The eternal city. Or something funny happened on the way to the forum..

Up early and bags packed. We have this down to a fine art as we are so used to travelling light. We can be packed and off in under five minutes easily.
Breakfast and back onto the metro to Naples Garibaldi train station. Tickets bought and all aboard the high speed train to Rome. We shared the journey with two lovely American ladies. They live in Ohio and are travelling around Italy for a couple of weeks. It was lovely to chat and the journey was over in no time. I was asking them about the states as they have travelled widely and they were a great source of free information for our American Odyssey (watch this space).

We arrived at Rome Termini without a hitch. We love Rome and having been here before know the city very well. Our little hotel is at the end of the Via Nationali tucked away behind Trajuns market. Its lovely and very upmarket. Only the best for our Crispy.
We dumped the bags and set out for a quick spot of sightseeing around our favourite haunts. Crispy really wanted to re visit the Trevi fountain as it was undergoing cleaning last time we were here. Today it presented itself in all its glory.

Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain then you will return to Rome some day. You have to have your back to the fountain and throw the coin over your shoulder. We threw two in. Just to be sure.

From the Trevi we walked back past good old Trajans market. Another of our favourites. Its the equivalent of the Trafford centre only two thousand years old and bigger. A team of wild horses could not drag me to the Trafford centre. I hate it but would willingly visit this place every day.
Then to Trajans column. My ultimate favourite. Its incredible and tells the story of the Dacian war. Originally it would have been in a courtyard with four story buildings around it so as you could "read" the story whilst walking up and across the balconies.

A quick walk past the Forum and Flavian's amphitheatre back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner.

Tomorrow we will have to say "Arrive dechi" to Rome and Italy. Once again this trip has been amazing in every way and we have loved it. Italy is a marvellous country and so full of diversity. It has lived up to every one of our expectations and in most cases surpassed them. I know that we will return to explore it in more detail in the not too distant future. If I had to say what the Best part of this trip was then I would say without pause that it was Crispy. She is the best travelling partner in the world and I love her to bits. Travelling without Crispy would not be travelling...... Whoa stop.
It must be Rome and the Italian amore. I'm getting all romantic in my dotage.

Now. Off for dinner. Early start tomorrow back to the wonders of the airport and powered flight.

Bare and Crispy signing off from Roma, Italia

Ah, Amalfi

Crispy must have sneaked out last night to visit the temple and have a word with the Muses because the walk didn't come off. Despite my best efforts.
Everything conspired against me. Don't get me wrong we have had a great day but failed to walk the path of the Gods.
We set off and caught the 10:30 Sita bus service to Amalfi. This was mistake number 1 as we should have set off much earlier. The bus is a standard fifty two seater coach that managed to hold in excess of one hundred people.  The journey along the coast should take one and a half hours. The journey took just under two and a half hours. I was sat on the floor for the entire journey. The coast road to Amalfi runs directly across the cliffs and is mostly single lane with several passing places. The local Italians in there wisdom view these passing places as free car parks. It does not take much therefore to cause a queue. Especially as there are several dozen buses, coach tours and delivery trucks trying to go in both directions at the same time. It was horrendous. Imagine diverting the Blackpool illuminations traffic over Georges lane on a sunny Saturday and you get the picture.
We finally arrived at Amalfi only to find that the local bus to take us up into the mountains to start the walk had been trying to get out of town for three days( a slight exaggeration here). In reality if the local bus was caught in similar traffic and delayed then there would not be enough hours left to finish the walk and get the bus back to Amalfi. Crispy had won the day.
Plus its been warm here since we arrived but it rained in the night and today is much hotter so I think it would have been uncomfortable on the trail in such heat.
Never mind its a great reason to come back.

Amalfi is gorgeous. Just like the hundreds of pictures that you see on TV and advertising brochures. A wonderful little town clinging to the cliffs at the foot of a large gorge.  Its a labyrinth of small streets and whitewashed tunnels. A great place to walk around.

There is a cathedral here dedicated to St Andrew. It is amazing. We weren't going to bother going inside as we are a bit "churched out" but we spotted a painting of St Andrew and were intrigued. Plus Crispy wanted to light some more candles. It has become very pleasant custom of ours to light candles for lost loved ones where ever we travel and whether it does any good or not I don't know but it certainly feels "nice" and the right thing to do.
The Cathedral is the Duomo St Andrea (St Andrew) which I did not realise until seeing his Picture. We were interested why the Patron Saint of Scotland had his Cathedral here in Amalfi. It seems our Andrew has been a few places since the poor guy got crucified in Greece. He travelled more once dead than he did alive but eventually ended up here in Amalfi. Bits of him are in Fife , Scotland, hence the connection as Patron Saint, his skull and some of the bigger bits are here in Amalfi. But he has bits all over the place. The connection with Scotland is tenuous at best and I suggest you consult the interweb if your interested enough to find out more.

We grabbed a spot of lunch and had a good look around. Whilst walking around decided that rather that face the trauma of the bus ride back to Sorrento we would take the ferry. The ferry left Amalfi and sailed to the island of Capri before returning to Sorrento but was still a lot faster than the journey by road. We are glad we did. It was a great ride and we think the best way to appreciate the Amalfi coast in all its glory. The views were spectacular.
I am trying to upload some pics of the scenery of the coastline on the way back to Sorrento but the interweb connection is really slow here tonight. I'll try in the morning and see if its any better.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Rome. Its the last train journey before heading back home to Blighty by air.
Were both getting tired now as its been full on every day but worth it in every possible way. Crispy has already drifted off to the land of nod and I'm just finishing the second bottle of Limoncello as I don't want to have to carry it tomorrow.

Ba

Up Pompeii

Just got back to the room after an amazing day. Twelve hours in the sunshine visiting two of the worlds most remarkable historic sites. Pompeii and Herculaneum. Both in the shadow of the amazing Mount Vesuvius.  Vesuvius is the dominant landmark in this area. She is visible from everywhere and holds court with a quiet dignity. The last time that she vented her fury was in 1944 but it was only a minor eruption. Volcanologist consider Vesuvius to be the most dangerous volcano in the world as the five miles around her are the most densely populated of any volcanic region  with an estimated 3.000.000 living in her shadow. They anticipate an imminent eruption. Let's hope she can wait till after Thursday. Crispy,s not good with dust.

Crispy has certainly had her fill of "rubble" today. Bless her she's exhausted.
We left the hotel just after eight this morning and have just arrived back here at seven pm.
The visit to these two places was the real drive for us, by us, I mean me of course, to come this far south. It has been a long held ambition of mine to walk the streets of these ancient cities. Ever since school history class and reading Pompeii by Robert Harris. If you haven't read it go out and buy it now. It is a great read even if your not into your history.
We arrived at the ticket office expecting huge crowds but were very pleasantly surprised to find a short queue. Twenty minutes in line and and we were in.  We agreed on the audio tour rather than a guide as I am quite familiar with the city through reading widely on the subject. I'm no expert but I think I know my Cassa from my Domus.
We had a great few hours and covered every available inch of the place. It was busy but not to the point of being aggravating. Plus its massive site and more than big enough to absorb the crowds of tourists.   The two places I wanted to see most were unfortunately closed due to conservation works. They were the house of the gladiator, because gladiators are cool, and the house of the prostitutes because prostitutes are .......poor unfortunate ladies and in no way cool.
The fact that these two places were closed did not in any way distract from the visit. We loved it. I can wax
Lyrical for ages on the wonders of ancient Rome but I would bore you senseless.

Some snaps...

After dragging poor old Crispy around several square miles of "rubble" for several hours we made our way into modern Pompeii  for some lunch and a well earned cheeky beer. After lunch Crispy had designs on heading back to Sorrento but I informed her that there were more wonders in store in the shape of Herculaneum, a mere several miles down the coast. Herculaneum was the port of Pompeii and the last hope of the ancients to try and escape Vesuvius and all her fury. Many of the citizens fleeing a certain death in Pompeii made their way here hoping to get a boat to safety. Their  hopes were dashed when a pyroclastic surge engulfed Herculaneum shortly after the initial eruption and covered the town in several meters of ash and pumice. Many of the dead were found huddled together in the boat sheds on the shore line.

After the initial eruption the ash cloud reached 20 miles into the atmosphere before cooling and collapsing in on itself. This sent a surge of superheated gas and rock surging down the seaward side of the mountain in the direction of poor Herculaneum. Scientist estimate that when it hit the city its temperature was in excess of 500 degree Celsius. As such Herculaneum is far better preserved than Pompeii and far more interesting. Unfortunately Crispy did not get to wander the streets of Herculaneum with me as she was by this time suffering from "rubble overload". She put her foot down with a firm hand and refused to go any further. She planted herself in a nearby cafe and refused to move whilst I wandered about the ruins for another couple of hours.

Here's some quick snaps if your interested.

The most moving part of this trip thus far are the skeletal remains of the terrified people. All are huddled together for comfort just as the surge hit.
I'll try and post some better pics taken with the "big camera" if I get chance.

We had hoped to get a bus up into the national park on Versuvius and climb to the crater but time has beat us. Maybe next time.

Tomorrow I plan to take Crispy along the coast to Amalfi for lunch. She deserves a treat. She had walked her little legs off over the past nine days. So a relaxing day is over due.  What she doesn't know is that she will be walking back over the cliffs. Its a well known and glorious hike known as the path of the gods. I bet she loves it...

Bare and Crispy signing off, Pompeii, Italy

Oh I do like to be beside the sea side...

Oh I do like to be beside the sea, etc etc.

Up early as planned and off for the train. We decided against a whistle stop tour of the Duomo as we think we we will be coming back to Florence in the not too distant future. Its a great and wonderous city.
The next time we plan to spend a couple of weeks here. A few nights in the city and most of the remaining time "mooching" around rural Tuscany.
It is extraordinarily beautiful (I know I'm using this word a lot but honestly there is no other way to described it). Remember the scene at the end of Gladiator when Russell Crowe is walking through the rolling wheat fields. Well that's Tuscany.

We have decided to overland through central Europe next time and grab the chance to stop over in Paris, Zurich etc on the way here. Planes are cheap, fast and convenient but they don't have the charm and excitement of rail journies. I used to hate flying. Not because I'm frightened of plumetting from 30000 feet  or vaporising in some huge fireball on take off but simply because its so boring. No leg room. You can't get off for a walk or just nip up the aisle to the buffet car like you can on a train  I must admit its better now we have wised up and only take carry on luggage. No check in. No waiting for luggage. Plus with online check in and the wonders of the interweb you only have to suffer the airport lounge for thirty minutes before take off rather that the ridiculous THREE HOURS the airline recommends. . Give us trains any day. Its far more civilised.

Waiting outside Florence station.

We caught the 09:33 Italiotreno express direct to Napoli Centrali. Which was great as although it stopped in Rome we didn't have to change trains at Termini. Two hours fifty five minutes and an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour took us on an amazing ride through some incredible scenery into Napoli Centrali. We had played with the idea of getting a ferry from Naples to Sorrento across the bay but as we didn't know the layout of the city we took the easy option and headed down the escalator to the metro. We were aprehensive about travelling through Naples as its well known as a den of theives and pickpockets.
Before leaving the hotel in Florence the manager warned us about being out on the city streets or metro after dark. "Remove the jewels madam" he said in a voice right out of a Karloff movie. As if some desperate gangster, armed with a switchblade, was going to pin her to a wall and remove her fingers to get at the diamonds.
After we had purchased our tickets (three euro fifty cents) the ticket guy leaned closer to the glass and said "be careful downstairs, many pickpockets and thieves". Our fears were confirmed.
The metro was bouncing. People everywhere and all of them trying to catch the same train we were trying to board.  We boarded the train and set off to our next destination. We arrived at Sorrento without further ado. It took just over an hour to get here. I was keeping a watch on the stations we passed as we will need to ride this rollercoaster again tomorrow to get to Pompeii, which was after all, the major reason for coming so far south on this trip. One good thing about the metro ride is that it gave us some amazing views of mount Vesuvius. As most people know I am a fan of ancient Rome. Its a hobby of mine and to see the volcano that wrought so much destruction on the 24th of August, AD 79 was amazing beyond words. Hopefully we will get chance and time to get to the crater of this sleeping Goliath tomorrow.
(Sorry no pics today as I didn't want to get the eyepod out and get it nicked).

Just had dinner and we are back in the room drinking a nightcap of Limoncello before retiring for the evening.
Looking forward to walking the ancient streets of glorious Pompeii and Herculaneum tomorrow. To me it will be amazing. To Crispy it will be another several hours of walking through rubble. Bless her.

Bare and Crispy signing of from Sorrento, not too far from Pompeii, Italy

"Its a small world after all" said Pinnochio

Florence, or Firenze, you choose. Whichever it is promise yourself you must see it.
Slept really well last night. I think the beer and vino helped. This little hotel is really friendly. Right in the middle of the old centre. Five minutes from the Duomo and a short stroll to the Ponti Vechia. We managed to get our washing sorted this morning.

At breakfast the manager told us that the hotel is six hundred years old and was originally a monastery.
Crispy being a little psychiatric, er I mean psychic denies the presence of any spirits or mad monks prowelling the corridors in the dead of night so I'm not too worried.
Up early and a quick breakfast before once again setting out to see the sights. We can see the church of the Medicci from the hotel so our first port of call was easy. From there it was a pleasant stroll to all the places of interest. The Duomo is fantastic. Mind blowingly big and incredibly beautiful. Its free entry which is unusual as its the biggest tourist attraction here. The must see sight if your ever lucky enough to get here. The only problem is that everyone and his dog want to go in. This was complicated by the fact that it is Sunday and masses are being held all morning. As such the church, excuse me, Basillica is closed to tourists until 13:30. We decided that we would return later in the day to try again.

  From the Duomo we headed past several other important churches, chapels and cloisters to the Ponti Vechio. The Ponti is quite a sight. The oldest bridge in Florence and historically the centre of the gold and jewellery trade. Shops and houses have been built on the bridge for centuries. It reminds me of descriptions of the old London bridge before it burned down in antiquity.

On the bridge we passed a jewellers selling Patek Phillipe watches. It has always been a dream of mine to have one of these but they are crazy money and I don't think I ever will. There were no prices on them but you could make an appointment to go and view them in the security controlled private lounge. Being on a budget and only having 20 euros on us at the time we didn't bother. Crispy spotted a diamond ring in the same shop window. I am no expert but I guess that it must have been 6 carot or more. She had a right paddy because she couldn't have it and didn't calm down until I bought her an ice cream. Gluten free of course.

I thought I would have to slap her legs at one point but as soon as she had her strawberry gelato in hand she settled down.

From the bridge we walked around the town on the opposite side of the river. Its a great place medieval piazza, small cobbled streets and on every corner trattatori and gelato shops. We had lunch in one small piazza where they were holding a car boot sale. Crispy spotted a few things she liked but as we are travelling light we had no room to carry them. One item she really wanted was an old Florentine walnut chair. It was as big as a throne and I told her she could have it if she really really wanted it but that she would have to carry it around the rest of Italy. This calmed her down and avoided the potential of another slapped legs scenario. This is why I prefer travelling in Asia. There are no shops in Jungles.

On the way back to the hotel Crispy bumped into an old friend and spent ages catching up. The conversation seemed a little one way to me but Its a small world after all.

After several hours we once more returned to try and get into the Duomo. The waiting line was at the 2 hour point with 30 mins to go before it closed for the day. You do the math. A young American tour guide approached us and said she could get us in the Duomo immediately for thirty euro if we bought the 45 minute guided tour. It was 15:30. The church closes at 16:00 and the tour was 45 minutes minimum. Again you do the math.

We plan to set off for the train station earlier tomorrow and see if we can get a whirlwind view of the inside of the place before setting of for Naples.
It is the longest journey tomorrow. Florence to Rome Termini and another train to Naples. Once in Naples we need to get the commuter train to Sorrento.
We are looking forward to being at the seaside. I hope Crispy has packed her Bikini.

On the roof garden now before showering and setting off out on the town for cocktails and dinner. How very civilised.

Bare and Crispy signing off from Florence, Italy

Venezia to Firenze

This is definitely a whistle stop tour. Which was the plan. A quick jaunt through the length of italy to get a taste of the place and decide where we are going to come back to. So far all of it is incredibly beautiful. Lake Como is spectacular, Venice beautiful and interesting. Florence no doubt will not disapoint us either.

We set off from the hotel around nine am. To make our way across the city to the train station. For reasons stated before it is easier to walk than face the chaos of the water bus. Another reason we did not use the bus is that the tickets operate on a time rather than journey basis. That's to say the minimum ticket lasts 75 mins travel time. You "clock on" to the boat at the terminus and "clock off" when you leave the boat. The cost of the ticket is seven euros and fifty cents.
The journey up the grand canal would take, if you caught the right bus, at the most twenty minutes. That would mean fifteen euros for a short hop along the canal. Being tight as cramp this was an over riding factor in my decision to walk. Plus its a real treat to wander the back streets and little alleyways.
It took just half an hour to reach the station at Santa Lucia. Tickets sorted and onboard the 11:25 express to Florence. We arrived at 13:30 and made our way into the city. It takes a few minutes to orientate yourself when you arrive somewhere new but in less than half an hour we had found our hotel and checked in.  A great little traditional hotel in the heart of the old town next to the central market. Unpacked, organised and out onto the streets. Tomorrow is a busy day so we only had a saunter around the nearby  Fortezzo da Basso before returning to the piazza near the hotel for a few beers and dinner. The food was amazing. Goats cheese, nettle and porchini ravioli. It was spectacular.
Crispy is making the most of it and had another "special" pizza. The prices seem more reasonable too.

Off to bed and another fun filled day tomorrow.

Bare and Crispy, Firenzi, Italy.
Pics tomorrow as didn't, take the eyepod out with us.

Milan to Venice

Up early and down for breakfast. Today was the first real distance that we had to travel overland. The plan was to get back to Milan Centrali before finding a train to take us east to Venice and the next part of our journey. A stroll through Como saw us at the train station. There are two train stations in Como, St Giovanni and Lago Nord. Likewise Milan has two train stations. Centrali, where we set off from, and Garibaldi. The trains from Giovanni go to Centrali and the trains from Lago Nord go to Garibaldi. You would assume it would be a simple process to get the right one. At St Giovanni we bought tickets for Centrali and promptly arrived one hour later at Garibaldi. How this happened I don't know. But it did.

Platform 20, Garibaldi train station, oops

A quick dash and one more train saw us at Centrali and searching once more for the ticket office. Centrali is huge. Not just big, huge. It serves most of the trains to destinations not only in Italy but all over Europe. In this massive station there are two ticket offices each with two desks. Each desk is operated by the worlds slowest ticket sales guy. It takes me, at the most, five minutes to buy a ticket. The rest of the world take the best part of an hour. God knows why but they take an eternity. After 10 mins in the queue Crispy,s patience broke and she shot to the front of the line. Much to the annoyance of the other people waiting.  Five minutes later ticket in hand we were off to the platform and on the express Trentalia service to Venice.
I think the people in front of us at the ticket office in Milan will still be there. Bless ,em.

Just short of three hours later the train arrived at Venice Santa Lucia station. A great ride. To the. North the alps and to the south the Italian plains. Out of the station and onto the northern loop of the grand canal.

Now we are usually pretty good at timetables and bus routes etc. But the venice water bus service would tax the mental ability of a nuclear physicist. It makes no sense, rhyme or reason. Plus its manic beyond imagination. Hundreds of tourists with not the faintest idea of where they are going jumping on and off boats in the vain hope that they will end up somewhere at sometime with something interesting to see. The few locals that use the service are that pissed off with tourists, dozens at a time, haranguing them with questions that they always answer "yes" to every question . "Is this boat going north?" "Yes". "Is this boat going south?". "Yes". "Will this boat take me to Academia?". "Yes", even though its going the wrong way. I can't say I blame them. If I was a local I think I would rather swim than face that every day. The boat crew try there best to help but they get hounded even more in twenty five languages simultaneously. One poor young boatman shouted at least thirty times that the boat will not go to San Marco and at least thirty times some muppets shouted back " "does this boat go to San Marco". You could see the life drain from his eyes as he wondered why god had made this his  lot. It was a nightmare and we have decided to use the trusted method of walking to get around in the short time we are here.
Made it to the hotel only to find it closed down and derelict. Good old Crispy spotted a photocopied sign stating to "ask at the Belle Air hotel across the road". Hearts sank thinking that our hotel had closed and we were going to be homeless in Venice. There would be no chance of finding a room vacancy at this time of year so I started searching for cardboard boxes and the like to sleep down a secluded back alley. The Belle Vue is very posh, secluded garden beautiful reception and all the trimmings. I thought there's no way we will be staying there. Crispy, unperturbed, marched into the Belle Air ready to kick off grand style but was completely deflated when the young lady behind the desk greeted us with "welcome to Venice, I'll show you to your room" we were led upstairs to a small but quaint room, en-suite And get this. Fabric covered walls. Crispy was ecstatic. We had gone from cardboard box to Doges palace in the blink of an eye.
It seems that the hotel I had booked into is part of the same group but is currently undergoing refurbishment. I can't say I'm disappointed.

Quick freshen up and out into Venice for dinner.

Bare and Crispy signing off Venice, Italy

PS. Ray. I apologise for any literary or grammatical errors as I'm writing this in a rush as time is short..

Lake Como.

What a great day. If you read the tourist guides on the Italian Lakes they all say no visit is complete without
A ferry ride across the lake itself. As such it would be crazy to ignore this advice, especially as we are on a tight schedule and need to maximise our time here.  Up early and out onto the lakeside. As I mentioned before our hotel was directly opposite the ferry jetty so a quick hop, skip and jump had us standing outside the ticket office. 20 euros each and we were ticket in hand waiting for the 10 o'clock ferry to Bellagio. A two hour sail approximately half way up the lake northwards towards the Alps. The ferry's provide an essential transport link for the numerous villages scattered along the lakes shore as well as a "must do" item on the tourist itinery.

They run regularly up and down the lake on a near clockwork type basis. Basic no frills but very efficient.
The boat was busy but not packed and there were plenty seats on the open air rear deck of the boat.  I can't help but compare this trip to the lake district steamers back home in Cumbria. The last time I used the Cumbrian boats it cost us eighteen quid each for a twenty minute sail, one way, from ambleside to Bowness. Here it was eighteen quid for a four hour return journey. Get a grip and realise your ripping people off my little Cumbrian friends. Rant over.

I can't describe the journey so I'll let the photos do it for me....

We had a lovely few hours in Bellagio before an equally stunning ride back to Como. Crispy was exhausted with all the excitement and managed to sleep for the majority of the return journey. Bless her.

Back to Como, on time, and back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before once again heading into the town for a bite to eat and a well earned glass of vino.
Busy day tomorrow as we need to get back to Milan to try and get a train to Venice. Como has been wonderful and I'm sure we will return again. The wines kicked in and Crispy is once again in the land of nod so I had better join her.

Bare and Crispy signing off. Como,Italy

Bonjourno Como.

Well we're here. No problems with the trains and an event free journey to the airport. Plane on time and one hour fifty five minutes later we were in Bergamo. Italy. The start of our Italian Odyssey.
Straight through customs and out into brilliant sunshine and mediterainian temperatures. We weren't sure how we were going to get to Milan for our connecting train to Como but it turned out to be a breeze. Right outside the airport arrivals area were several buses all bound for Milano Centrali train station, the very place we needed to be. Five euros each saw us travelling along the motorway bound for downtown Milan. The journey took 55 minutes and the traffic was horrendous. Maybe it was because it was home time for the several million people that work in Milan or maybe because this is Italy and its always manic. Who knows?. I had researched via Google and the tinternet the train times to Como and knew that the last train left Milan at 19:10. After that there was no easy way to get to our first location.
We arrived at the huge neo renaissance train station in the very heart of Milan at 1800 in Plenty time to sus out the intricacies of the Italian rail network in order to reach our destination.
Being lucky enough to be born a son of a great explorative nation we assume that every nation and peoples of the world should have the courtesy and general common decency to use English as a second language. India, Malaysia, Singapore all have the good sense to duplicate every useful sign into English. Not so Italy. Having never had the dubious  benefit of being a colony they have never seen the need to replicate signs in anything other than Italian. This as you can imagine is most disconcerting for someone who has been blessed with being born a son of the empire and as such has never seen the need to learn a second language. What is Italian for "ticket office"? It took several failed attempts to purchase our tickets before finding the right desk. Then several minutes of wandering through the chaos of a foreign railway station at rush hour to find the right platform and train. The system is, it seems, is that you purchase a ticket, once you find the right desk, and suitable attendant that can speak English, watch the information boards like a hawk and then run for the right platform as fast as you can before the train lock's its doors and sets off into the void.
We were lucky enough to bump into a lovely young Italian lady called Carla who had worked in Blackpool for several years and was going home to holiday with her family in Como. She guided us through the process of ticket validation and escorted us to our final destination.  Its only when you travel that you realize what a small planet it is we live on. Carla comes from Como but works in Blackpool as the pay is better. We spent most of the journey talking about Blackpool. The illuminations and Scots week. God bless her she was a veritable gold mine of information and cleared up a lot of grey areas. The rest of our many train journeys should now be simple.
Thirty minutes later we arrived at Como station. Carla had mentioned during the short journey that Como was having a bit of a problem with African refugees at the present time. This I feel was an understatement.
Como is only a stonesthrow from the Swiss border and as such was a popular route for people trying to continue their journey into Western Europe from Africa and the middle east. Since the borders closed it has become a bit of a bottleneck and camps of refugees have sprung up around the train station as people, mostly African, wait for their chance to continue northwards. We must admit that it was a bit of a shock. The station lobby was like an overcrowded youth hostel and the park outside the station resembled a compact version of the Calaise Jungle.
Once away from the station there was no signs of a crisis.
 Como is gorgeous. An ancient city sat by the side of a spectacular lake surrounded by majestic mountains. A picture paradise.  The hotel I had booked was no disappointment either. Overlooking the lake directly in front of the ferry boat moorings. Bags dropped, and out into the town for dinner. Como, as it stands today, was originally designed by the romans and as such follows a simple grid plan. A simple grid of streets joined by cute little squares. We headed to the first one and had a great meal. Crispy has recently been diagnosed as Coeliac and as most Italian cuisine revolves around bread and pasta we anticipated a little difficulty in finding gluten free foods. As it happened the chef and staff were very helpful and she was soon repleat and happy. A few litres of vino blanco and bed time. Busy day tomorrow as we are only here for one full day so we must make the most of it.

Italy

An Italian adventure..

Bonjourno. Its been a while since we last put on the backpack and headed out into the great unknown. Not so much of an adventure and more of a cultural experience is planned for this little joint. Although I do have a few little surprises in store for Crispy to try and keep her moving.

Its been a busy time in the Crispy household since last we returned from foreign climbs. Several little expeditions in Abbey, our comfortable plastic palace have taken us through The Lakes, Wales and Yorkshire with a few great walks and trips to the high places of this marvellous country of ours. Plus we have started cycling on our nrew hybrid bicycles, which I must say Crispy loves doing.

We are waiting for the train to take us to the airport and then onto Bergamo, northern Italy, before trying to get to Milan before the last train leaves for Como, our first stop, at 19:10. Its going to be tight if there are any delays (and that's always a possibility with Ryan Air) but I'm sure that if I can get Crispy to get a trot on we will make it OK.

From Como the plan is to travel the length of Italy taking in Venice, Florence, Pisa, Naples and Sorrento before heading back to Rome for a night and flying home. A busy itinery but one that will be filled with glorious sights and lots of fun. Not to mention a few glasses of Vino here and there. I'll try to update this blog every day and unlike Asia there should not be too much of an issue with power and Wi-Fi.