Day Twelve-May 22nd

Up at 7:00 & no time for breakie, so we're down to the Vapo & our "bus" to the termini, and no problems. We get to the station ok & get some coffee Americano & a couple of rolls as we wait. It's a Euro Star to Rome, via Mestre, Bolonga, Florence & onto the Roma termini. We've got our lunch & Crik Croks (chips) so we don't have to starve. I'm Sitting beside a lady from New Hampshire, but had lived in Edmond for 7 years. She is here with her two kids for a tour of the area & they get off in Florence. Now we'll have some lunch-pass the bread , salami & cheese! The trip is lovely with all kinds of farms, vineyards, as we head down the Tiber River Valley. We arrive at the Roma Termini on time & get a taxi back to the Hotel Raineri. This time we're on the 5th floor & a little bit bigger room. Get situated & back out in to the Rome traffic & to the "Capitoline Hill" Museums- the Palazzo Dei Conservatori & the Palazzo Nuovo (both for 12E). Now it's thundering again & rain starts, but we're inside this time. The museums are awesome! There's many paintings & sculptures & even archaeological digs! Of course, as they were building this structure, they uncovered many ancient objects & structures underneath. They have done a great job of showing what was there & some date back to 1200 BC! A reasonably new portico, with the original statue of a mounted Marcus Aurelius. And the "She-wolf" state from Etruscan times-5th century BC-& the twins, Romulus & Remus added on in the 15th century. Colossal items like Constantine I head & other fragments. The courtyard was a Michelangelo design & works by Tintoretto, Rubens, Van Dyck & Titan. The Nuovo has a marble statue of Venus-100 AD-, mosaic of the doves from Hadrian's Villa, the Hall of Philosophers Figures, some Egyptian artifacts from 1265 BC & on & on. By teh time we get out-about 6:00-the rain has stopped & we walk past the hawkers selling umbrellas & get to the Trajan Column-named for the Emperor just prior to Hadrian, but his statue at the top was replaced was replaced with one of St Peter in 1587. There was also ruins of Trajan's Market, similar to the Roman Forum. To our bus & a ride up to the Republicca Plaza & a short walk to the hotel. A little rest, some cheese & wine before dinner..where will we go? Out of the hotel, a left, then right & we find a nice sidewalk cafe, the "C39 Restaurant". It's ok-a liter of wine a pizza & salads & spaghetti. Back up to the Raineri, past the armed military guards & upstairs by 10:15. I shower & journal a little & the girls text & read. We're all in bed by 11:15..a good day!