In just over two weeks I will be winging my way towards Central Europe to see my favourite band play 4 concerts.

In the space of 7&1/2 days I’ll take 4 flights and 6 intercity train rides travelling the following itinerary: Mersin-Adana-Istanbul – Basel-Bern – Bologna-Verona-Milan – Geneva-Basel – Istanbul-Adana-Mersin.

The concert tickets are paid for, hotels reserved and flights booked. I’m really looking forward to having a break, eating Italian and Swiss food, meeting friends and seeing Pearl Jam in concert. Pearl Jam began their European tour in Dublin on Wednesday.

As a prelude to the trip, I made bruschetta, the Italian favourite, last weekend. I found a few perennial basil plants on a random street in a different part of Mersin and ‘borrowed’ a few leaves. It is a national tragedy that Turks don’t feature basil in their cuisine.

I can’t wait to eat real bruschetta in Italy.