After a hot summer day in Rome, you wonder why they didn’t conquer England first. Just march straight north until things cool off. Modern Rome has its cool spots, of course — the churches provide climatological sanctuary along with the extraordinary art and hushed mood of peace eternal, and the aqueducts pipe cold potable water to the drinking fountains that might have been used by Keats. (Googling “can you get tuberculosis from a Roman fountain” . . . whew.) You can always enjoy the mist that rises from the pounding streams at the Trevi Fountain, if you can get close. On this day you could not, in fact, get close. Too many people throwing money away.
It was explained to us thus by a local: Throw a coin over your shoulder backward, and you will return to Rome. Throw two coins and you will find love. Throw three coins and you will get a divorce. The last one was new to me, and it seems odd for the seat of the church, no? It’s like learning that throwing four coins assures a voluntary pregnancy termination . . . hey now, wait a minute, you’re just adding new legends to make extra money. Confess: there’s a Council of Trevi that rolls out new legends every few years to goose the tourist revenue. Coming in 2035: toss ten coins over your shoulder for permanent refugee status!
Comments