A quiet day for walking today. We awoke to another great breakfast Mediterranean style, with breads, cheeses, cakes etc, and we think there were only four people staying last night. We said our goodbyes and were collected by a taxi for the thirty minute ride through the countryside to a small railway station called Ferrandina far below Matera. The train was empty when we climbed onboard so we setup with all our luggage in a four set bay, and watched a part of Ita...

The Sassi in Matera, has been a place of interest and wonder for us for a while now after watching a TV programme and today we finally visited this historic and very different place. The day started on the overnight ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari. We were provided a buffet breakfast (no room service on this ferry), and then proceeded to watch the slow entrance into port as we were stuck behind a larger Greek ferry. It took even longer to get through Immigration (ap...

We arrived early into Milan at 6.30am. After sorting out our luggage we boarded a bus into Milan where we left the luggage at the central railway station. Coming into Milan was very depressing from my perspective. It lacked character and is poorly maintained or developed. The trams run along tracks that are overgrown with weeds and grass. The graffiti artists have left their mark everywhere. It gave the place a very run-down and unsafe feel to it. This improved t...