Tag Archives | Rome

The Seven Hills of Rome: What Are They and What Can You See?

By Melanie on March 6, 2013 in Italy Blogging Roundtable, Rome

The Seven Hills of Rome mark the traditional boundaries of the city. It was on these seven hills – Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal – that the first settlements of Rome began and these seven hills were the ones protected within the Servian Walls. The foundations, gates, and ruins of these 4th century-BC walls can still be seen in some parts of the city. Subsequent builds of fortifications in Rome, such as the Aurelian Walls (3rd century AD) and the Leonine City (9th century AD) included other hills (Janiculum, Vatican, Pincian), but the original Seven Hills are the ones in bold above and included within the red border in the map to the right.

Now that you’ve had a short history lesson, you may be wondering what you can see today on Rome’s Seven Hills. Rather than tell you, I thought I would use the power of Google’s Street View to show you.

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Capturing the Photos and Stories of the Humans of Rome

By Melanie on September 11, 2012 in Rome

One of the biggest cliches – and truths – you will hear from travelers is how the best part of visiting a place is the people. Although tourists have been saying that for decades, it wasn’t until recently that portraits of people in the city in which they live became just as popular as images of buildings, bridges, and landscapes.

Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton’s photography project that he started in 2010 and that went viral over the past summer, has become the template that all other human/city photo tributes copy. Now there is Humans of Rome.

Woman in Front of Termini Station

"A Real-Life Fashion Show" in Rome's Centro Storico

Humans of Rome, begun by Roman photographer Marco in April 2012, captures the unique spirit of the Eternal City. Marco juxtaposes ancient and modern by capturing Romans of every color, creed, and age standing in Rome’s cobbled streets, posing next to fast Italian cars, marble fountains, thousand-year-old structures, and iconic umbrella pines.

I think many travelers forget that Rome is a dynamic city – a city of tradition, yes, but also one teeming with expats and immigrants. Marco’s Humans of Rome includes them all. I hope this beautiful, photographic love letter to one of my favorite cities in the world continues and spawns offshoots in Florence, Bologna, Naples, Milan, Torino, Venice…

Go check out Humans of Rome now to see the photos and read the stories (most in both English and Italian).

All photos by Humans of Rome

Rome Will Not Be Charging Admission to the Trevi Fountain

By Melanie on April 2, 2012 in Rome

Yesterday, April Fools Day, I had a little fun with readers of Gadling, one of several blogs I write for. My article Rome Set To Close Off Trevi Fountain, Charge Admission was just a little too real for some readers. But I am here to tell you that it was completely fabricated. It was simply me taking elements from current events and a favorite Italian tourist site, dreaming up something outlandish – but not too outlandish – and blending them together.

The Trevi Fountain is one of Rome’s most famous tourist attractions and it also happens to be free. However, many tourists leave their money behind at the fountain by tossing coins into it to ensure their return. This age-old tradition (superstition) was made famous in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain, a delightful, vintage romance that is a fun watch prior to a trip to the Eternal City. Approximately €3,000 in coins are thrown into the Trevi Fountain each day and collected each morning before the tourist throngs come back. The charity Caritas uses the Trevi Fountain change to fund programs to help Rome’s poor.

Now that you know the rest of the story, here’s the trailer from Three Coins in the Fountain. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, so I can’t remember why there is also footage of Venice in the opening scenes. Meh…Italy’s all the same anyhow. Just fooling!