Once I finally made it to my hostel at 5pm, a mere 4 hours after my plane had landed, I slept and when I woke up the next day I had no jetlag, hurray! I made friends with a fellow Melbournian who I roomed with and we took off to walk around Rome, see the colosseum and all that touristy stuff. It was very hot, like you could cook a steak medium rare in under 10, well maybe not but you get the picture. Apart from getting a little lost, thank god for free maps, it was a fairly decent trip. We didn't actually go inside anywhere as it was her last day and money was tight but no complaints from me. Well maybe one, the guy dressed as a Spartan who we got picture with practically made out with my cheek…ewwww.

The next day I made friends with two girls from England who I joined in a trip to see some catacombs. For those who don't know catacombs are where they buried dead monks and priest and in the case of this one several of the popes too. They were dark and eerily but most importantly underground which meant they were cold and provided a lovely relief from the heatwave, you know as well as educational.

After a few more days of sleep, gelato (of so much) and gluten free pasta it was time to test out my navigational skills and find my way to my next accommodation, the campsite. You are probably thinking 'Bridget you have said it is so hot, why would you go to a campsite to sleep in tents around Europe with no air conditioner?' but I had a cabin for the first night so the aircon was blasting, thank god. But let's not think I got off that easy, attempting to sleep became futile after 1am when the drunk guy who occupied a bed in the cabin stumbled in. He wasn't overly loud getting into bed, he didn't trip upstairs, over suitcases or throw up on anything, no he just woke up the whole campsite (I would be surprised if the people within a 1km radius couldn't hear him) with his freight train rumbles of snores. From the moment his head hit the pillow the room was shaking and I was wide awake thinking the place was under attack. My only relief was that I only had to survive 6 more hours before the sun came up. Now who decided not to take the ear plugs off the plane?