Rom fountain of Trevi [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], by Bodow (Own work), from Wikimedia CommonsThe Trevi Fountain in Rome recently turned 250 years old (making the finish date about 1762).I was reading something in a booklet yesterday that it was named after the place where three streets ("tre vie") met in Rome. It said that each day, about 2000 euros are thrown into the fountain and that these coins are collected and given to a Roman charity that cares for needy persons.
Heard a funny story on the radio a month or so ago about a German guy that got a 500 Euro fine for parking in front of the Trevi Fountain. I don't remember there even being enough room for anyone to drive into the square when we saw it because it was so full of people. We did almost get our camera stolen by one of the Rose Guys though. Al little friendly threats got it back. It probably helped that I had just gotten back from Iraq at the time, my wife said that for about six months after I got back I walked around all the time with a look that said I just wanted to kill somebody.
Easy, I told him that if I did not get my camera back I would kill him. Apparently I had enough of the hungry look about me that he believed it. When we visited Rome I had only been back from Iraq about 3 weeks and was severely underweight but with an awesome tan.