Hayden Bairstow's blog

Undoubtedly, the best thing about Naples is that it’s the home of pizza. Aside from that, it’s just a big, dirty city. Apparently it’s in the middle of a serious rubbish collection crisis. We had our own crisis in Pompeii: rain. And lots of it.

We had three days to see Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and Capri. This part of Italy lays claim to some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole country, and we had three days. It was a full-on three days…

For most people, Rome is the first city that springs to mind when they think of Italy. The Colosseum, Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Forum… in other words, you gotta see it – but you also gotta share it with everyone else.

In comparison to the relative quiet of Pisa, Florence was a hive of activity. Over four days it was consistently stinking hot and crawling with tourists, but what else can you expect from Tuscany’s biggest draw card in summer? It’s worth fighting the crowds.

Although our introduction to the country didn’t exactly go according to plan – what with the four hour delay, the arrival at a port in the middle of nowhere and only just catching the last train to Pisa from Livorno – it wasn’t long before Italy won us over.

“Spain, now that we’re leaving you, we’d just like to say thanks for being such a great host. And you really pulled out all the stops with Barcelona – that’s some city you’ve got there. Hope we’ll be seeing you again soon…”

Realistically, we didn’t do a whole lot in Madrid apart from drink, eat and drink some more. But we did manage to fit in a day trip to Segovia and an afternoon tour of the city. Led by a local guide even!

Currently Seville is ranked as our number one favourite city in Spain. It’s got some decent ruins, a nice river, loads of bars and bull fighting – what more could you ask for?

There is pretty much only one thing to see in Granada – the palace, gardens and fortress of the Alhambra. It takes a good few hours to get around the grounds; the rest of the day is spent hiking the hills the city is built on to get there and back…

In many ways, Cordoba is a lot more Middle Eastern than it is Spanish. It’s the meeting place of two cultures and this is reflected in the architecture, the culture and the people. See for yourself…