The BallerinaAn hour later we were in Pisa. We found that the next train for Florence left in an hour and a half, which gave us just enough time to go and look at the Leaning Tower.At the best of times my enthusiasm to go and look at things is weak. At four o'clock in the morning after two days of little or no sleep, it is non-existent. But, like in all such situations, the Mob Rule. It wouldn't be all that bad, I decided. After all, Pisa is a small place...

The Fat Woman And The MidgetsI liked Rome. I liked it a lot. This was even more remarkable, because it was in the face of considerable adversity. For one thing, the camp site we were staying at was an hour's bus ride from the city, and the bus only ran twice a day.For another thing, Rome traffic has a truly unique way of behaving. The pedestrian crossings had three lights on them, red amber and green. It took a while but I was finally able to work out what th...

Karim's SisterI got an overnight back to Nice, arriving on Sunday afternoon. I decided to pop over to Monaco while I was there, but it was a bit of a let down. Because it was Sunday the baggage place was closed, and that meant I had to wonder around with all my stuff. And bearing in mind Monaco is basically one big hill, this made for less than pleasant sight-seeing.It also meant I had to catch a train back to Nice, as no night trains ran from Monaco to anywh...

BobI called him Bob. No idea what his actual name was. He was lounging around outside one of the cafes, inviting people in for coffee. He was also a provider of information, and after we had grilled him for some time about where to get our tickets from, we thought it only polite to have a coffee.It was still too early to get the tickets, but the ferry did leave that night - which was one night sooner than we expected. This was a good thing. Brindisi is basically ...

The OzziesThe next day, we got off the train in Patras, and who should be stood in the station? Lisa, one of the Oz girls! Linley was nearby. It was really a small world. It worked out in our favour, because they told us which ticket office to go to and which ticket to buy. If left to our own devices, we would have paid €100 to get a place on a sewage trawler. As it turned out, we paid €6 to get a place on the nicest ferry I've ever seen, all the wa...