I'm not a morning person at the best of times. But when I dragged my foggy head off the pillow one morning to see a shirtless, obese Italian man called Luigi mopping the floor of our room, I knew I had missed something... Sjane can explain: she was more awake for it. "It was about 6am here; I stirred in my sleep cause I was thirsty. I reached out for my waterbottle that was on the floor and instead grabbed hold of the big display pillow I tossed off last night. ...

Ten days in Tuscany; split between the capital city Florence and lesser-known Siena. A lot happens in ten days. Oddly enough what we'll probably remember the most about our time in this region of Northern Italy is the heat. We arrived in the middle of what locals have called a "very uncharacteristic" hot time of year. The weather forecast has been easy to memorise: clear skies, sunshine and temperatures ranging from 25°C at night to 35°C+ during the day. Sounds...

Venice is amazing! For those of you who have been there, this blog might seem like nothing new. But for me, all I ever knew about Venice was that it was a city of canals and gondolas. It is; but the implications of this result in a fascinating city. Unique in the way it functions. The first thing you need to know is the city of Venice stands on a collection of small islands off the mainland peninsula of Italy. It is connected to the mainland by a train and car b...