Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle is an imposing landmark in a central location in Wakayama. The city did feel comparatively deserted compared to neighbouring Osaka, so I suspected if I did the Castle tour I'd get a good experience without any crowds. The approach to the castle takes you through a stunning Japanese
Minori by Ferry
The ferry from Salerno is a popular method of acessing the various coastline towns scattered along the Amalfi coast. I was destined for the midway-point town of Minori. ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9]{layout=mosaic} The entire coastline is littered with jaw-dropping photo opportunities. It's
Destination Salerno
Salerno is said to be an excellent base to explore the Amalfi coast from. Acting on advice I got on the train from Naples and was greeted to the afternoon sun in this picturesque seaside town. ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9,@10,@11,@12,@13,@14]{layout=mosaic} I continued my walk down through
Herculaneum
'Ercolano' as it's called in Italian is the other major set of ruins preserved from the disaster of the 79AD eruption of Mt Vesuvius. I was interested to go to see if there was more plaster casts than there I saw at Pompeii because of how much closer Herculaneum was to the base of Mt Vesuvius. To s
Pompeii
The story of Naples is famous for the tragedy of Pompeii in 79AD which left the city in ruins. It's a classical tourist destination that draws in many visitors. I have to be honest in that it wasn't at the top of my list of things to do while I was here - especially having just come from the Roman
Destination Naples
It's time to leave Rome and head south to Naples. This leg of the journey is a little more planned as Naples was one of the major destinations I missed on my first trip. I've also been drawn in by a few Youtube clips that featured the famous Naples pizzerias, Pompeii and Herculaneum and the story (
Colosseo e Foro Romano
I had already done the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Vatican City in my last trip to Rome. Even so, I wanted to come back to a few of the places I'd already visited just for the experience of coming back to a place after so much time. ::gall
Bracciano e Castello Orsini-Odescalchi
I was a little disappointed with my park tour of Rome having missed some of the main parts of the parks. I was also determined to make sure that I got a decent day of interesting walking and photos in, but didn't really want to stay in the tourist hot-spot that most of Rome is. So I spent some time
Roma Park Tour
Today was a bit of a funny one - it was mostly a life/travel admin day, but my chores took me past what turned out to be the relatively boring part of the Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica. It was on my ChatGPT-generated list of things to do because there's supposed to be amazing ruins. I only saw
Trastavere e Belvedere di Gianicolo
Starting with a train ride from my hostel to Trastavere, I took a wander through the streets to see what this popular tourist suburb looks like. There are plenty of streets with little shops to walk through and the neighbourhood has a lot more trees than other places. Trastavere is then only a shor
Destination Rome
I started out strong with a good walking tour of Rome. I went past the Musei di Villa Torlonia and then walked further into the city for a better look at the Colosseo. ::gallery[@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9,@10,@11,@12,@13,@14,@15,@16,@17,@18,@19,@20,@21,@22,@23,@24]{layout=mosaic} Unfortunately by thi
My first trip to Italy
## Back to where it all started This is a flashback to my first trip to Italy, on school exchange. Since the trip I've wanted to return to Italy and do Europe more broadly - but for so many life reasons (that now seem insignificant) I never stopped to do it. ::gallery[@86]{layout=mosaic} I didn't
Leaving Merewether
It's been a bumpy few years since we all discovered the news that we'd be locked at home for the indefinite future in March 2020. But it gave me time to plan my adventure. ::gallery[@2,@3,@4]{layout=mosaic} Before I take you for a spin around the globe, this post takes a quick look back at my time