Well, it has been a busy week or so.

After Genoa, I headed towards the Cinque Terre. This is a national park and world heritage site that has 5 towns all attached to the rugged cliffs of the coast. There are walking trails between the towns and around the national park too. The most famous (and easiest) walk is the Via dell'Amore, the walk of love. Along this short path there are hundreds of padlocks attached to pretty much whatever is available, as a sign of love. There is also a huge amount of graffiti declaring couples love 4eva. It's a lovely walk and a nice warm up to the next walk from Manarola to Corniglia. This is a bit harder but becomes decidedly difficult at the end when you have to scale 382 steps to get to the town. The other walks are harder and longer but worth every effort just for the views. If you aren't into walking there are trains that go very regularly between the towns.

The Cinque Terre is beautiful and incredibly hot in the summer. I met up with an American couple and their 11yr old boy in Biassa and we headed to the Cinque Terre for the day. We ended up in Corniglia for dinner and had a spectacular seafood dinner in one of the local restaurants. It was an absolute nightmare trying to get the last train back to Biassa but got there in the end.

The next day, I had to myself and I explored Vernassa and Monterosso. 2 really hard walks that should not be done in Jandals (flipflops, thongs etc). After quietly cursing myself for about 2 hours, I arrived in Monterosso and had another great lunch consisting of artichokes and some other stuff but am really not sure what. It was good though.

After 2 days in Cinque Terre, I decided the last day would be spent in Pisa. Eventually arriving in Pisa, after a few language issues at the train station, I headed to the Leaning Tower. Not really expecting Pisa to be much of a sight besides the tower, I was actually quite impressed with the city. It is very pretty and has a lovely feel to it. The tower is pretty cool too. Very lop-sided as you would expect.

The next day, I went to Bologna, a university city which was very affluent in Medival times. This is why the city centre is made up of small alley ways and beautiful old but grand buildings. The city boasts one of Europes oldest University's and is a stunning building. I mainly came here for the promise of Bolognase. I really wasn't disappointed. It was devine! I really should have taken a photo!

After Bologna, I went to Naples for a few days. Here I planned to go to Pompei and Herculaneum, 2 cities buried by the ash and rocks of Mt Vesuvius and the eruption of 79 a.d. Pompei is obviously very famous and gets a very big tourist trade but Herculaneum is much smaller and less well-known. Spending a day at each site, I definitely preferred Herculaneum and would love to go back one day as they are still excavating the 2 sites. It is incredible to see the houses with the frescoes and mosaics in almost perfect condition in some cases. A lot of the artifacts discovered here have been moved to Naples and put on display in the Museum there. I, unfortunately, did not get time to visit as my train the next day left Naples VERY early.

I am now in Palermo, Sicily (Mafia country). I meet a lovely Kiwi couple on the train to Palermo too, so will having dinner with them tonight. Hard to not make friends on a 10 hour train ride.

Palermo, is quite rough but vibrant, much like Naples. Between avoiding the dog poo and cat poo and discarded rubbish, it is actually I lovely city. I spent most of my day walking in the wrong direction today and so have been to some 'interesting' areas of the city. I was trying to get to the Catacombs, where they have housed preserved bodies from the 1800's mostly. The bodies were said to have been preserved in vinegar and other stuff and some bodies still have hair, teeth and eyeballs. Quite a gruesome thought but even more so when you see it. You aren't allowed to take photos whcih was fine by me but if you get a chance google the catacombs in Sicily. Very creepy.

Anyway, tomorrow I am heading to the beach for the day. I have 2 days between Palermo and Rome in which I haven't organised anything. Haven't entirely decided what I will do yet but it is looking like a stop on the mainland, as I don't want to do another 10 hours train ride. Although to Rome is even longer!

Hope everyone is well.

Caz