Translation…the Trevi Fountain. Located of course in the beautiful Italian city of Rome. Of course it was on my list when I visited. We have all seen it in one film or another, but I saw it in La Dolce Vita.
I would love to have it all to myself and have the cool water cascading down my long hair, with my gorgeous Italian prince, Marcello wading in after me…ahem…on my, sorry….got a bit lost in the moment there.
Right. Back to the fountain.
It certainly looks large on screen, but it also seems like it would be a tourist attraction, set in the middle of Roma-Disney. You know the kind. Lines of people, pushing and shoving to get to a massive fountain in the middle of nowhere.
But imagine my surprise as we wound around the little cobblestone alleyways, the peach and ocher building fitting together like old, worn puzzle pieces, laundry hanging from the balconies. We walked past a few stores and cafes…and there it was! Bam! Larger than life.
This beautifully structured piece of art, with deliciously cool azure water flowing from every statue’s eye, ear and orifice is sort of sandwiched in betwixt and between houses, shops and cafes. At best..its a work of art. At worst…it looks totally out of place.
The Baroque style fountain gets is name from its location – the junction of 3 roads (hence tre vie, 3 roads in Italian) that intersect at that very spot of one of the ancient aqueducts that provided Rome with water. Though finished in 1762, it was recently given a thorough cleaning and special pumps were installed to recirculate the water. Perfect timing. I got to see it sparkling clean and with fresh looking water. And no dizzying chlorine smell either.
The most obvious reason people come is to see the beautiful fountain itself. Neptune, the horses, the snakes..they all are so detailed and look so life-like. But the other reason is of course – the coins
People, there is gold in them thar waters! There is a constant plink, plunk (plunk being the heavier coins of course) sound that resembles the ‘cha-ching’ of an old fashioned cash register as the money keeps rolling in.
I wondered how much coin it actually amounts too. About 3.000€ ($4,038.48) a day to be exact! The coins are collected at night and the money goes to help feed the needy. What a nice way to spend a few coins, don’t ya think?
Of course when visiting the fountain, you must participate in the sport of the Roman Coin Toss (ok, maybe it is a tourist sport). There are very diverse rules and outcomes. It is a commonly known tradition that if you throw one coin over your right shoulder, into the fountain, you will seal your fate of a return trip to Rome. Other reported current trends state that two coins thrown in will mean a wedding very soon, while three coins will lead to divorce. How many coins do you think I tossed?
