Well, it had to end at some point. Yesterday was pretty much a chill out day and I gave myself a bit of time to get some Christmas shopping done (see picture). Cue a couple of hours of mad dashing around various places in the shopping quarter, not all that designer though I'm afraid. After that it was time for an espresso and I aimed for the Piazzo Navona where I had passed through on my walk on Wednesday.

The Piazzo is a bustling square which used to be used for public executions in the Roman times. Thankfully now it was a bit more placid with a great Christmas market and lots of nice things to eat, predominantly meat based. In the afternoon I relaxed around a couple more Piazzos and generally drank coffee and people watched. I think I may be Italian.

Dinner was just a quick pizza near the hotel so I could get back, packed and bed ready for the train journey this AM to Roma Airport.

So there you go; Ten days. Six cities. One happy Si. Now it's back to Manchester, pick up a final couple of presents and head back Nottingham for a great Christmas and New Year. I'm looking forward to a bit of relaxing to be honest, I thought holidays were meant to be easy...?!

Why did I do it? Why get a flight and b***** off for as long as possible? Well I needed the space to be quite brutal about it. The isolation of being in a foreign country (or two) is both splendid and difficult. But most of all it gave me the time to process the events of the past 4 months, consolidate things in my head and be strong enough to make 2012 my best year yet.

A couple of thank you's if that's ok... Jess, Martyn, Ryan and Tally-dog; thank you for taking me in to the Slade Lane massive, I do appreciate all you've done for me. Emma, cheers for being my little buddy, you will be fine, we are all here for you. The lads at work, Mike, Fishy, Chris for being brilliant since the start of September and making my job a million times easier, let's keep it up for 2012! Thank you in advance to my Nottingham contingent (you know who you are) for an awesome Christmas and New Year, I'm all yours! Also a big thank you for all the comments on the blog and texts from everyone while I been away, it's just about kept me sane!

Finally thank you to my great family; Mamma, Tony, Mags, Benj, Lynn, Shaun, Lea, Mum and Dad. I couldn't and wouldn't have done any of this without you all. Soppy I know, but I do appreciate all your support since September. Who would have thought, 8 weeks or so ago, sitting in Albert's Shed in Didsbury, Mum and Dad egging me on to go away, I would have done all this? Amazing.

Let me leave you with one little phrase that wonderfully sums up what I've managed, with all your help, to do. It's everywhere you look in Rome, it's always been my favourite Latin saying and I have a little fridge magnet going up in our kitchen to constantly remind me of the Petit Grande Tour;

"Carpe Diem" - Seize The Day

Have a very Merry Christmas and happy, prosperous New Year,

Si x

(Belt 4, Arrivals, Terminal 1, Manchester Airport)