Okay, before I spend time telling you how much I've enjoyed my allotted time in Naples purely because of the amount of time I've spent getting away from it at every possible opportunity, let me give you a brief insight into why I pray to all that is good and holy that you never find yourself stuck in the city itself. I read a review of Napoli before I came here, on a website which shall remain nameless, by a reviewer who, to be fair, has managed to come through ...

Having spent a happy hour on my first morning in Rome shooting away at the Colosseum (with my camera, obviously, I haven't completely lost my marbles), I approached the entrance gates, which seemed strangely queue free, and engaged the guard there in the following conversation: "Excuse me, where do I buy tickets for the Colosseum?" "Is close" "I'm sorry?" "Colosseum, she is close. Is strike" I knew I was going to regret my next question even before it was out...

Breakfast was included with the room, so I got up bright and early - because the concept of serving breakfast at anything resembling a reasonable time seems alien to most hotels around the world and any staff member who hasn't cleaned everything away by 8.30 is severely reprimanded. Do it yourself summed up the experience perfectly: the tables were laid out nicely and there was a breakfast buffet along one wall of the delightful underground room, the roof of whi...

Siena is quite a two-faced city. Not the people, you understand, I'm talking about the city itself. If you arrive at night, as I did, Siena does not make a good first impression - in fact, I would go so far as to say that, if I hadn't already had a room booked, I may have simply turned around and got straight back on the train.Everywhere seemed dark and dingy, the roads were wide and congested with traffic beeping at other traffic, and the train station was just ...

After about an hour to an hour and a half of walking, mainly uphill and over terrain littered with stones looking to trip you up at every step and steps so high you nearly have to touch your chin with your knee to climb up them, you come to a little flight of stone steps leading down to a little courtyard and cafe outside which is a welcoming sign offering coffee and snacks. "Thank god, I've arrived," you think, but alas this is just a cruel deception. What made ...