My exploring nearly done, I return to London where my first mad geography lesson began. I cross the English Channel by ferry, and then drive across the battle fields of France and Belgium to Amsterdam, where I enjoy red lights and some hashish, until I am run over by a Dutch girl on a bicycle. On reaching Cologne I sail down the Rhine on a riverboat to the Swiss border; leaving Lucerne, I motor through Austria with the Sound of Music ringing in my ears, and then hurtle across the Brenner Pass into Italy, where I end up being serenaded on a gondola in Venice. My Grand Tour continues on to Rome, Naples and Capri. Waving bye-bye to Vesuvius, I head north to visit Florence, the tower of Pisa (it really does), and motor along the Riviera to Monaco. After a few days lapping up the sun in Cannes, I travel to Paris. Not quite finished, I fly to Prague, and over the next few days I travel by train to Vienna, Salzberg, and Geneva, stopping off along the way to gaze at the electrifying face of the Eiger, the iconic silhouette of the Matterhorn (think Toblerone) and the ice cream tiarra of Mont Blanc, before flying back to London…and home!
