The 6th and 7th century Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna were amazing. They predominantly illustrate stories from the Bible with the odd Roman/Byzantine slant. The great thing was that with one exception all the churches which held mosaics were in the centre of town. We took far too many photos of them so hope the photos in the blog aren't too tedious. We finally felt that we were travelling too as we stayed in the Diablo Hostel for a couple of nights - with the smel...

It was lovely spending a week with Fran's Mum & Hilary, a long-time friend of hers; just a shame that the weather decided to turn a bit rainy for the week. We stayed in Fiesole, a lovely small town on one of the hills just above Florence. To be honest we didn't really see a lot of Florence - just a few of the central sights. The 15th century dome on the cathedral still seems an architectural feat; the Ponte Vecchio looked intriguing and medieval despite the u...

It's been a week of more Lakes, the odd sneaky hotel and a deflated airbed! The mountains surrounding each lake get bigger the further east we go. Lake Como seemed less populated, but completely geared up for tourists. We spent Easter Day climbing up another 'Sacre Monte', with several Italian families. The shrines and their frescos and sculptures looked neglected, but the colours of the paint were really vivid when lit up by the camera flash. The weather was so...

Our one night in Switzerland preceded a travel day through, and over the Alps. Blue skies afforded great views though our planned route was closed due to snow. Instead we had to drive the car onto a train (which looked more like a cattle truck) at Kandersteg for a 12 minute trip practically in darkness under the Berne Alps - it was a bit like riding a ghost train. We managed to traverse the second alpine range as the Simplon Pass was open despite the snow at ove...

Well, so much for making a bee-line for Italy, it's currently day 6 of our tour and we have only just made it into Switzerland. So far we have been the only people 'tenting' at each of the campsites we've stayed at - perhaps 3-4 degrees at night has put others off! However, we're not in a rush, so no deadlines to be met, and though the clear skies have been serving up cold nights, we've also had a hefty course of sunny days. Following a straightforward ferry rid...