Fifth Week in Rome and Tivoli

Last week has been busy, and the internet in our apartment is broken so it has been hard for me to get online.  Luckily there is an cafe with free wifi across the street but every time I use the internet there I have to buy something.  The weather has been great - its around 60 degrees here now and tourist season is approaching so the streets have been a lot busier and restaurants I didn't even know about now have outdoor seating.  
For my ancient art history class this past Thursday, we went to the Ara Pacis museum.  I liked the building a lot.  It was a completely white modern-style building and inside was the ruins and reconstruction of the Ara Pacis which is an ancient altar dedicated to the god of peace that built during Emperor Augustus's rule.  Augustus's mausoleum is across the street from the Ara Pacis, but it was difficult to see well since they are doing new excavations there.  
Over the weekend I went to Tivoli with one of my roommates and our other friend.  It was only a 3 euro train ticket and we got to sit first class on the way back haha. In Tivole, we went to the Villa D'este which is the old home of one of the son's of a Pope from the Late Renaissance period.  We walked through the house, which has beautiful frescoes in each room.  The gardens and fountains outside were amazing and it wasn't too crowded so inside was really quiet.  There is another villa in Tivoli called Villa Hadrian, which is from the ancient period.  We didn't have time to go, however, but hopefully I will find some time to go back.
I went to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere yesterday as well.  It was much bigger inside than it looks from the outside.  Apparently, the mosaic above the alter features the first depiction of both Mary and Jesus on the throne together.  The marble inside was taken from parts of ancient buildings and the capitals on the columns inside are mismatched.

Ara Pacis

Basilica di Santa Maria

Villa D'este in Tivoli