I’ve used The Tube in London. The Metro in Paris, the NY subway and today I traveled in the metro in Rome. It was Sunday and crowded. But it worked flawlessly and cost about $3 for an all-day pass. I found the ads which were posted on the walls very interesting. I was also surprised by the many ads for McDonald’s! My nearest stop from the hotel was at the Spanish Steps.
When I got off at the Termini stop the crowds were 20 people deep. This is the largest train station in Rome and a major transfer point on the subway taking people to the airport and throughout the city. I was heading to the Ostiense district out of old Rome on the B train. When I arrived and emerged from the station I was standing near a very modern structure. It wasn’t passing over water rather it passed over the metro’s tracks.
I was was excited to see a show about the contemporaneous cultures of Etruscans and Egyptians during the 8th-7th BCE. at the Centro Montimartini outpost of the Capitolini Musuem. The exhibit frames a dialogue between two Mediterranean-facing empires who communicated, shared, and engaged in commerce with each other. Most of the Etruscan pieces were excavated at Vulci near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea 80 KM northwest of Rome. The artists of Vulci were known for their bronze sculptures most vanished with a few exceptions. The Chimera in Arezzo is one. The tombs of wealthy Etruscan’s contained Egyptian goods as well as their own beautiful art and jewelry.
I have long been fascinated with Etruscan culture. This piece below is a wonderful example of granulation.
Seeing this show opened my mind further to the astonishing culture and talent of this little known people. Volci will be a destination next time.
The show is held in a 19th CE electricity producing factory. The machinery has been preserved and provides a remarkable backdrop to the second floor exhibit of items excavated on the Capitiline Hill.
Artifacts discovered during the excavations of the Termini (train station) came from an Augustan-period garden full of statuary and mosaics. This exhibit is on the second floor. What a glorious place that garden must have been. The remnants of salvaged mosaic floors alone are remarkable.
I loved this statue of a young girl. Notice her charming boots. Very much like the ones many of us own today.
This is such a beautiful sculpture of a German–probably a warrior–captured by the Romans. His funerary casket is decorated on the corners with these faces.
I had a thoroughly wonderful time gazing and pondering these magnificent pieces some Greek some Roman. Finally I grew weary and headed back outside.
As I walked back over the bridge I realized I was tired and hungry. It had gotten very hot and I needed to get out of the sun. I spied an outdoor cafe behind a tall laurel hedge its umbrella-shaded patio beckoned. 
An English-speaking waiter seated me and proffered a menu. I ordered braised chicory and salmon souvide, a big bottle of sparkling water and a glass of prosecco. The salmon was impeccable. The waiter is the lead singer in a Malhini. Their first album is coming out soon to be followed by a US tour. I offered to be his tour guide if they get to Seattle.
I returned to the Spanish Steps, the Spagna stop, where the crowds were even bigger and walked to my hotel. Took a quick shower. Wrapped myself in a towel and napped until 7:30!
Then I got up, dressed and went out for dinner. I found a sweet little place–Sopra Soto–(name to change soon to Don) very near Cipasso recently purchased by two very nice guys who kindly sat me at a 4-top!
I ordered the classic Cacio and Pepe, bruscette and an amazing tiramisu. The star of the evening was the Mufatto– dessert wine–heavenly with the tiramisu.
What a day! Delicious in every way. How to work off all this food and wine? More walking!
SYNTHESIS 