We got up quite late and had a leisurely breakfast. Full marks to th Visconti Palace, their so-called Continental breakfast was in fact a feast!

It was hard to ignore the fact that the weather outside did not look exactly welcoming, grey skies and rain. We were determined not to waste the day and wrapped up warm in coats, scarves, gloves, boots, the lot. (Is this really Rome??) Once outside it was clear that whatever we were wearing it still wasn't enough. The rain was coming down in torrents, mixed with a lot of white sleety bits and we were absolutel freezing!

We walked briskly to the Piazza Cavour to find out about the buses for Saturday only to find that the bus ticket machine had been vandalised - good start! As we walked across the square we saw piles of snow left over from the recent storms. Not a very encouraging sight. We walked in the direction of the river dodging huge puddles along the way as we weaved in and out of parked cars and risked our lives crossing roads. Luckily there didn't seem to be too much traffic about.

Our first sight of the River Tiber, impressive but dark green, cold and forbidding too. We crossed by the Ponte Umberto 1 and set off amongst the cobbled streets. Our aim was to find The Pantheon and so have achieved something in spite of the weather. We were soon very lost and became aware that we were going round in circles. To be fair, it was far too cold and wet to get the map out and all the people out were tourists like us! We had our back to the river as we walked, so please don't ask me to explain how we ended up at the river again!

Anyway, the Piazza Navona was very nice, the first, second and also the third time we ended up there! Apparently they used to hold jousting tournaments there in the Middle Ages. Now it is most famous for Bernini's Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi, a fountain depicting the great rivers of the four continents (Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa) and incorporating an Egyptian obelisk.

We stopped at a small bar and revived ourselves with hot chocolate and a sandwich. We did our best to dry off a bit as the blood rushed back into our fingers then into the fray once more. Picking our way through the mud and puddles we decide that pavements in Rome are even worse than those in Hong Kong and that is a serious indictment to be sure! Even in such awful weather, though, we had to admit that Rome is full of beautiful buildings and it is just a pity that our hands were too cold to take many photos.

After our third visit to the Piazza Navona we decided to give up on trying to find the Pantheon and head back to the hotel. You've guessed it, within 5 minutes we stumbled across The Pantheon without even trying! It wasn't a completely happy ending though. A small notice on the door informed us that The Pantheon would be closed on 10th and 11th February! Ok, so what joker had that brilliant idea!!

We headed back to the hotel as fast as possible, freezing cold, soaked right through our clothes and shoes and definitely feeling ready to call it a day. Dry again and down in the bar we watched the snowflakes starting to fall outside. Not quite the spring break we had in mind!