Posts Tagged ‘Italy’
ROME: Of Emperors and Artichokes
By Chase A. Wolf
Trevi Fountain
Chase’s Log 3.23.2010. Rome: The Eternal City – I know, that’s as cliché as calling Chicago The Windy City, or New York The Big Apple, or Paris That-Beautiful-But-Kinda-Smelly-Place. But you know, The Eternal City is dead-on accurate when describing Rome. Say what you want about other great European centers like London, Paris and Madrid, but they were nothing but backwater Roman outhouses when Rome was the center of the greatest civilization of the ancient world, and, along with ancient Greece, formed the cradle of Western Civilization. (My apologies to all dead ancient Egyptians – you guys had a good run of it too.)
The Gods of Travel gave me a pass on the short flight from Athens to Rome, probably planning something special for my arrival. But at this point, after nearly two months of being on the road, not even the cab driver’s lack of English (or hygiene), or his uncertainty of the location of my hotel, or even the planned political demonstrations that’ll screw up traffic faze me anymore.
Spanish Steps
Eventually, we made our way to the Ville de Roma, Intercontinental – atop the famous Spanish Steps. As was my hotel in Athens, the Intercontinental is typically European, and for reasons unknown and unquestioned I’m upgraded to a very nice room with a queen bed. There was even a balcony overlooking the city and the Spanish Steps, which was an added bonus. Always reliable, the Intercontinental chain.
Unfortunately, all my Global Shopping Adventures meetings have been cancelled. Of course, the Italians were very apologetic and had many good reasons for cancelling. I couldn’t be angry because they were so sincere and apologetic. Plus, I like Italians a lot and suspect I was one in a past life – but more on that later.
So, with no meetings and a couple days to kill, I decided to play tourist and check out a few places I hadn’t seen for awhile. I took a little “walk about” and found myself at the famous Trevi Fountain. Built over several decades in the mid-eighteenth century, it’s a masterpiece of Baroque architecture and sculpture and is widely regarded as the most beautiful fountain in the world.
Street fiddler
Its waters are renowned for their purity and restorative powers and originate in the Alban Hills east of Rome, where they’re transported to the Trevi by the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, general, statesmen and best friend for life of Rome’s first emperor Octavian Augustus, in 19 B.C. Maybe this is what they mean by The Eternal City – the plumbing still works after 2,000 years! Read the rest of this entry »