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At first Italy didn’t especially click for me, but with time, my fondness for it really grew and now in just over three weeks there, I’d rate it as one of my favourite places in the world. Being in Italy for the World Cup when they won was more than anyone could have asked for. I was in two minds about leaving Germany the day before the World Cup started, but I think I ended up getting more atmosphere and experience actually being in countries as they played. Italy was no exception and the people there are totally fanatical about the game which added to the excitement incredibly. As Italy progressed in the tournament, their fanaticism grew.. I witnessed more than one fight over football discussions in the streets and even got to see a fist-fight turn to glass bottles.. Now THAT’S what sport is REALLY about..!!

Coming to Italy, I had no idea that they might take home the cup. Nor did i care especially after they beat Australia in the last seconds of their match together. In my opinion, Australia played a much better game, except for the fact that they lost. But my grudge eventually subsided and i warmed to the fanatical locals and eventually became an avid supporter. When Italy made it to the finals, I ended up in a small hatchback car with a total of 11 people in, or on it.. The Final was even more amazing to be part of, as the streets of Italy were set on fire (not literally, well actually in some places..) and the atmosphere was equal if not totally surpassing that of NYE 1999. Totally crazy, and I’m surprised I came away with no injuries.., Although I would LOVE to know the number of people injured and the total number of cars and property damaged (or totally destroyed).

There was a lot more that just World Cup Fever that made Italy a very special place. From what I saw, Italy would be a fantastic place to live. My Favourite city was Firenze (Florence) because of it’s incredible vibe, the great people and amazing architecture. But out of the cities the country side was absolutely beautiful and some of the coast, including the Cinque Terre, was to die for. I stumbled across some other fantastic coastal areas too where locals go to holiday and ended up jumping off some stupidly big cliffs., I still hurt. I had a great photo from the big cliff I jumped off, but somehow I lost about 200 photos along the way =( so unless you were there, you’re just going to have to take my word for it.. The buildings in Italy were some of the biggest I’ve ever seen and you can tell there was once an incredible wealth present. Either that, or they were really trying to impress someone.

In the three weeks, I managed to see a big part of Italy. Starting in Rome, I made my way south through Naples & Pompei, all the way down to Sicily, where our train actually went on a boat..! Very cool.. One day I want to be in a car on a truck, that goes on a train, that goes on a plane, that goes on a boat, but for now I’ll be happy with that. After Sicily, I made my way back up to Florence, Venice and then my last stop was the Cinque Terre.

Leaving Italy, I had an incredibly confusing time trying to buy my train ticket out due to a mix up in my brain between the cities of Venice and Vienna. - You try buying a ticket to Venice in Austria and see what kind of reaction you get..

I’d highly recommend a trip to Italy for anyone, and when you decide you’re going to stay, make sure you’ve checked out Florence before deciding where you’ll finally settle.

For photos of Italy, click here..

From Holland we flew into Athens to check out some of the historic Greek sites and to serve as a launching point to head to the Greek Islands. It was great to see some of the ruins Greece had around as the first tastes of history in my memory all revolved around Greece, their myths and ancient civilization. Athens was also great if you wanted to buy loads of genuine fake sunglasses. Every 40 meters street vendors displayed between 50 to 500 pairs of quality fake glasses for around 5 Euro each.. Think i ended up with 3-4 pairs to start (I now have one left from various incidences - easy come, easy go).

So after a late night in Athens, and an early start the next day, we missed our first ferry to the Islands by about 30 seconds.. The monstrous ferry was just leaving the port as we arrived. It was an expensive mistake. We found the next ferry and bought more tickets, and finally we were on our way.. The ferries in the Greek Islands are HUGE.. Almost luxury ocean-liner size, nothing like what i thought a ferry should be, but it was a pleasant surprise and made for a comfortable trip. We headed for the island group ‘the Cyclades’ - but there are so many options.. I may just have to come back one day to explore the rest..

The first island we visited was Mycanos. It was a little more expensive than the other islands, but we got a great deal on our accommodation in the end as we were upgraded to a new resort apartment which wasn’t yet open. It was fittingly named the ‘Perfect View Hotel’.. Really great. Mycanos was nice, but i expected more from all the hype I’d heard previously.

The best part of it was Paradise Beach, and the Tropicana bar, which turned into a massive topless beach party as the sun went down.. Free shots, great music, dancing on the bars.. Naked people enjoying themselves everywhere.. The ‘M.C.’ for the party was sporting an Elephant G-string. His err.. em.., trunk, was swung at anyone walking past, and the unlucky ones received a slap on the head or the cheek.

There was also one really great club on the island called Cavo Paridiso. It was built on a cliff, open aired, and had a massive pool in the center of it which filled with clothed and naked people as the night progressed. The rest of the island, I felt, was not as great as it could have been and soon we left to compare it with another..

The next stop was Ios. Ios did serious damage to my liver but it was a total blast..!! It’s one of those places that is very hard to leave. We ended up eventually leaving when the hostel threw us out, about 3 or 4 days late. Our entire time there involved lying on the beach, afternoon naps, and heading out around midnight to drink ourselves stupid - till around 11am. The latest I was out was sometime around 1pm. But who’s counting? The sleep-in till 9.30pm was much needed before building up the courage to do it all again that night.

After Ios, we made our way to the much discussed Santorini which was, by far, the most beautiful island from the few we saw. It consisted of an active volcanic crater in the center and a broken ring of land surrounding it with some of the most amazing cliffs with views you could only dream about. Santorini was a much more relaxed island than Mycanos or Ios and my liver really appreciated the break. We hired a car for 15 Euros (which was ridiculously in-expensive =), and I managed to see pretty much the whole island in the day. There are some amazing spots you could find on Santorini to sit and watch incredible sunsets, and there was a winery called ‘Santos Wines’ perched right on the cliff overlooking the entire island in all of its glory, it was an incredible spot. Sitting, admiring the view, tasting cheeses and great wines.. - I just couldn’t take it any more.

My enquiry about work in the Greek islands was short lived. The 20 Euros a day income quickly changed my mind. Sure it’s a great lifestyle, but there was no way I was going to survive even an hour on 20 Euro a day..

Even though it was probably time, I was sad to leave the Greek Islands.. I had the option to take 26 hours of ferries to get to my next destination, Italy, or fly. No surprise, the plane won..

for photos from the Greek Islands, click here..

Holland was a beautiful country with a relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere. I can’t say I remember a lot of our first stop, Amsterdam, except being lost for most of the time there.. Those bloody streets are just so confusing and hard to navigate, especially with all those special cafes around. -

Amsterdam was quite an experience. The Hostel we booked into at the last minuet turned out to be the one that everyone warned us NOT to go to. There were posters out the front of this place warning that “clean people are ruining the world”, and “we will boost your immune system”. Oh dear. Within the 35 minuets it took to check in, we saw 4 different people hobbling around on crutches - making for a scary start to the country so to clear our minds of the dodgy first impressions, we quickly dumped our stuff and headed out to have a look-see around.

After a breakfast Heineken or two, we miraculously managed to find some of the good stuff Amsterdam had to offer, such as the Hemp museum, the Sex museum, the Torture museum and later the Red light district for a look around. - Just a look around mind you..

A few days later, we took a field trip to another town called Rotterdam. Rotterdam is Hollands largest shipping port, but we knew it from years ago for the unique ear-bleeding music produced there. By chance, we arrived when the Volvo Ocean race was in town and the world famous Dj Tiësto was playing a free concert on the harbour to help celebrate. It was a great gig with fireworks and bellowing balls of fire spitting from barges in front of the crowded foreshores.. Chatting to some locals, it was clear there was a strong rivalry between the Rotterdam locals and the tourist mecca of Amsterdam.

After Amsterdam, I needed to clear the haze from my head and what better place to do that than the Greek islands…

For photos from Amsterdam, Click here..!!