I can barely hear the sounds of the rushing water above the raucous shouting from around the corner. From all the noise, I anticipate the fountain will be packed. And I'm right. People are sitting on every possible ledge next to the water, admiring it splashing. It’s fairly bright out, the square lit by all the gelaterias open late for tourists. My search for the famed ‘San Crispino’ fails and I am forced to resort to some 2nd rate gelato at the place on the left corner (do not go there!). Tourists line up with their backs to the fountain so that the edge is barely visible. Posing for cameras, visitors throw coins over their right shoulders and make a wish. The fountain is impressive at night, the figures’ shadows distorting the fountain’s proportions. The water is clear blue and almost glows from the orange spotlights. A countless number of couples appear very closely attached and may need surgery to separate. Compared to all the other fountains here in
My attempts to eat good gelato are foiled again. Tuesdays, San Crispino is closed. Today even more tourists cram into the square. They all follow one lady with a bright pink umbrella as if they are drones. There’s barely room to walk past the fountain. Today, a table is set up selling random knick-knacks (bracelets, magnets, etc.) and a few tourists are actually buying things. I can’t hear the water at all because of all the man-made noise: kids are shouting and running around the pool, people talking. There are a lot of ‘Roman soldiers’ around waiting to take pictures (only 5 euro!). Again, I can hardly even see the fountain from where I’m standing, as people obscure my vision.
Garbage trucks rumble through the square, cleaning up the remnants of last night’s madness. A huge crash of shattering glass pierces through the air as they dump numerous empty beer bottles. The building to the right blocks the early morning sun and a diagonal shadow is cast across the fountain. Only 2 Roman soldiers this morning, a rare occurrence. I often see them around the Forum… Compared to all the other times I’ve been here, it's unusually quiet right now. Morning is not the time for locals or tourists to dawdle here. The trinket stand on the corner of the fountain is just setting up now. The lighting in the morning doesn’t give the fountain the dramatic effect as at night, although the water seems bluer and clearer at this time of the day. A few policemen patrol the streets, though there’s no one around to catch. I stumbled upon a random food market with a few random fresh fruit and vegetable stands. Another garbage can full of bottles gets dumped. A new group of tourists are approaching, time to go!
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