We arrived in Riomaggiore, the southern most town in the group of 5 towns that make up the ‘Cinque Terre’, and were immediately amazed by the bella vista that was in front of us. We walked through the center of town to find the accommodation office. After a short discussion with the office lady we were off - winding our way through tiny streets and up stairs, to reach our apartment some 300m away and 120 steps up the hill side. ...

On our way from Certaldo to Cinque Terre we made a very brisk stop over in Pisa for the obligatory photos… To be honest, we’re not sure what else, besides the leaning tower, that this town has to offer. Many others we have met suggested it wasn’t worth saying here, and that you could see all you needed to in an hour or two - we took their advice, and were in an out of Pisa in about an hour and a half, having satisfied our curiosity. ...

The transport strike has finished, and so has our forced day of relaxation in Bologna (yes… we did absolutely nothing, and loved it!) - we grabbed the early train out of town and headed for Certaldo in Tuscany. Certaldo is a cute little town south west of Florence (Firenze), and north of Siena. We are staying in a beautiful agriturismo B&B, come self contained shared apartment - it has everything, free mountain bikes, kitchen & fridge, internet, etc, and is immaculate. ...

Despite all efforts to plan and schedule the Italian leg of our trip, there is nothing we can do about a public transport strike. The strike incorporates buses, trains, and planes - so we aren’t going anywhere! We were meant to leave Bologna today for San Gimiamo, but this will have to wait until tomorrow. So today is a forced day of relaxation in the Bolognese country side - we can’t even get into town as we rely on the local bus service. ...

We arrived in Bologna yesterday afternoon, after a short train trip from Venice (2 hours). We managed to navigate the local bus system with the help of a local and shortly after arrived at our B&B which is located in the country side hills overlooking farmland and the city - about 15 minutes drive out of town. Its absolutely beautiful here. The relaxing surroundings, the peacefulness of the Italian country side… Its just what we needed - a change from staying in city’s. ...

We are finally on the last leg of our trip (in Europe anyway!) - we hit Italy three days ago (1st July), having caught a rather scenic train from Salzburg. The scenery was absolutely amazing - travelling by train through the Austrian and Italian Alps is highly recommended. There are a few rather long tunnels at times, but the scenery, especially prior to leaving Austria was unbelievable. Once again we used our Eurail ticket to facilitate the 6 hour trip (with 1 change over) from Salzburg to Venice. We raced to get on the train in Salzburg - in amongst heaps of school kids who obviously use the intercity service instead of the suburban service for its comfort to get to and from school. ...

We pick-up here were our last post left off. We have arrived in Salzburg – and its the night of the Euro Cup 2008 final, Germany -v- Spain. With Austria being the hosts, we were in for a big night (it had already been a long day… whats a few more hours). We headed out to the old city, about a 15min walk from where we were staying. A large Fan Zone had been set up in the city’s main square with two huge screens, a stage, and of course heaps of beer tents. ...

So we left Prague, and the Czech Republic behind us (and the train made it this time!) for the spoils of Munich (passing back through Dresden, to minimize our ticket cost, and maximize our use of the Eurail pass). Straight out, Munich is a lovely city – beer halls, parks & gardens, old buildings, and lovely people (well almost all of them – we will get to this later). Our first night in Munich consisted of us checking into our accommodation, about 5 min walk from the station, then heading out for a bite to eat and something to drink. Walking the streets for the first time, not knowing were we were going it wasn’t long, literally 2 minutes, before we stumbled on our first Munich beer hall… We need look no further. ...

Having arrived in Prague and settled in (after out exciting train ride) we decided to take a tour of Prague city – old, and new. The tour started in the new Prague and worked its way through the streets to cross over into the old town. The old town is absolutely lovely – cobble stone streets that are easy to get lost in, and medieval buildings everywhere you look. The tour was a mainly walking tour, although it also included a short boat ride up and down the river – giving a different perspective of the city. ...

We laid awake this morning at about 4.50 am listening to the pouring rain, and claps of thunder didn’t put a positive spin on the day to come. After drifting back to sleep, we eventually go up and began to get ready for the day at about 6am - we had an early train to catch to Prague, at least the rain had stopped. We got ourselves to the train station with plenty of time to spare for our 9am departure. As is our general experience with German public transport, the train pulled in exactly on time. We boarded and headed for our seats - we were in a 6 seater booth with only two other passengers. ...