Leap Of Faith Travels: Italian Beginnings

Lake Garda, Venice & Verona Italy

Sunday 16^th March 2014

Well, this is where I begin my incredible life of travel for the first time by myself. I was eager and nervous at the same time but my passion drove me forward as I left home for Newcastle. I had arrived at Bewick Street at Newcastle just off the central train station at 3:15am waiting for the national holidays coach to pick me up. As I was waiting I was watching on at the crowds of drunken men and women leaving Newcastle’s clubs which made me laugh giving the fact I was the only sober one at that moment in Newcastle. The coach eventually arrived at 3:45am and as soon as my bag was packed into the coach we set off with me waving goodbye to my family. The journey was peaceful along the way with pickups too which included Gateshead, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, and Darlington. From Darlington we headed straight to our first stop of the journey at Woodall to change coaches at 8:15am. I entered into the new coach along with many other eager passengers and we were off to Dover. As I had a look around the coach, I couldn`t help but notice I was the only young person on it. This made me laugh but I didn`t care as I knew this was going to be a fantastic experience. The driver and co-driver were absolutely friendly and funny too giving us useful information along the way. From Woodall to Dover the biggest highlight for me was seeing the centre of London right in the distance making out Canary Wharf. A very long journey resulted in us arriving at Dover at 12:30pm and as luck would have it we just so happened to get straight onto the ferry just before it set off. The white cliffs of Dover were a spectacular sight to see as we set sail for Calais. It was a weird moment leaving the UK by myself standing at the back of the ferry watching the white cliffs becoming ever smaller as we were slowly approaching France. Arriving in Calais was very exciting as I knew there would be new and interesting things to see ahead of me. However, throughout the trip in France it started to get depressing as the journey and scenery were nothing more than huge valleys and farms which were a bit tedious to see. After a couple of stops along the French countryside we finally arrived at a place called Metz where we would be spending the night in a 4 star Best Western Hotel. Despite the hotel being in the middle of nowhere, it felt incredible knowing that I was in France. Also my room was amazing with a lovely layout, plenty of space and a king size bed to finish it off. After watching a bit of French TV, I headed downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby for some food. I had a chicken leg with gritan and for a dessert I had a plate of three different types of cheese. They were both nice to have with an expensive desperado to wash it all down. I then headed back upstairs for a very early night in order to get up early for the second leg of the journey. I was hoping the scenery would be a lot better tomorrow. Despite the lack of sights and scenery, my excitement and anticipation never stopped me regretting getting a coach holiday. Knowing I would be in Italy tomorrow really made me happy.