An early start this morning to get the bus to the station for our Florence train – 3 hours but in a nice Eurostar train so not too bad.

Upon arriving in Florence we headed for our hotle which is about five minutes from the Duomo (cathedral). It was immediately obvious that there a stark contrast between Venice and Florence – Florence has a soul and real people live here. Even though it is still a major tourist destination, tourism is not its only industry.

When you first see the Duomo you can see why people come here. It is truly breathtaking! With the possible exception of la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so awe-struck by a building as I was here.

Having found our hotel and dropping off our bags we decided to walk around to get our bearings. Past the Duomo we reached the Galleria degli Uffizi – a collection of famous renaissance art (hopefully a visit tomorrow) and the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge in Florence to survive WWII). the bridge is lined with gold and silversmiths on both sides. It was originally butcher’s shops but due to the noise made to the nearby Palazzo Pitti it was ordered for the nature of the shops to change to a more appropriate trade.

Across the bridge we reached the Palazzo and entered half price (there are apparently some benefits of being EU citizens)! The gardens of the palace were lovely, even in the heat, and were well worth the entrace fee even if just for the views of the city.

Eventually the heat got the better of us – I think it must be at least 35 degrees here – and we headed back to the hotel to do some washing (fun)! More Florence tomorrow – there’s lots to do!

Today we walked. A lot. Since we discovered that we didn’t get any discounts on the railways up into the mountains we decided to walk it ourselves. The weather managed to hold out and not rain too much so after another delicious breakfast we headed out.

The walk took us across Interlaken through the village to Wilderswil and then up through the mountain lined valleys. Along the way we saw waterfalls pouring off the side of the mountains from the rain we had had.

The river through the valley was a huge torrent of water with many rapids. Our walk followed this river up the valley until we reached the village of Lauterbrunen.

From this point we decided to take the ‘mountain walk’ ( for experienced hikers only but I didn’t mention that)! After approximately an hour of climbing extreme slopes we decided that we would have to turn round in order to make it back before dark.

After lunch on the side of the mountain with amazing views of the other mountains (although unfortunately with their peaks shrouded by clouds) we descended back the way we came.

At about 6.30 we reached Interlaken and went for a well deserved meal, narrowly avoiding getting caught up in a restaurant with several coachloads of Japanese tourists.

We returned to the hotel with a total of 9 hours of walking behind us and surprisingly only one extra blister (to add to my collection). We were absolutely exhausted and I don’t think my feet have ever hurt so much. A well worthwhile day though -  I wish we could stay a little longer.

Today was not the nicest day so far but nonetheless was quite productive – we managed to book all our train journeys up to Rome.

Most of the day was spent on the train, from Cannes to Nice and then Nice to Milan – about 6 hours in total. Once at Milan we were very lost in the station which is about the size of Paddington, if not bigger. Eventually some Americans helped us out to find the ticket office and the tube.

Once in the tube station a man sent us the wrong way on the tube line so we had to some back! I think the people here could learn a thing or two with regards to user-friendliness from the London underground. Once in ‘Zara’, the area our hotel was in, our instructions stopped and we were stuck in, it has to be said, not a very nice part of town with no Italian skills to speak of.

Eventually we met a couple who spoke English and had lived in London. They brought us right to the door of the hostel. Who knows what we would have done without them!

The hostel is nice with a very large room. Aside from the crazy Chinese woman who appears to be in charge the inside of the room is probably the nicest part we have seen of Milan.

With a little wandering without a map, no money (the crazy Chinese woman insisted we pay in cash) and no cash machine we failed to find the centre and anywhere to eat. Eventually we settled for an America-style steak restaurant – not very Italian but when all you’ve eaten is a piece of dry baguette for breakfast you don’t mind quite so much. Interlaken tomorrow – we can’t wait!

Our last day in France seemed like a long one. Mainly because we moved accommodation. We started off the day by visiting the old town (Nice Vieux) and the flower market. It was only today that I feel we really began to appreciate Nice. The streets and alleyways were gorgeous and were packed full of small and interesting shops. It seems that the prices of food decrease hugely compared to the central tourist area just one street away – a perfect place for a budget lunch and, oops, another ice cream.

The flower market was less about flowers and more about food with a huge variety of breads, meats, fruits and spices available from the stalls.

We spent a little time on the beach and I went for a paddle much to Emma’s amusement (I was trying to heal my blister in the salt water). After returning to the hostel to collect our bags we arrived at the station to travel to Cannes. We corrected another error with our journey to Milan (the third time we have been to the station to sort out where we go from Nice).

In Cannes we checked in to our hotel and really appreciated the luxury of our own room (such snobs we are)!

Our evening was spent meandering through the old part of Cannes feeling jealous of all the people eating in the huge number of pretty restaurants in the alleys of the old town. In the end we had to settle for chips as that’s all we could afford! Still, we ate them on the side of the harbour next to yet more expensive yachts and it was very nice.

We also managed to book up Interlaken and the place we are staying looks stunning – let’s hope it lives up to expectations! Milan tomorrow.

Day 3, it has to be said, was a lot more successful than the day before. Having tried to find accommodation in Geneva for several hours and consulting the fountain of all travel knowledge (Dad) we discovered there was no accommodation available at all in Geneva or the surrounding area. Back to the drawing board!

We decided that the best thing to do was to change our plans and go to Milan first instead. Now we are going to Milan for one night on Saturday (7th) then Interlaken on Sunday until Wednesday and then to Venice on Thursday. Unfortunately it looks like we will have to do the rest of Switzerland another time. Luckily we managed to get a refund on our Geneva tickets but this experience has certainly taught us that we need to be flexible.

After sorting that out we went to Monaco, another playground of the rich and famous. Even the station was extravagent!

Prince Rainier’s ship steals the show in the harbour with its own helipad and four decks complete with a Ferrari parked next to the dock. I wonder what he’ddo if someone parked a bigger yacht than his in the harbour!

We climbed the steps (they seem to like steps here) up to the palace and aquarium, both very interesting although one had more fish than the other.

Back up the other side of the steep cove of Monaco up to the casino. It is now free to enter the casino but not the gambling rooms – not for peasants like us anyway. The entrance hall is unbelievable and looked like the inside of a palace – very James Bond!

The 3 Ferarris, an Aston Martin and a Bently parked outside give an impression of the ridiculous wealth in this place.

A bit more walking around and we returned to Nice for another good night’s sleep.

The beginning of our second day was a bit of a disaster. We caught the bus to the bus station hoping to proceed on our day trip to Eze and Monaco. This journey itself was an experience. The driver appeared to act surprised at every manoeuvre he had to make – jolted braking and swerved corners.]

Almost an hour later we arrived at the bus station – it seems that the improvements the city is making to its public transport is having an adverse effect on the transport for the rest of the city.

Anyway, another hour of waiting at the bus station and they finally announced that the bus wasn’t coming due to the traffic. By now the day was wearing on so we decided to go to Cannes by train instead.

Whilst at the station we tried to book our train journey to Geneva (as you have to for long-distance TGV services in France) only to find that they were all booked until Saturday afternoon – a precious day and a half later than planned. Of course we had no choice but to take this but it left us with the problem of accommodation for Friday night.

Anyway, off to Cannes we went and a much nicer city than Nice it is. You can really see why the rich and famous want to come here with the beautiful beach, chic boutiques and of course the various arts festivals (of which the film festival is one). We spent most of our time in Cannes walking around and soaking up the atmosphere. The weather was lovely even though the wind nearly blew us away.

We decided to see if we could stay in Cannes on Friday as we thought it was so nice. Just by luck the information centre found us a hotel as cheap as a hostel so we are now all set for Friday.

A short journey back to Nice, a but of a wander around, and another ice cream and then we went back to the hostel.

Our journey starts with the French Riviera town of Nice. A short flight from Birmingham and a surprisingly simple bus journey from the airport led us to our hostel, Ville Saint Exupery, in an old monastry up in the hills above the city. Although a bit of a trek the facilities are excellent and according to our room mates are some of the best in Europe. The staff are very friendly and everyone here seems to be either American, Australian or English which may ruin some of the French charm but also makes things easier for us, backpacking beginners as we are.

Once we’d dumped our bags we hopped on the bus back down to the city. The public transport here is good (by English standards) and appears to be in the process of being supplemented by quite an extensive tram system being built across the city.

Our first port of call was… well, the port actually (!) with the usual array of expensive and extravagent sea vessels of all kinds. A quick ice cream later (it had to be done) and we climbed the excessive number of steps up to the old castle ruins and great views of the city in both the port and the old town/beach directions. Descending from the cliff gave us good views of the bright blue sea and rather ugly pebble beach, full of tourists of course! The old town of Nice is a warren of streets centred around the flower market (of course another tourist attraction) which makes way for a large number of restaurants in the evening. We ate pizza here and then wandered around a bit longer before the long journey back to the hostel. A good night’s sleep is what we want now ready for our trip to Monaco and the mountain village of Eze.