When in doubt, turn left.

So Rome was done, it's still there big, old and brilliant as ever. With the colloseum fading into the background we sped north towards Verona which turned out to be one of best places we've visited. The bridges crossing the river give you views that have you reaching for your camera every time you cross one, while the city centre somehow manages to maintain a vibrant cosmopolitan maze of streets dripping in Italian stereotypes, from the designer boutiques to the rows of coffee shops. Enough of talking like a travel guide.

Verona was a nice contrast from the captal cities we'd been sticking to, managing to be quieter without having any less to offer. It's worth visiting for the best and biggest kebabs you've ever seen alone. These are no british post pub grease filled pittas. They made the bread themselves, and had an almost subway-esque salad bar to go with the still unfortunately unappealing meat. It was a definite improvement on what they do at home.

Of course there's juliette's house with it's walls lined in love notes, a Roman arena, and beautiful plazas...but still. Cracking kebabs. Cultured travellers of the furthest lands, us two =].

From Verona we had planned to visit Milan, but on the advice of a friend, told to me before we left, we avoided the €30 a night hostels to discover a small town north of Milan by the name of Como. Best decision we've made so far. I realise raving about every city gives my amazement less impact but I would be doing our whole time here a disservice if I didn't say that this is simply the most beautiful, peaceful, amazing place we've been.

Como is essentially a small town on the edge of a big lake. The walk from our hostel to town leads us past grand Spanish villas whose grounds end metres from the lake front. The hills that make the valley are vibrant green and the long jetties stretching out lines of yachts makes the whole city a joy to walk around.
If you were ever going to be jealous of us, now is the time.

Staying true to one of the many traditions we've created between cities, in response to my asking 'so where do you want to go?' this morning, Rob pointed to the top of the highest hill he could see and said 'there', with that dreadful excitement in his eyes he usually only gets when he knows he's about to do something difficult, for no other reason than to say he's done it. So we did.

3 hours and an ocean of sweat later it was all worth it, the views were spectacular.

I'll leave Rob to fill in any other details,
Ollie x

My second visit to Verona has simply confirmed it as one of my favourite cities. There have been many amusing incidents that need to be mentioned; Ollie ordering a latte in two different places and being surprised when both brought him a glass of warm milk. The 24hour shops which simply consisted of vending machines. A vending machine which stocked popcorn, pregnancy tests, red bull and condoms. Everything you could ever need. A couple of other amazing moments include the realisation that breakfast included BOWLS of coffee or tea (no seriously, actual bowls) and me being shot down from a decisive "let's go" moment by Ollie pointing out that I wasn't wearing any shoes.

Furthermore, Sadé deserves a hug for recommending Como. It's beautiful and so much cheaper than Milan but still easily close enough for us to visit. To my fambly: it's like a small scale garda and just as lovely. We've also started to get some really nice weather and I'm just a little bit sunburnt.

Tomorrow we're off to visit Milan, which I'm really looking forward to. Also we have no definite plans for about a week before Paris and Amsterdam so if anyone wants to recommend some nice places in France, go for it.
Rob x