A very pleasant train trip (1.5 hours) passed in the blink of an eye as I had the good fortunate of a lovely young couple plonking themselves down in the empty seats beside me. He was Australian from Melbourne she was Italian originally from Ravenna but they were now living in the UK. Bonus for me was lots of great advice from a local on where and what I have to eat and see while here.

The piadine (come kind of sandwich/wrap cross I think!) is apparently a local speciality as is the cappaletto (little hats pasta). I shall definitely have to try both of those dishes.

The walk from the station to the old part of town is up a lovely tree lined avenue offering plenty of shade from the beating sun (38 degrees) but thankfully no humidity. Lots of cobble stones and only pedestrian traffic once you are in the old city itself which is a living museum and beautifully clean. The cobbled streets are quite wide which I find unusual as most that I have seen in other places have tended to be little narrow ones but I suppose the width must have been to cater for carriages in days gone by.

I found the hotel easily and after unpacking set off to explore this amazing city which, in the 5th century, was the seat of the Roman Empire and then of Byzantine Italy until the 8th century. There are 8 early Christian monument and mosaics which are UNESCO World Heritage Listed and amazingly they all stand till today in great condition. I shall enjoy exploring each of them fully over the next week.

Michelle