The "A Thrill Of A Lifetime!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Taking an online quiz asking me how much money is thrown into the Trevi Fountain in Rome every day.  My choices were: $750, $1,200, $3,500 and $10,000.  My guess was $750 and I was way off!  Correct answer was $3,500 a day.  It was back in 2010 that Carol and I joined a group of members from St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on a trip of a lifetime to Italy.  We had anticipated heading to Rome and the day after a visit to Assissi we entered Rome.  Our tour guide for the entire trip was Mary Lou Broucht  who was the assistant minister at St. James and who had taken numerous trips to Italy with youth groups from St. James.  Our daughter Brynn was lucky enough to have traveled with Mary Lou on one of those trips.  We arrived in Rome about 4:00 PM after a day of traveling and headed to Hotel Pace Elvezia which would be our home for a few days.  After checking into our room, we headed with a few others to a corner cafe for supper then back to the hotel for an early night's sleep.  

Standing in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy

The first full day had us visiting the Coliseum, Pantheon, St. Paul's Cathedral, Di San Callisto Catacombs and finally the Trevi Fountain.  Had a chance to see it in daylight and then again when the lights came on in the evening.  

The Trevi Fountain at nighttime.

It was everything we had ever heard of, as well as seen, in books and movies...and more.  Gives me chills as I type about it!  We heard a story about a visitor throwing packets of red dye in the fountain two days before which made the water look as if it were blood.  Must have been a very unusual and moving sight.  Well, Carol and I had a few chances to throw a few coins in the water and made the most of our photo opp.  The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana de Trevi) was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Guideppe Pannini and several others.  It stands 26.3 meters (86 feet) high and 49.15 meters (161.3 feet) wide.  

Carol and I throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain.

It is the largest and most magnificent fountain in the city and considered one of the most famous fountains in the world.  You may have seen it in one of the following movies: Roman Holiday, La Dolce Vita, The Lizzi McGuire Movie, Sabrina Goes to Rome and my favorite...Three Coins in the Fountain.  The fountain was refurbished in 1988 to remove discoloration caused by smog  and in 1998 when the stonework was scrubbed and all cracks repaired as well as the fountain being equipped with recirculating pumps.  The backdrop of the fountain is the Palazzo Poli with a triumphal arch on the palazzo façade.  To stand in front of this iconic piece of architecture in one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the world was...well, incredible.  And, to take a few coins from my pocket and share them with Carol to throw in the water was unbelievable.  The chills I felt told the whole story for me.  We then redid the coin throwing with a friend taking our photograph as we stood, back to the fountain, and threw the coins over our shoulder.  And, to think that over $3,500 is thrown into the fountain every day is amazing.  The money that is collected every day does more than just inspire good luck to it's visitors, it is donated to a local charity that helps the less fortunate.  It was published that in 2016, $1.5 million was thrown into the fountain which was used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.  And, what about trying to reach into the fountain to get one of the coins as a souvenir.  Well, it is illegal and the fountain is patrolled by quite a few gendarmes.  You can read all you want and look at thousands of photographs or movies of the Trevi Fountain, but to stand in front of this iconic fountain and throw a coin into its water is indescribable!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.