Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain is Rome's largest and most famous fountain. Visitors will hear the roaring fountain well before they see it and will be taken aback by its striking beauty and blue-green flowing water. The fountain depicts Oceanus, Titan of an enormous river that ancient Greeks and Romans believed encircled the globe, surrounded by two women, Abundance and Virtue. Legend says that tossing a coin over your shoulder will ensure a return trip to the Eternal City. A second coin will bring you an Italian lover, and a third coin will have you marrying him or her. Over 3,000 Euros a day are collected from the fountain and donated to support Rome's needy.

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Seeing the Trevi Fountain transports you from the modern hustle and bustle of Rome to a place I imagine Atlantis would feel like. The magical and well-lit aquatic masterpiece is an exciting place for both children and adults. Its fame is due in large part to two different movies – the notorious scene Federico Fellini’s leading lady actually gets into the fountain in La Dolce Vita, and Three Coins in a Fountain. The coin-throwing tradition is noted in the latter film: throw one coin across your chest and behind your shoulder to wish to return to Rome; the second coin, to return with a lover; and the third will bring you marriage or divorce… although, as a child, my tour guide told me it was to wish you’d return to the Italian capital – without your mother-in-law!

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In the Eternal City, the crowds themselves can seem eternal at certain hotspots. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The scene around Rome's Trevi Fountain late at night, for example, has a carefree, festive air, lively without being rowdy. The people-watching is nonpareil, as an international crowd of giddy gawkers mills around the fountain, tossing coins into the water and just hanging out. At any given moment, you can spot a handful of people doing a tourist dance of sorts, holding cameras out to nearby strangers, trying to communicate in a stumbling mixture of languages: "Bonjour, you take my fotografia, por favor?" Join the fun and do the dance. It's a great ice-breaker, a surprisingly effective way to meet new people from all over the world—with whom, if you'd like, you can continue the conversation at one of the many nearby bars.

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