Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 1623

May 1993 U.K. & Europe After leaving glorious Switzerland we headed for Italy & Rome. Italy certainly was different to Switzerland. Italy felt far more historical for me. I was disappointed we couldn't go to Pisa but fortunately we saw so much else. There were moments of nostalgia, with memories of looking at my parents and god-parents photographs and slides when I was still a child, dreaming of the day that I would see the same places and here I was looking at so many of the same landmarks! Fountain of Trevi - the largest Baroque fountain in Rome is so beautiful, but I don't know if I should believe in it's traditional legend. Apparently if visitors throw a coin into the fountain you will return to Rome - we threw a coin in and haven't ... read more

After a reasonable night's sleep and an ice cold shower - you had to put money in to get hot water - I got the bus-boat back to Venice to check out everything that I had missed last time. Venice is another place where my natural sense of direction would come in handy if I had one. I got hopelessly lost on the way to the station, but who cares, I had plenty of time and it was great to wander round. I used the last of my lira to buy an ice cream. If I had to pick the Italians two biggest strengths, it would be their dress-sense (obviously) and their ability to make ice cream. It’s another example of where foreign imitations can never come close to the genuine thing, it being their invention ... read more

On the train south to Brindisi, I met four people from Finland - two blokes and two girls - who were heading for Corfu and let me tag along with them. When we arrived, it was some time before the ferry left, so we all got the bus to the beach to catch some rays. This also gave me a good chance to dry those clothes that I had washed in Florence. The Finish girls weren’t shy and they had their tops off before we had even sat down. We got on the ferry about three hours before it was due to leave, which was handy as it soon got very crowded. It cost extra to be allowed to sleep in the boat, so we all ended up on the top deck. It was actually very ... read more

The train to Pisa was only an hour or so from Florence so I was able to go there for an afternoon and then go back and take advantage of the free campsite again. Once there I needed to get a bus to where the leaning tower was. No problems working out which bus to get, just follow the crowds. Pisa only has its one tourist attraction, but there were enough people there to fill an entire city. Getting a glance at the tower was next to impossible, let alone a photograph that didn’t have the back of someone’s head in. I persisted. There were also a couple of large church buildings on the same site, which were worth looking round, and were in the same style as the tower. Someone who had been inter-railing a ... read more

Italian trains may always run late, but this is easily forgiven when you discover that all the seats in a compartment fold down to form one big bed. There were five of us in the carriage, which was a bit cramped, but a good nights sleep was had by all nonetheless. We woke in the morning to discover that the girl nearest the door's money belt had been opened and searched. Some money and a credit card were missing, but luckily her passport, travellers cheques and Inter-rail ticket were still there. We had been warned that Italian trains are rampant with crime, but we were still a bit shocked. There were some seedy looking characters milling around in the corridor and we felt like beating them up and checking their pockets, but we were lacking a ... read more