At 2105hrs we boarded the OBB train to Vienna, Austria. The couchette was cosy, the showers were missing, the toilet was without paper and the beds were hard. It was clearly not as good as the Sunlander. All that aside it was sure to be a comfortable trip with stinky socks and feet. Arrived to Vienna at 0900hrs after a fair nights sleep. The temperature had dropped from the mid 20's to 8 degrees. Vienna was a refreshing change to Italy. It was clean, free of ...

Early morning wake up and off to the railway station for our journey to Venice. A very nice apartment in Florence, excellent wifi, central location and comfortable beds. Venice, tourist Mecca. Recession and a global slow down do not exist here. The place is crammed full of tourists all apparently happy to part with there money for grossly over priced merchandise. The gondola ride for everyone was an experience that we will all never forget. Whilst paying ...

After climbing 463 steps to the top of duomo dome we had some spectacular views of florence and the surrounds. Escaping Florence we boarded the suburban train to Pisa. It was a relief for the boys to see the leaning tower of Pisa after s 30 minute walk from Central station. In amongst the hoards of tourists we took some photos of the tower, had lunch and then boarded another train to lucca. Lucca was beautiful compared to both Florence and Pisa. Off to Venic...

After a nice sleep in our Signoria Apartment we climbed the stairs down into the heart of Florence's historical area and the Piazza della Signoria. The evening before we went to sleep with very loud techno music belting out from the shop directly below our apartment. It was even louder than Harry. Mum and Dad are not very impressed with the customer service of the Italians. Generally speaking they seem particularly disinterested, arrogant and unhelpful. The...

From Rome to Florence Another beautiful sunny day greeted our third day in Rome. In the morning we packed up our luggage and cleaned up the apartment that we had managed to resemble our home. At 10.45am we took a taxi to the Catacombes so that the little boys could satisfy their macabre desire to see tombs, and underground tunnels. A guided tour underground provided us with the stories of where the popes, saints, and sinners were buried. Again we got a...