We awoke a little late. I think we have a plausible excuse (see the preceding 55 hours). As I should have anticipated, there were no...

When we began this long, long journey it was 6:00 a.m. in Paris on Thursday 23 June. So what would that be 'back home'? Two o'clock on...

The distance between the Glam Hotel Milano and the entrance to Milano Centrale is two hundred and sixty metres. I am wearing a most...

We bade farewell to Stephanie, the cats and the Trullo early. Joe drove us across the 'heel' to Taranto from where our train for Milano...

We begin our long journey back to Australia tomorrow -- north to Paris by train then two flights back to the big southern island. So here...

It is Sunday in southern Italy. The town is quiet. The beaches not far from here will already be crammed (even this early in summer)....

Today we visited the Trulli town of Alberobello, about an hour's drive north of Francavilla Fontana. The town is a UNESCO World Heritage...

The chirping of cicadas in 70 year old olive trees is the only sound to disturb the peace. Do cicadas chirp? I am too hot to care. The...

You get up early on a day when the breeze has dropped and it's twenty-seven or twenty-eight degrees by breakfast. And your brother asks...

We drove from coast to coast across the 'heel' of the 'boot' that is mainland Italy. From the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. From...

The English writer Horace Walpole (1717 - 1797) is often credited with writing the first ever Gothic novel. His story, The Castle of...

My brother warned me that life in the Trullo would be rustic ... that's the word he used. Rustic. Did he mention it would be rustic and...

I sat in the shade of a Trullo. A kitten came calling for breakfast. Then mum came. Then they came. Then later we wandered down long...

My younger brother provides my verifiable first memory. In a taxi. In the rain. In Aberdeen. I was -- what? -- three and a half years old...

We headed north west today. Not far. Just over two kilometres. All of it -- more or less -- on the roads. It's Rome. My half baked plan...

My relationship with ancient Rome is marginal at best. We had a very tall history teacher in our third year at Secondary school. He was...

Our first Italian train -- Frecciarossa 9281. The 7:20 a.m. from Paris Gare de Lyon to Milano Centrale, arriving 2:07 p.m. Change trains...

When we decided to cross Europe by many trains I went straight to the very best web site in the whole Internet -- without a doubt -- if...

We strolled by the Seine. How hard could our Monday be? We followed the river for four kilometres or so before entering le Jardin des...

Taking the train between Edinburgh Waverley and London King's Cross has been one of my favourite journeys since my first trip in the late...