Rome Day 2

We had a great night's sleep and got going somewhat early. Yesterday was hot, but today was a bit cooler. We started the day with breakfast (croissant and coffee) at a cute outdoor cafe. It was the best people watching spot! Then we toured "Ancient Rome." First, we saw the Santa Maria do Aracoeli which is a church that is known for the Santa Bambino, a much revered olive wood figure of baby Jesus (today it holds a replica as the real one was stolen in 1994 and was never found!) We then went to the Forum, Palentine Hill, Wedding Cake, Colliseum, and Trastevere, Rome's "Greenwich Village." I loved Trastevere! It was very authentic with mom and pop type shops and cafes, ivy growing on sides of buildings, wooden shutters, window boxes filled with flowers, winding cobblestone streets and alleyways with clothes lines criss crossing from house to house. We also climbed up a huge hill to see a 180 degree panoramic view of Rome. It was called Bianicolo Janiculum. We walked a TON today, but it was so interesting!!!! One thing I noticed is that Rome is very crowded with lots of traffic (and pretty much you just drive at your own risk...not many stop lights or signs) so the cars are small so they can zip around. Lots of motorcycles too. What I found interesting is that the cars park extremely close to each other and the buildings AND almost every car is scraped up! Wayne said they don't treat their cars like personal (valuable) possessions like us...they are just for getting around and if the side gets scraped up in the process, oh well!