Ok, gather round fellow readers and I might relate to you yet another narcissistic story, only this time, with a new setting. No, I am not here to critique CityRail (though I could readily do that, trust me), or rip on the hallowed and prestigious University of Sydney (also something I could easily do), I'm writing, rather, about a little trip a trophy took to the other side of the world.

Yes, on my journey, I took with me The 18 Cup, with permission of course, in order to photograph it at all the landmarks/tourist spots/points of interest that I stumbled upon. These ranged across seven different countries, from London to Galipoli, Singapore to Venice and Krakow to Hong Kong. Of course, there was nothing to take pictures of in Hong Kong as, no doubt, Communism has killed off everything except slave labour and their own economy. Singapore too was a bit bare, but I took the obligatory photos there.

So, tracking my progress through my holiday, the first stop was Singapore, followed by England, then Turkey, and Poland, with the last significant photos in Italy. The points of interest for these places are as followed:

• On the tray table on the first leg of my trip.
  

Singapore:

• Hotel window;
  
• Back seat pocket in a taxi;
• Boat Quay;

England:

• In the snow that greeted me upon arrival in shorts and shirt (Come on! I had just come from sweltering Singapore!);
  
• At the ANZAC cemetery in Harefield;
• At a pub (The Swan);
• Stonehenge;
  
• In front of the London Eye with the River Themes towards the foreground;
• Downing Street;
• With The 18 Cup champion, sitting beside a lion at the foot of Nelson's Column;
• At the British Museum.

Turkey;

• ANZAC Cove (and again);
• Lone Pine;
• The Nek;
• In front of John Simpson's gravestone;
• In surviving trenches (and again);
• Chunuk Bair;
• Kalyon Bar;
• Inside the Blue Mosque.

Poland:

• Auschwitz;
• The Salt Mines.
  

Italy (Venice):

• On the Rialto Bridge, overlooking the Grand Canal;
• St. Mark's Square.

Italy (Florence):

• In front of the Duomo di Milano;
  
• With the Pontevecchio Bridge in the background from Piazza Michelangelo;
• With the Duomo di Milano in the background from Piazza Michelangelo;
• Where The Cup should have been (*).

Italy (Naples);

• A view of the Mediterranean;
• With some castle/fort behind;
• With the city behind.
  

Italy (Rome):

• The Colesseum;
• Pompeii (and again)(and again);
• Trevi Fountain (and again);
• Quirinal Palace (residence of the Italian President);
• The Sistine Chapel;
• On one of The Pope's carriages;
• St. Peter's Square;
• St. Peter's Basilica (and again);
• Julius Caeser's something or other (burial place, place of his pyre?);
• Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II;
• A view from the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II;
• In front of Communist posters in Rome;
  
• Hotel Bar after spending my last Euros.

And, if you had the patience and want to click each of those links, you would have found, yes, the photos. Apologies for being in some of them; I know that I make an awful photo, it's nothing new. Anyways, as is evident, The Cup has done quite a tour and, it should be known, went international after an impromptu defense in England against two Pom poker players. Without worry or second thought, the current champion stepped up, won, and became the first international champion to see the record books. Of course, some have raised the question "What if you lost?", which is simply like asking "When will Gilchrist bowl?": it's just not happening.

As a side note, the prize pool for the night was two pounds per player (to keep in line with the Australian rules, standards and regulations for The 18 Cup tournament).

I should also warn any 18 Cup players that should they travel abroad or be approached by tourists who, for some strange reason, think they are nationally and internationally renowned for their elite and masterful poker skills that they go along with the ride, lest I be found out to be lying! So I might have embellished some truths ... well, I certainly wouldn't have been lying about myself when I said some of the things anyway.

Thomas.