Legs

"Booked for a long time."

01 - The boat to Italy

The boat from Greece was a bit bizarre. I think it must have been part of a longer cruise as there were people in the swimming pool when I got on, and Asians walking around in ball gowns. Nobody spoke English so it was hard to work out what was going on.

I figured the Greek out as I was boarding and I tried out my theory. I snapped at the guy at reception in my rudest tone, "Hey, how about putting some girls in my room?"

Without missing a beat he replied, "Blondie?"

I said yes, and he said OK.

Maybe I should have tipped him because in the end I had the room, complete with shower and toilet, to myself.

02 - A photo of a picture of The Last Supper

We washed ashore at Bari. My intention was to slow the pace down and start off by going to Napoli, the birthplace of Pizza, to chill out. I rang a few hostels (since it's peak season) but they were all fully booked for the next few nights. That was crap, so instead I got a train to Rome.

I don't know why I thought Rome would be different. Again, every hostel was fully booked. I thought this is bullshit. But then I ate some chicken and brushed my teeth and realised that it probably wasn't meant to be and I should roll with it. So I took the next sleeper train heading north, which brought me to Milan.

I decided to spend a day wandering Milan and found out that Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' is here, so I set off to find it. When I found it I discovered you needed to make a reservation to see it. Strange, but I figured I'd book my place and come back in a couple of hours. No such luck, fully booked until August. August! For a glimpse of a painting. I don't think we can even blame this one on Dan Brown...I think its always been like this.

03 - As close as I got to The Last Supper

So I found another museum with many other representations of the life of Christ and that was grand. And I explored Milan, which isn't as nice as I thought it would be. It's fine but a little grubby. And the people aren't as good looking as I was lead to believe by Fashion TV. Still, everyone has been eyeing me up and down with absolute disgust. Literally. I changed in to my 'Little Miss Giraffe' t-shirt since it's the chiquest thing I own. But people still stared at my shorts (which can be carbon dated back to before the Shroud of Turin), and then fixated on my Warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain) flip-flops and filthy feet. I felt a bit self-conscious so I found a delightful monument with a water feature and washed my feet.

Now I'm waiting for a train to France. Seen fuck all of Italy. I moved up its leg far too quickly (as is my tendency), but there is definitely a good vibe here. I can see why there's so many backpackers...obviously the sites are brilliant (that's whhy they're sites), but also everyone has been really friendly and they have a sweet buzz about them. Even the ones who you think aren't being friendly will suddenly give you a wink. It's cool. And the women outside of Milan are hot. Everyone's really animated and over the top. I've seen a lot of heated arguments in the streets and train stations and its cool.