Today was very stressful and difficult but had a happy ending. We left our hotel after breakfast (we were glad to be leaving the area it was in) and dropped our bags at the station.

We had until about 3.00pm to explore some more of Rome. We decided to visit the last few highlights in the guidebook and walked to the Trevi fountain. The fountain is an elaborate front to one of the city’s many palazzos and was well worth the visit. We had to resist the urge to jump in though as it was very hot again.

We then proceeded up Rome’s main shopping streets past the Spanish Steps, another couple of palazzos and up to the large park to the north of the centre with great views of the city.

For lunch we went to a trendy pizzeria which was worthy of our last meal in Rome. I ordered a Hawaiian pizza expecting ham and pineapple but it seems the Italian idea of Hawaiian is a little different to Pizza Hut’s consisting of rocket, sweetcorn and prawns – it was still very nice though.

A leisurely walk balk to the train station followed where a nightmare was about to unfold. We got on our Eurostar train which looked like the first Eurostar train ever and appeared to have no air conditioning or opening windows so was hotter than outside. All was fine until shortly after we left the station when an announcement was made. Apparentlz very few people on the train spoke or understood English and it took a while for us to work out that there was a fire on the track between Rome and Ancona so we would have to catch a bus part of the way.

After this there was much confusion about exactly which station the bus was to go from but our fears were reduced when the train stopped unexpectedly at an unscheduled station. Another announcement followed.

This time in our desperation Emma managed to find someone who spoke English who told us that there was another fire on the track for which we were waiting to clear. An hour later and the train still hadn’t moved.

Suddenly everybody left the train and it was only due to our acquaintance who came back to explain the situation that we left at all. He said that the train was returning to Rome and that there was a bus waiting to take us to another station where a further train would take us to Ancona.

By this point all our hopes of catching an earlier ferry had been dashed – there was no way we could make it.

The bus took us past the fire – we could see why the track was closed – and then to another station. We waited here for a good while before they decided which train we should board. In this time we managed to find some more English speakers – a South African and an English couple, one of whom was an Anglo-Italian translator.

Eventually we boarded the train and after another hour we were back on our way. At about 9.30 (after 6 hours traveling) we arrived in Ancona. Thankfully, Gabrielle, our original helper led us to the hotel in which he was staying where he knew the owners. He was obviously a clever guy, about 22, studying economics at Rome and speaker of 4 languages!

Unbelievably luckily for us he managed to get us a discounted rate (70 Euros from 95) for a room with breakfast in the 3-star hotel. Bearing in mind that we were expecting to have to spend the night in the ferry port and we wouldn’t have even found that in the dark on our own, we were extremely lucky. At least we have somewhere comfortable to sleep and have a nice hot shower!

We have done a lot today mostly around the Vatican area. After breakfast we headed for the Vatican museums and joined the very long queue. Thankfully it moved relatively quickly and we were in within one and a half hours. The museums house huge amounts of art ranging from Ancient Egyptian tombs and statues right up to modern religious art. Also they contain many treasures that the Catholic church has acquired over its long history.

The highlights of the museums were the Egyptian collections, Raphael’s rooms, some of the the modern art section (particularly a couple of Dali paintings) and, of course, the Sistine Chapel which has to be seen to be believed.

After 3 hours in the museums we went to St Peter’s square and Bascilica. They are both huge and very highly decorated. It was surprising that neither were particularly crowded but maybe it’s because the Pope is on his holidays.

After this we returned to our hotel to to change for dinner. We are in a very nice restaurant near the Pantheon and headed back for a much needed rest.

A leisurely breakfast and a short walk to the train station started our day today. It is still very hot but wasn’t so bad in the morning sun. Pisa is about an hour’s train journey and free with our rail passes.

What the guidebooks, and a man we spoke to in Florence, said about Pisa was true – there really is nothing of note there except the tower. Although tourist information gave us a map detailing about 30 ‘places of interest’ in the old city it soon became apparent that they were pretty desperate for things to show off.

Nonetheless we headed for the cathedral and its famous bell tower. The cathedral consists of 3 buildings, the cathedral itself, the baptistry and the bell tower. All three of these lean to a certain extent though none is more pronounced than the tower. Apparently the tower started to lean just 2 years after construction began with only 3 of its 7 floors complete. It could be called a major cock-up but it was an ingenious way of attracting tourists to a frankly otherwise unremarkable cathedral easily surpassed by that of Florence (or even Gloucester) for example.

Despite my skepticism I still enjoyed it and we had a nice bowl of pasta, next to it, for lunch. After that we viewed some more of Pisa’s ’sights’ and headed back to the train station.

Another ice cream awaited us at Florence and a bit more of a wander around. Dinner consisted of salami sandwiches and then a, most importantly, cool and relaxing evening.

Today we explored Florence some more although the extreme heat (36 degrees according to a pharmacy sign) did its best to slow us down.

We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed for the Galleria degli Uffizi (full of famous Rennaisance art) only to find that a 4 hour queue awaited us. We thought better of it ad will try again on Tuesday.

Instead we headed across the river up to the Piazzale Michelangelo which appeared to be not much more than a coach park but nonetheless had very good views of the city.

Upon descending the hill we went for lunch (a calzone, or folded pizza, with ham and cheese – yummy). After this we decided it was time to sort out the ferry to Croatia, our next major hurdle. We managed to sort this out without problems on an overnight ferry (twelve and a half hours) to save on accommodation. We also booked accommodation in Split.

After such hard work we decided we deserved an(other) ice cream so headed for what the guide book recommends as the best gelateria in Florence. Eventually we found it and you could tell it was in the guide book – it was packed! It was worth it however with about 50 different flavours. The chocolate was so chocolatey it was more like frozen mousse! Good though (but not as good as Venice)!

After a swift shower back at the hotel to cool down we headed out for tea. We found a place that did pizza and a drink for €10 (about £8) in the main square. It was pretty good for the money.

On the way back we were briefly entertained by a man dressed as Laurel (or Hardy?) being ‘entertaining’ with balloons – a strange sense of humour these Mediterraneans have!

Today was a little disjointed and we didn’t seem to get much done. The heat here is almost unbearable which means we slow down a lot. Florence is a lovely place though.

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.