The unnamed British male diarist, accompanied by his friends Edwin Thorne and Beach, traveled to Germany, Austria, and Italy. He appears to have written this account, with ornately rubricated dates, from notes taken during the trip. Rather than staying long in one place he prefers to "get a general notion of a great many places, their interesting features and the manners and customs of the people." On the trip they encounter the prominent British lawyer Sir George Jessel, the family of the late mayor of Wolverhampton Isaac Jenks, a 72-year-old captain, and Mr. Davies, a solicitor of Denbigh. They go to Brussels, Mainz, Munich (sees art, churches, cemetery, theatre, concerts), Passau, Linz, Vienna (visits cathedral, churches, museum in the arsenal, Belvidere art museum, concert in the park conducted by Strauss' son, Royal Treasury, Gallery of Antiquities, Imperial stables), and take the Simmering Pass mountain railway through the Styrian and Julian Alps. In Italy they go to Venice (describes gondolas, has mixed reaction to "ancient grandeur even under the pall of decay," visits churches, art gallery, St. Mark's (San Marco) Square, Campanile, Palace of the Doges, gondola race), Verona (visits Roman amphitheatre arena, churches, purported house and tomb of Juliet), Milan (visits church containing the neglected da Vinci Last Supper), Lake Como, Lake Lugano, the Simplon Pass, Geneva, and Paris. He describes the countryside; is disappointed by the scenery along the Danube River; comments on the physical appearance of the people; describes the food, drink, and accommodations; and briefly describes the artwork and statuary they see. They consult Baedeker's travel book for recommended sites to see.
