Our last day in Rome and so much still to do! We managed to negotiate a 3 o'clock check out from the hotel and set off on a mission to see the Forum and the Colosseum, the main popular landmarks that we had not seen so far.

We set off at a brisk trot from the hotel, crossed the Ponte Cavour and headed in what should have been a relatively straight forward journey towards our goal. Hold on a minute! This is Rome, and all roads lead, well, somewhere else, at least somewhere else from where you are trying to get to. There are zero street signs and street names are fairly rare which doesn't help. You think you are going one way but the roads keep veering ever so gently to the right and you end up quite a long where from where you wanted to be.

However, we are very determined and found our way there in the end. We turned a corner and there was the huge and rather unexpected Vittorio Emmanuel II monument. I heard that it has been described as the wedding cake of Italy and you can sort of understand why. We had fun crossing the roads which are very wide and full of relentless looking traffic. We began to realise that so long as you step out bravely and keep walking the traffic will actually stop for you. It may race behind you and in front of you but will not kill you, at least probably not! It's as good as a fairground thrill ride for increasing the heart rate but much cheaper!!

Past the monument we eventually came upon the Roman Forum. There was a relatively short queue for tickets but this was cruelly misleading. They were managing to process at least one person every 10 minutes so I suppose we should have been grateful. We were going to buy a combined ticket for the Forum and the Colosseum which saved further queueing but, to our horror they informed us on arrival at the ticket booth that the Colosseum was closed on 14th and 15th, today and tomorrow, 'for security reasons' apparently. Very disappointing and we were not best pleased to be paying the same money but they sweetly announced that we would get one ticket free because it was Valentine's Day so I suppose that's ok??

We enjoyed our wander round the Roman Forum. Again there is no need to go into detail but it was fun to wander around all these ancient relics and soak up the atmosphere and the reminder that plenty of people came before us and left their mark and there will no doubt be plenty more coming after. It was perhaps unusual though to be picking our way through the mud and slush and to see the water iced over on the pond in the house of the vestal virgins.

We left by the back gate and our attention was caught by some water colours displayed on the railings. The sunlight shining through made them very appealing and we bought our first and only souvenir from our Rome trip to the great delight of the artist.

We walked down the path towards the Colosseum. As mentioned previously it was closed today but this did not prevent us from enjoying its imposing presence as we walked around it. We were amused by the number of men dressed as Roman soldiers who were hoping to encourage you to pay to have a photo with them but in us they were disappointed.

Time was now running short so we walked back to the hotel as fast as we could and enjoyed a welcome beer while finishing off the packing. Time to check out and head for the airport and the end of another great trip. Rome we love you, but please let the next visit be warmer!!