DAY 18 - Travel day once again. Not much to report, and no pictures, as a result.

Check out time was 11am, which I appreciated as I had no intention of getting out early to see even more stuff. I'd pretty much exhausted all the stuff I really wanted to see, so instead I just went around Milan with a nice young Canadian couple I'd met in the hostel. They had no concrete plans and neither had I, so it worked out pretty well.

It was a pretty lazy day, all in all, just walking round enjoying the pleasant weather. Milan really is a beautiful city, so just walking around is a fun activity in itself. There are water fountains all over the city, too, which is very welcome in such humid conditions. One has little need to carry bottles around when free water is frequently found.

Eventually we wound our way slowly to the centre, next to the cathedral, and that's where I had to bid my farewell. The airport was calling me and I had to make a move.

The bus to the airport was rammed, which wasn't the best of feelings, to be honest. At least it's not as far a distance as some of the other airports I've been to. When I arrived, I thought it was a good time to change all my other random currencies into euros, so I did just that. The leftover cash didn't come to the kind of number I liked, thanks largely to their nasty commission charge, but hopefully it will go a little way to seeing me through the rest of the trip.

I touched down in Rome and grabbed the express train to the station, as my hostel is not too far away. Once I arrived and figured out where the hell I was sleeping (they have velcro numbers on the bed, with predictably chaotic results) I went a few doors down to an energetic pizza takeaway place, for a tasty but hardly healthy pizza, plus a big bottle of beer. Just what I needed. I finished off the night by planning my first crazy day in the capital, as I only have two full days, a ridiculously short time to see all of Rome.

I can't believe that, this time next week, I'll be sitting at home, at last. It's been the most monumental journey (emphasis on the 'mental') and it feels a hell of a lot longer than it has been. Still another week to go, too, and two more cities to conquer. The sight is in end.