I ended my trip through Italy with a visit to Sicily. Originally I'd hoped to get off the beaten trail a bit, but with limited time I ended up being more pragmatic. From the moment I departed Milan, the trip already promised to be exciting as Marco and I were met at the airport by police in full riot gear. As we passed through their ranks, they were strapping on their helmets and lifting their shields. Only later after arriving in Sicily did I discover what all the excitement was, George Bush was visiting Rome for the G8 summit and huge masses of people were all trying to congregate there to protest his presence. Had I known, I may have postponed the next leg of my journey from Rome to Sicily and taken part in the protest myself.

As the train approached Sicily, I was quite curious as to how we'd get from the mainland to the island. I was impressed when I didn't have to get off the train, but instead they simply drove the whole thing onto a large ferry. I arrived in Messina after 13 hours, quite ready to stretch my legs. The following day I took a hydrofoil out to Lipari in the Aeloian Islands. From there I headed to the touristy fishing village, Cefalù. And finally I ended up in Palerma, from where I flew back to London.