The Euros kick off tonight a year later than planned. I will be bringing you some photos and memories from each nation from every match day.

Today’s match is played at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

Italy

We travelled to northern Sardinia in 2005, actually flying out on 7/7 totally unaware of the atrocities befalling our capital.

We stayed on a farm just outside Olbia. A wonderfully secluded place where all you could hear were the bells clanking around the necks of the resident goats.

The Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast) is a rich man’s playground with huge yachts, mighty villas and luxury hotels very prominent.

I was a tad out of place with our little yellow hire car amongst the Ferraris and Masaratis, but that didn’t stop me enjoying zipping up and down winding hills or along precipitous coastal roads.

It was actually the first time in my life that I had driven on the right. I did OK until driving the wrong way up a one-way street. Just about got away with it!

Sardinia is a wonderful island and I hope to return to explore the south one day.

Turkey

I love Istanbul. From my first visit in the mid ‘90s up to my most recent visit in 2019.

It has often been used as a gateway to journeys further east, but more of that on a later post.

There aren’t many more eclectic destinations that you can get to in under four hours from London.

Although officially Islamic, Turkey’s most famous city is secular in its outlook.

Sat between Europe and Asia, the great city has a multitude of must sees – majestic mosques, the historic Topkapi Palace and the manic Grand Bazaar to name a few.

One of my favorite things to do however is to take a ferry across the Bosporus from Europe to Asia.

Match prediction – Italy 2 Turkey 0