May 12---last day in Rome

I began once again by boarding the #64 bus and going to Termini because I wanted to visit the Baths of Diocletian.  The most interesting part, to me, was the church designed by Michelangelo that had been part of the baths.  Today, it is very elaborate, as shown above.  I was there on a Sunday morning so, after a little exploring, I went to the Mass.  It was excellent, and I was glad I sat down a little early as "visitors" were held at the door and not seated in the pews, as I was.  I actually sat next to one of the most interesting features of the church, La Meridiana.  It was laid out in 1702 and points due north.  It acts as a sundial and is also a calendar.  A little ray of sun comes in through a hole cut high in the wall. It was overcast when I was there, so I didn't get to see it as it functions.  Here is a picture of a portion of it:

It is completely roped off as they don't want people walking on it.

After the Mass, I went to another church where I saw a famous Bernini statue showing Saint Teresa in ecstasy.  On a sunny day, the light shines in and illuminates her.  There is a quote printed out that explains Bernini's inspiration.  In that quote, Saint Teresa describes how she was pierced by an angel.  It is all very dramatic.  She felt pain and also ecstasy. I didn't take this picture. It wasn't that well-lit for me, but it is a beautiful statue and I could feel the emotion,

I then walked down the Via XX Septiembre laid out in 1870 to commemorate Italian nationalism.  I saw the Fountain of Moses which was quite dirty.  I didn't take a picture.  I then reached an intersection where there are four fountains.  It was pretty interesting.  I had expected a fountain in the center, but there were four fountains on building surrounding the intersection.  This is one of them:

This one is the goddess Juno.  

I continued on to the Palazzo del Quirinale which is the residence of the President of Italy.  It was open and tourable---but I didn't have reservations!  So I hung out for awhile in the Piazza del Quirinale which was great.  Here's a photo:

I then wound my way back to my favorite restaurant.  It was still pretty early, but Italians eat lunch late....particularly on the weekends.  I didn't write the name of it down, but I had polenta with meat sauce and it was amazing.  I was sitting outside and it started to rain and then hail, so I moved inside.  I had pretty much finished the polenta, but had a little more wine.  I left there and went to throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain since it was my last day in Rome.  It was still raining, but I threw in a euro.   I wandered back and (I love this) my polenta bowl was still on the table.  So Italian--why go out in the rain to clean up?  Just do it when the rain really stops.

I hopped back onto the #64 bus to go to my apartment.  It was very crowded!!!  Sad to say, I think that is when I lost my phone...or it was stolen.  We had been advised to be careful of pickpockets on that bus, so I guess it should have been expected...but it wasn't.  I had planned on taking uber to the airport, but you can't do that without a phone.  I remembered seeing a taxi stand near my apartment, so that is how I got to the airport the next morning and headed for home.

It was a great trip!!!