Jack & Jo's European Adventure: ... and the band played Waltzing Matilda

Had we stuck to the original plan, today would have been our last day of this incredible adventure we have been on, we have just finished breakfast in our Rome apartment and sat for an hour looking back at photos from when we began seven weeks ago. It is amazing how much you forget so quickly, but then we have had so much to take in I guess you have to make room for new stuff somehow, thank God for digital photography.

This building we are in is old, though the apartment is in fantastic condition, with marble every where, 3 or 4 different kinds cover the floors, the bathroom is all marble floors and walls, and the walls are like three foot thick, so it is quite cool, no need for the AC, we have the windows open allowing a beautiful breeze flow through. Having the windows open also allows the noises of the suburbia come in, scooters, cars and buses rushing by, the market gardeners chatting at he open air, fresh food market across the street, the lady above us yelling at her kids and behind all that there is a guy, or girl, practicing the piano, we love it, this is why we chose to stay in private apartments when we could, this is Italy.

Looking back has brought to attention some of the special and most memorable moments we have enjoyed along the way, being lost in London and having a couple of French also lost, running up to us excited to have saviours at hand, then walking off when realizing we could not speak French, made funny to us because of the way I exclaimed "Sorry mate, I don't speak that lingo you're talking" Jo is still paying out on me for that one.

Same day, still lost we stumble onto Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards ceremony, blending in with the hundreds of tourists to enjoy it all and having a box seat as the guards march past, bands playing bagpipes and the rat-a-tat-tat of the drums. Saddened a few days later to learn of a guard having been murdered in the street for no reason, wondering if he had marched past us that day, seemed to bring us closer to this tragedy.

Visiting and climbing all over the Tower of London, something I was intrigued by as a kid, now I have done it. Walking along the banks of the Thames River, skimming stones across the surface, then as I climb the rail less staircase banging my head produced another moment, as both Jo and I laughed so hard, we were doubled over in pain, with tears streaming down my face I look up to see an English couple sitting on a park bench watching us with stunned looks on their faces, one can only wonder what they must have been thinking.

Ireland had some funny moments too, walking along, up and over cliff faces, down to a beach and then back to the top, collapsing in exhaustion and pain laying flat on my back, whilst Jo is trying to hold herself together, in pain again from laughing so hard.

In Milano it was in the bathroom with the shower capsule being so small, I literally had to squeeze through, but not before getting Jo to help me up the 18 inch step to get in, in the first place, for God's sake don't drop the soap!

Stumbling onto a bottle shop, come bar in Milano, then sitting and drinking big bottles of beer at $2.00 a pop and watching the world go by, an unplanned moment that will be hard to forget, nor will we forget the staggered walk home and the night that followed, it was a fun night.

Venturing out at ten o'clock at night in Paris to see the Eifle by night, getting lost on the subway, taking the wrong trains or returning to a wrong station and trying to find our way back to a comfy bed, we were so exhausted but the lengths we went to, to do it, so worth it in the end.

Going out for dinner at Lake Como was an unforgettable experience, having been recommended as a very good local seafood restaurant, we ate what they called "White Fish", I think we call it "Carp". Having enjoyed a mixed entree of White Fish cooked different ways, at the waitresses suggestion, we also went with her suggestion for our main course, guess what? "White Fish" again cooked different ways, we have come to call this experience "White Fish Cooked Fifty Different Ways. Lake Como was gorgeous though, so beautiful and peaceful beside the lake.

Venice in comparison was totally chaotic, totally over run with tourists and so expensive as a result, though through all the reasons you could come to hate the place, it is in fact a beautiful place to visit, and you should at least once in your life, so I am glad to have done so, though I will admit it was the least favoured destination on our program for me from the onset.

Taking a break to go out and buy something for lunch whilst writing this, I have ventured across the road into the open air market, there are so many stalls offering fresh fruit and vegetables, a couple with cold meats, cheeses and anti pasta ingredients, there are a couple of fish mongers and a butcher. I have walked from one stall to the next trying to converse with the vendors, very poorly too I must admit. They the vendors, appear to enjoy our interaction as much as I do and at my final call, whilst buying a bottle of red, the vendor suggests a Rosso made by Al Bano Carrisi and begins to sing, he had a great voice for a shop vendor. Once home I googled Al Bano Carrisi and found he is a Singer, Actor and Wine Maker, so off to You Tube I go and then we dine on ham, cheese, tomatoes, olives, salami, the sweetest juiciest rock melon ever, crusty Italian bread and previously frozen beer, whilst Al bangs out the Italian Classics, special, very special.

Have learnt some things here too, how to cook fantastic tomato sauce for pasta's, how to prepare eggplants so they taste like nothing you have had before, never knew eggplant could be so good. I now know that you can buy beer in 1 litre plastic bottles and if you put them in the freezer and forget them for two days, just take them out and defrost them, leave in the fridge to keep chilled and when want a drink, crack the top open and the beer is just as good as it ever was.

Had we stuck to the original plan, today would have been our last day of this incredible adventure we have been on, but tomorrow we continue on, tomorrow we travel to Genoa, looking forward to a 7 night Mediterranean Cruise, some time in Nice and Barcelona, bring it on.