag our bags up to the platform to wait 15 mins for our train, which has suddenly changed platforms. Fortunately, it's on the adjoining platform, although when it pulls in we're not standing anywhere near the right carriage, despite the diagram on the board. We jump on, afraid we'll miss it as I saw someone do only ... read more

When I woke this morning my fears appeared to be well-founded - my foot was definitely worse than the previous days as I couldn't walk on it at all at first. To compound matters, the meal last night had sat very heavily and I'd had trouble getting to sleep last night and didn't really feel like eating breakfast. The breakfast at the hotel was standard European fare - except this time they had pastries filled with custard and nutella, although I could only stomach a small bowl of cereal. Soon we were back in the city and decided to buy a 36hr tourist travel ticket which gave unlimited travel on all buses and boats in Venice. The strategy today was to use public transport as much as possible and avoid walking. Working out the ferry routes ... read more