We only stayed a week in the UK, and spent it visiting relatives and getting my Mum settled in, so not many pictures taken. We had amazing weather though, and really enjoyed the time there.

First stop in Italy was Rome. We arrived late at night, grabbed a few hours sleep then did a whirlwind tour of some the better sites!

After a long and horrible night on a sleeper train from Rome, and a ferry ride over to Sicily, we arrived in Palermo!

A train ride which was half bus ride took us to Agrigento, where Chris and I got Italian Haircuts! A major highlight of the region is the amazing Valley of the Temples.

Back on the train again, and we moved to Catania, which had an amazing shopping street with a (distant) view of Mount Etna. We even got to see the famous Italian Polezei Lamborghini!

Next stop was Messina, another coastal town in Sicily

A day trip out of Messina took us to Matera, which was brilliant! Classified as a UNESCO site in 1993, Matera is famous for its’ Sassi, and was known as the “Shame of Italy” for it’s cave dwellers who were living in abject misery and poverty until the 1940’s.

We stayed in the beautiful fishing town of Bari for a few days, making it our centre of operations for day trips out to some brilliant locations including visiting the Truli (Stone Houses) of Alberobello

Another day trip out of Messina took us to a really beautiful city, Lecce. Where we had Spritz. Like we did everywhere else!

Yet another Train Trip across the country, and we land in Napoli (Naples), in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. We encountered the worst taxi driver IN THE WORLD, who proved typical of many of the residents of Napoli - in a mad rush to be somewhere, and not caring about who they ran over to get there! The city itself is amazing though, it really comes alive in the evenings and is very colourful and exciting.

From Naples, we travelled by Ferry out to Ischia, which was just stunning! The beaches are pretty sub-standard though, we are really spoiled in Australia!

A day trip from Ischia had us wandering around the island of Procida, which is even more stunning than Ischia in many ways.

Next stop was Tivoli, which was not what I expected.. It has a very old feel about it, and is mostly untouched by the new world. Stunning gardens and architecture make it a must-see destination

Arezzo has a huge amount of history, and still has parts of the ancient city walls surrounding it. LOTS to see here!

Our second trip to Florence, which is another centre of historic buildings and amazing architecture.

Luuca is an historic medieval town which still has the defensive walls standing. It was real surprise, absolutely beautiful, and a good spot to use as a hub to other towns including Pisa. The Spritz was next level.

We had a wonderful day exploring La Spezia, which is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and a major Italian Navy base.

Cinque Terre (or Five Lands) is one of the most picturesque parts of Italy, and is a very popular destination for tourists.

Our first trip to Milan, and it exceeded expectations! An absolutely beautiful city which would take months to explore properly.

The last Italian city on our trip was one of my very favourite places, Venice. Sadly, we only had a day and a night there, but it was wonderful to go back, just the same.

At the end of our Italian Tour, we booked a day trip on a train to Switzerland. It turned to be a fairly lengthy bus ride from Milan to and from the Train Station, but that was OK too.. And the train trip itself was magical! We arrived a week after the snow had started to fall, so the tips of the mountains and higher reaches were a dazzling white, but the lower areas were still in full technicolour :) With a couple of hours to wander around St. Moritz (which is absolutely beautiful), we finally ran into some rain as we got back to the Bus and headed back to Milan. Absolutely brilliant day!