Italy was the final part of my Eurotour for 2011 probably began with the biggest stuff around of the trip!
Due to poor internet and an old computer in Austria, I never actually printed out a map of where my hotel was in Milan. This detail was also something I remembered whilst travelling through the Alps on the Austrian / Italian border on the train. Attempts to find an internet cafe on an hour long stop in Verona were hampered by having to take my luggage everywhere, a further lack of maps in the area, as well as thousands of fanatical football supporters running through the streets on their way to a Sunday afternoon match.
So there I was, arriving alone in Milan, camera bag on my back and suitcase in hand. All I had was an address, and a memory of the hotel being "to the right and up a bit" on the map I saw on the computer 5 days earlier. The next 40 minutes was spent wandering Milan, looking for either my hotel or an internet cafe (which is surprisingly very hard!). The internet cafe won that race, which was all well and good, except for the fact that by this time I actually didn't know where I was! Picking the biggest looking main street on the map and deciding to draw my own map from there was a great plan, or so I thought...... Getting to the street, Corso Buenos Aires was achieved, however a critical wrong turn at this point sent me back a further 15 minutes. However I soon figured it all out and 90 minutes after arriving in Milan, a disenchanted and sweaty soul finally made it to the hotel as the sun was setting.
The next morning took me to the airport to catch up with Carly who'd flown in from Cape Town, a cruise through Milan and organising our next 10 days was to be the plan for the rest of the day. In hindsight we would have organised our pick up and drop off locations a bit better, but before we new it, the next morning had arrived and I was driving our little Peugeot rocket out of Milan Airport and onwards to the Mediterranean Coast. I wont mention the 90 minute hair tearing drama at the hire car company, but that is another story.
The following days would take us though Cinque Terre, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Pisa, Genoa and back to Milan, before a train trip to Nice, and Antibes in France. This was an amazing part of the trip, and the smiles and good times were plentiful, however before we knew it I was jumping on a plane, bound for Brisbane, via Heathrow and Seoul. Carly stayed on in Antibes to try her luck in the super yacht season which runs rampant over the summer months.
So there it is, the ending of my story of Eurotour 2011. In total it was 67 days, 16 countries, 64 flying hours, 9000 bus km, 5000 car km, 1000 train km, 40 ferry km, and 20 bicycle km.
Now it was time to figure out what to do with my life and employment and all those fun things. Whilst trying to get over the hangover of an amazing trip, a whole new world of friends, and countless memories that will be with me for many years.
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