Thursday 25 April

Marcus Aurelius on horseback on top of the Capitol hill

I was stiff and sore all day after my fall.We went to the Roman Forum on the opposite side of Via dei Fori to the Imperial Forum. We had a good view from the top of the Campidoglio, and we walked down to see the Temple of Vespasian, the Arch of Septimus Severus, the Mamertine prison (no way out), the front of the Curia where meetings were held, and the Temple of Saturn. We stopped for a coffee. Then we took the bus to the Roman National Museum near the main station. They had some interesting sculptures of emperors and gods, altars and mosaics, and portraits of different facial types from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

The Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum

We had a late lunch at Gran Caffe near the station, and caught the 'Pickpocket Express' back to Largo Argentina. We looked in a nice bookshop nearby but weren't tempted. We went up to our pleasant roof garden of the hotel to read. Then we visited the Gesu church of Ignatius Loyola, very Baroque. The church was full of people as if for a service, but there was only a disembodied voice, no priest.

Nice view of the ruins!

We thought of heading to Trastevere again for dinner. We went via a different bridge and found the place to be very crowded. We ended up at a place called Galeassi. We had the menu of the day: spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli, plus chicken pieces with lemon, and a bottle of Friuli Sauvignon 2011. I had a chocolate torte for dessert. Quite a nice meal in the end.