We passed some beautiful scenery in Greece and Macedonia. The train Journey was terrible! It took 15 hours to get from Thesaloniki to Belgrade! We had to move carriage as a Greek woman who had been refused a seat in 1st class arrived with 2 men and was making an awful fuss about if in unbearable high pitched Greek! The new carriage was empty except for the occasional visit from the man next to us who brought us Serbian whisky stuff, biscuits, lots of nuts, which were very nice, and a lighter that I can wait to show off! We had a problem with the heating that wouldn't go off so we shed a few pounds during the night but we made it to Belgrade at around 8am. It was Sunday and the city was still asleep.

We decided to move on to Zagreb in order to arrive there in time to go out into the centre. I'm not quite sure whether is was because it was Sunday night or if it was just too late but at 11pm when we arrived in the main strip places were closing up and there was not much sign of life! We walked a little further up the street when we saw a man holding his head and looking like he was having a really good think. I was just finished commenting on this to Martin when he fell into a load of wicker chairs just out of view of the police man who had walked passed only a moment before. I think this image will stay with me for the rest of my life! We found a pub that was playing reggae then returned to our hostel in order to get up early and see some galleries the following day.

We made our way to the first gallery to find it was closed so we moved on. The woman we asked for directions informed us that most galleries are closed on a Monday! We hadn't really considered that! So we took some photos and visited an ethnographic museum. I jokingly said to Martin "imagine we got to Venice and the galleries were closed on a Tuesday there!". . . . The expression "never tempt fate" springs to mind! . . . . You know the rest! However not all of the galleries in Venice were closed. Infact we managed to see some really nice work. The streets in Venice are beautiful. The old pink and orange buildings that are surrounded by canals and the narrow alleyways that open into big squares with market stalls. I'm not quite sure if it would be possible for me to live there though! I think you'd need to leave for work very early in order to make it in on time! You can't just take a taxi and waiting for the next water bus is something that is very frustrating when your late as I was to find out when I realised how far I was from the station when my train was due in 20 minutes! The streets are so narrow and the buildings are tall so its possible to just keep walking and walking without realising where you are or how far you have walked, as we did.

We arrived in Milan on Tuesday evening. It was nice to get away from the coach loads of tourists and back to the open city. Martin and I had already decided that we would split up and go our separate ways. I originally planned to make my way back towards Romania but I'd missed the train from Venice to Vienna so now I was on my way, in the completely opposite direction, to Bercelona.

I travelled overnight the following day arriving in Barcelona on Thurday morning. I booked my next train ticked, took a map and went on my quest to take in as much Gaudi as I could! . . . Barcelona was a complete inspiration! It had everything I was looking for. Music, beautiful architecture, the fantastic Gaudi park and Galleries where I found some great new artist experimenting with texture. And I didn't even need to try! It was all there waiting for me! I would have liked to have stayed longer but fulfilled and happy with how much I had acheived in a day, I boarded the train to Zurich.

In the morning the mist was rising and the mountains peaked out of the tops of the clouds. The galleries in Zurich all open at 1pm and my train to Munich was due at 1.20 so I had to look through the windows. Being there was like being in a chocolate box picture. It was also very clean. But I had another train to catch.

It was beginning to get dark when I arrived in Munich so I tried to see as much as I could before the night fell. There is the contrast of old and new buildings and the people busy shopping or socialising in the many bars. I joined the latter whilst I waited for my train to take me to my final stop before returning to Cluj-Napoca.

I didn't have lots of time between arriving in Budapest and taking the train to Cluj but I had long enough to see some Art Brut that was being exhibited in the national gallery and quickly make it back to the station. I was quite excited about returning to Romania as I was feeling quite keen to begin working. I arrived back at the hostel just as a party was getting into full swing and I even managed to get a piece of Carlos's birthday cake!