After strolling through Rome last night and accidentally passing wonderful icons and piazzas as we wandered, we decided not to leave the city for the Appian Way and the catacombs, but to stay in town and discover more.

So thats what we did today. Started out in the ???Jewish Ghetto???, totally enhanced by the Rick Steve's audio guide. We learnt about the history of Rome's Jewish population, how they were prominent in the early days of the Empire, how they were persecuted and forced to live in a ghetto by medieval popes, how they finally gained rights and freedoms after Italy's unification, only to later face Mussolini's Fascism and Nazi occupation. We strolled through the area hearing these stories and gaining a huge appreciation for the history of Italian Jews. We popped into a coffee place here and had AWESOME coffee. I am now an espresso man. This scares me.

Next up, we popped over to the other side of the Tiber River, the Trastevere. This is where the Jewish population lived before medieval Popes forced them into the Ghetto on the other side of the river. Here we did another Rick Steve's audio tour, learning about the history of the area, imagining it throughout the centuries, and visiting some key sites such as the churches of St Cecilia and Saint Maria de Trastevere. We actually went inside St Cecilia's church and popped downstairs to where old Cecilia used to live and hold illegal masses in her house. When Christianity was legalised, they built a church on top of it. This was common practice, apparently. Overall it was a lovely stroll through an area with loads of character, history and vivacious nonnas.

While we were there, we ate at Dar Poeta again. Pizza win!

We took a long stroll back past some major sites, saw the Circo Massimo which used to be used for chariot races but now is just a huge bare park. Made our way to the Basilica de San Clemente. Amazing place. Top level is a 12^th century church, then take some stairs down to see a fascinating 4^th century church, and then another level down is an ancient Temple of Mithrais, an old Roman road, a house and a freshwater spring! Incredible place.

We arrived back home but I decided I still had energy and wanted to do more. So of course I ventured off to another museum ??? this one the Capitaline Museum. Days ago I decided I wouldn't bother with this one, and now I'm so glad I changed my mind! A huge museum spanning two palaces connected by an underground tunnel ??? the museum featured some amazing ancient Roman statues and busts, some renaissance paintings and tapestries, and even a very cool special exhibition of some of the notes and drawings of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Some of Da Vinici's were particularly impressive, his anatomical and mechanical drawings are incredibly precise. There were some massive statues and some iconic ones, including the huge Constantine, giant Marcus Aurelius on his horse, and the excellent statues of Venus, boy with the thorn, dying Gaul…. Ah it was great. I wish I could say at this point I'm sick of going to museums and looking at ancient artworks, but I'm not.

This museum also featured a fantastic view of the forum, a rooftop view of the city, and a million toilets. Marthese should have come!