The EFAS Fellowship of 2002 comprised of visits to five different centres in three countries. The two travelling fellows were Mr Rhys Thomas from University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff and Dr Christos Alexandropolous from Health Centre of Myconos, Greece (Fig. 1). Our first visit was to Professor Sandro Giannini at the Instituto Orthopedico Rizzoli, Bologna. As we walked up the hill towards the hospital we could not fail to be impressed by this fine building that originally served as a monastery. The morning was spent observing Prof. Giannini in the operating theatre where he performed osteochondral grafting for lesions of both the tibia and talus, and also the ‘SERI’ distal osteotomy for hallux valgus. After a leisurely lunch the Professor presented a number of interesting talks including his results of reconstruction following failed ankle fracture fixation. The next morning was again spent in theatre where we were able to observe such a case. The fellows then visited the biomechanics and gait analysis laboratory and met Dr Leardini who discussed his role in the development of a new three component total ankle replacement. The afternoon was spent on a fascinating tour of the Institute’s library and the office of Professor Vittorio Putti, former Director at Rizzoli. Putti’s office has been preserved in its original state and is a trove of orthopaedic treasures containing first editions of many valuable books including Andry’s ‘L’Orthopedie ou L’Art’. The library is no less impressive. The centrepiece is a huge globe dating from the 1760s. The globe goes some way to representing an easier sporting world as it does not contain Australia! The library receives an impressive 150 journals per month. After a weekend exploring Bologna we faced a 9 h train journey to Lyon. For one of the fellows this journey was interrupted by a stay in gaol at the French/Italian border. The border police were rather concerned that a Greek male should have ‘F’ marked under ‘Sex’ on his passport! We both eventually arrived in Lyon to be met by Dr Jean-Luc Besse. The following morning we joined Dr Besse at Hospital Lyon-Sud. We spent two days in theatre with Dr Besse during our stay, assisting with a number of cases including Scarf osteotomies of both first and fifth metatarsals and tendoAchilles reconstruction. It was easy to sympathise with the trouble Dr Besse was having with bed availability for his inpatients. A scientific meeting was organised within the hospital. Dr Besse presented papers on ‘Semi-automated foot Xray assessment using the Footlog software’ and ‘Calcaneal intra-articular fracture osteosynthesis’ while Dr Alexandropolous presented ‘Evaluation of the LaugeHansen, AO and Broos-Bishop classification systems for ankle fractures’ and ‘Deep tissue infections of the diabetic foot’. Mr Thomas presented the results of ‘Functional outcome and gait analysis following isolated ankle arthrodesis’ and ‘Functional outcome following free fibula graft harvest’. Following the meeting we were taken, as guests of Professor Moyen, to watch the French football champions Olympique Lyon play, and beat, Lens. The next few days were spent exploring the many sights of Lyon. The fellows were kindly hosted by EOS medica on a visit to the beautiful medieval village of Perouges. Fortunately the train journey across the Swiss border to Geneva passed without event. We were hosted in Geneva by Dr Marino Delmi, President of the Swiss Foot and Ankle Society, at the Hopital Universitaire de Geneve. The day was spent discussing difficult cases, visiting interesting patients on the ward and in the out-patients clinic. We also met with Dr Abdi Raissi, a visiting fellow from Columbus, USA. The next day was spent assisting with a tibiotalocalcaneal fusion and a Watermann-Green osteotomy for hallux limitus. The fellows then presented at a scientific meeting and also heard papers from Dr Raissi on ‘Arthroscopic capsular shrinkage of the ankle’ and Dr Delmi on ‘Heel pain-surgical release of the first branch of the lateral plantar nerve’ and ‘Limited open repair of Achilles tendon ruptures’. Generous gifts from the Clinique d’Orthopedie and the Swiss Foot and Ankle Society were given to the participants. The fellows ate a rather