I’m in Zurich at the moment, feeling a bit sad after everyone has gone back home.

So how are things going ?

At the last update I was suffering with foot problems, with the prospect of a lot of walking to be done with John. The night before his arrival my thoughts were on alternative entertainment for the week, I was in a lot of pain. All I could come up with was sitting in a bar and talking poo, so I’m glad that when I awoke my feet were almost completely pain free. They still had chunks of meat hanging off, but they didn’t hurt.

John and I have been hiking/walking/drinking together pretty much every year for the last 10 and this is easily the hardest week we’ve ever had. There really is too much to write.

We walked over the two mountain passes that Tom took to get over the Alps and onto the River Rhine.

First was the 1995m Passo St Marco, in the Italian, Alpi Orbie, pre-Alps. A hard walk made easier by the stunning scenery and mountain wildlife. Near the top of the pass, there was reputed to be the only reference to Tom’s travels on the actual route. A plaque thanking Tom for writing down the original Latin inscription on the last building in the Venitian Empire. Near the top we asked about it in a mountain restaurant, only to be greeted with confused frowns. Then a chap who had good English suddenly jumped up and said, “I know where that is”, I’m going to check it” and off he went. Quickly John and i grabed our bags and headed off in hot pursuit.

We walked over to an isolated mountain refuge and joined the chap looking up at the side of the building. There it was, the latin inscription and below it a note about Tom. I bristled with excitement and emotion. This really was a milestone of the adventure. Tom had walked this path, he had stood infront of this building, he had been here.

The chap who showed us the plaque actually ran the refuge. So he then gave us a guided tour of the old parts of the building including a very old looking fountain. Tom must have drunk from here. We left the refuge and headed up the last section of the path to the top of the pass. This was a section of the original pass road, completed around 1590, Tom must have walked up this path.

We got to the top and I have to be honest, I blubbed a bit. A few pictures then onto the long road down the other side of the mountain.

I only have 5 minutes left so I will have to continue later. I’m off now to catch a train to Chur, to buy a bike and continue the journey alone the Rhine bike path.

We are now back home in Odcombe, after a very eventful journey across Italy and France. As promised some pictures from Venice are now on the pictures page.

We’re here !! On the 20th November at around 4:00pm we arrived in Fusina having cycled from Legnano. Tom had caught a ferry from Fusina to Venice. True to form, that ferry only runs during the summer, so off season again.

The following day we caught a Vaporetto from Lido, where our hotel is, to Venice itself. We had planned a dramatic landing at the Rialto bridge, but we had to change boats and therefore the first foot on Venice was at around 1:00pm 21st November at a random vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal.

We are expecting to leave Venice on Sunday to start the journey home, so, we should be back in the UK at the start of December.

How do I feel ? tired, relieved, a little empty, ready for a drink and excited about the next stage. It really hasn’t sunk in yet.

However, Venice is really spinning her magic. We have had bright sun, stunning sunsets, the intrigue of nighttime Venice and today it has snowed.

Pictures and posts will follow, when I remember to bring the memory card adaptor.

We didn’t want to rush through Italy, so have made the most of being in a fimiliar place we love, therefore still in Verese.

Good to see that Italians haven’t lost any of their passion, we’ve just found ourselves caught up in a student march - the smell of fireworks was quite prominent, but there was a strong police pressence with the riot van on stand by.

Heading off for Mantua today. It’s a place that Tom fell very much in love with, to the point where he commented that this is a place (second to his beloved Odcombe) that he could live out the rest of his days - it will be really interesting for us to take a look around.

Last nights wind has finally kissed goodbye to the fog and grey skies, we can actually see the stunning mountains. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds out, which will really ease our journey to Venice.

We’ve just had a rare moment in this trip and booked ahead for Venice, there’s some good deals going on at the moment £22 per night, which can you believe is cheaper than the campsite. Just shows that sometimes it does pay to be doing everything out of season.

It’s getting both exciting and tense at this stage! Will add pictures of Italy and the journey ahead on our next update.

Days to go now until we get to Venice. Having taken time off and met up with friends this week, we’re feeling ready for the final leg - just need to keep our fingers crossed that everything holds up. Our arrival day should be Sunday - so here goes!

We have had some feedback about the site, and it’s time to give a little insight into our feelings, both as we approach our major milestone and how we’ve been feeling over the last couple of weeks.

We’ve both experienced very mixed emotions; walking through the Alpes was amazing - fantastic weather, breath-taking scenery and a real feeling of achievement. John joining us for that part of the trip was as uplifting as the views.

Arriving in Italy however, I felt that here we go again, another country, another culture that we have to quickly get into the swing of. We had both managed to find our feet in France, had gotten used to it’s quirks, routines and people, it had began to feel very comfortable and natural traveling around.

Since being in Italy the weather has been very bleak; foggy and grey; this coupled with the nights drawing in, has had an effect on both of our moods. We have gotten fairly low at points recently. Getting to Turin was a massive boost, as we were able to wonder around getting to know the city and become accustomed to Italian life again. (Tom himself didn’t see much of Turin as he fell sick, I don’t know what he would have made of the museum of cinema! I’m sure the mere concept in his day would have blown him away)

Giving up not only your job but your creature comforts can have quite a dramatic effect. The physical demands can be tough on there own, but that’s all a case of building muscle strength, stamina and a good diet. It’s the emotions and mood swings you go through which are the toughest part, you can have several mood swings in one day, and not just one month! The littlest thing can get you down or perk you up.

For me the trip so far feels almost like going into rehab, for the last 4 months we’ve been stripped of the usual things that clutter your time and mind. You have a lot of time to think, clear your mind and concentrate on the things that really matter to you and your life. I’ve found it has been both exhausting and refreshing.