The ‘Ol Buckeye and I have just returned from Italy.  We do not take the fact that we have the opportunity to travel lightly.   A trip to Italy has been on my bucket list for a very long time and our visit did not disappoint.

After reading my last blog entry, I realized how much my  mom would have loved to have traveled abroad.  Unfortunately her life did not offer her that opportunity.  However, a number of coincidences occurred during our recent trip to Italy that gave me pause to think she might actually be along.

I thought of her when we visited the Trevi Fountain.

The Fontana di Trevi – or Trevi Fountain in English -is a fountain in Rome. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and the most beautiful in the world.

Currently the Trivi Fountain is totally dry while it undergoes a complete restoration.  Prior to our trip, I had read on several travel sights and blogs that going to the site might be a waste of time.  Many tourists have been disappointed and discouraged during a visit to this, one of Rome’s prime attractions.

I heartily disagree!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=53&v=U210dFCSpvg

You tube video via WorldSiteGuides  www.worldsiteguides.com

Memorable movie sequences have been filmed there.  Legends have been formed. One of the many things that people plan to do on a trip to Rome is throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain.  Traditionally you put your back to the fountain and toss the coin over your left shoulder into the fountain.  By so doing, you will be assured of one day returning to Rome.  “Three Coins in a Fountain” was written about just that.  I remember watching the romantic film with my mom.  After some research, I discovered more about the tradition.  Toss one coin and it means you will return to Rome one day, toss 2 coins and you will find romance, and toss three coins and there is a wedding in your future.  An average of 3000 Euros are lovingly tossed every day. Tossing coins into the dry fountain is no exception.

The magnificance of the Piazza and the fountain may have been diminished due to the scaffolding and fencing, but being able to see the magnitude of the construction beneath the ornate structure was an enormous treat.  It was like being backstage for a huge production.

The Italian design house Fendi is funding the restoration which began last year and is to be completed this fall at a cost of over 2 million euros.   Fendi is not the only fashion house to fund the renovation of the eternal city’s monuments: luxury jeweller Bulgari announced earlier this year that it would help clean up the city’s famous Spanish Steps, while shoemaker Tod’s is financing works at the Colosseum.  It is refreshing to see fashion giving back and  preserving the beauty and grandeur for generations to come.  Those designers who successfully provide cutting edge beauty and design actively involved in assuring the continuance of beauty and design from the past.  Bravo!

Yes the crowds still thronged to the site, and there was the usual pushing and maneuvering to see history and “toss a coin”.  I looked up at the sections of grandeur and magnificance of this massive structure then I looked down at the dry cobblestone surface.  It was literally covered with coins, and of those coins…thousands of pennies.

Trevi Fountain Restoration Progress – Spring 2015 (RomeCabs)

(www.RomeCabs.com). Latest Trevi Fountain restoration update for spring 2015. The restoration is estimated to continue until fall 2015. If you are planning to come to Rome in spring, here is what you can expect.

YouTube video via RomeCabs.

People from all over the world, young and old, male and female were practicing a ritual that they knew little about, but seemingly enjoying the ability to share a common thread of Roman culture and heritage.

We had so many wonderful experiences in Italy.  We were captivated by the exuberance of the people and the astounding links to the past.  The trip was an experience of a lifetime, dotted with new awareness and old memories.