Forum of Trajan and Galleria Colonna

Ciao,
I didn't have firm plans for today except I knew it would be hot and I would want apericena.  I had an idea of where I wanted to go in the city, and some about two and a half weeks, I think I am finally getting to know the place and feel more comfortable and confident.  Anyway the sites I saw provided more than I expected and so were a extra pleasure
I got out at Metro Barbarini having plotted my route.  I made my way toward Trevi Fountain--which truly is magnificent, but I don't get why tourists think they need to make a special effort to get there.  The piazza was packed, and about half the crowd was touts.
My desired street, or so my map claimed ran right out of the piazza.  I looked. I tried every single outlook.  Nope.  Then I decided to pretend that one likely looking street of a different name was the one I wanted.  Experience in many European cities has taught me that streets can change names often several times.  I walked.  Nope.  Walked some more.  Still no.  Then the street opened up into a piazza that was labeled with the name I wanted and the street was called that from then on.  I passed the Galleria Colonna.  I noted the location for later and went on.  I was looking for a Roman site, but I could not find it.  Feeling frustrated, I decided to visit the Forum of Trajan, which was right there in front of me.  Good choice, Pil.
I was annoyed at the high price of admission, but in fact the site is much larger than I realized, and the exhibits are well displayed and marked.  I did not realize it but the inside part of the museum where the visitor begins is the top story of Trajan's famous hemicycle.  The route takes one down floor by floor until one reaches the level of the forum itself.  There's nothing especially distinguished about the fragments of statuary (except for some panels from the Column of Trajan, which are incredible) and inscriptions on display, but there are a lot of videos and models, so I ended up with a good idea of what the place had been like.  Roman Emperors made a point of investing in public places for their citizens, and the Forum offered a lot of amenities but mostly was an administrative center.  I spent a couple of hours there.
Then I went back to the Galleria Colonna.  My guidebook gave me to understand that while the offerings were good, there wasn't that much to see.  My guidebook was wrong.  While not as extensive as some other palazzos I have visited, the Galleria Colonna is exceedingly richly decorated.  The ceiling and wall frescos are magnificent--surely the equal of those I saw at Villa d'Este, and there is a nice collection of Renaissance and Baroque Art.  The gem of the collection is acknowledged to be Annibale Carracci's The Bean Eater.  It is an uncharacteristic work of a peasant eating beans, but its rough style is so direct and vivid.  His other work is mostly gods and goddesses and fancy frescoes.
I realized I was out of money, but I remembered my bank had a branch nearby.  It was one of those ones where the atms are inside, but you can insert your bank card to get it.  This worked for me!
Then feeling pretty cocky, I got on a bus.  Ha ha.  I went to Termini again because there is a branch of the food emporium EatItaly nearby.  I was just scouting.  I didn't get anything, but there is some nice stuff there, and you could also order food and drink to consume on their pleasant terrace.
Some of my apericena is left over pizza.  It's still great even washed down with Prosecco this time.