Even after living in Rome for almost two months, I do not know much about the rione Trevi. All I know is that this area is home to one of the top tourist attractions, the Trevi Fountain. One goes there to take a picture, throw a coin in the fountain and then moves on. For this assignment, it was enjoyable to be able to go back to explore and to interact with the people of this area instead of just going to see the fountain. My initial impressions as well as my experiences in the interviews with the people of this area helped shape my views of the Rione Trevi. Before further exploring the Rione Trevi I was faced with many questions. I wondered what beyond the fountain the Rione Trevi offered? In addition, I was curious to know who the residents of the Rione Trevi were since from my first visit, all I could really pick up on were the large amount of tourists.
When Marson and I visited our rione, we were able to really dive into the area and get a better understanding of the environment. We decided to head to the area around the Trevi fountain and explore from there. Of course we chose the one day when it was torrentially pouring rain the entire time. This led for probably a skewed view of the area. The streets and shops were mainly empty and tourists were hiding out inside. Instead of taking in the surroundings on my walk there, I found myself with my head down trying to avoid the monstrous puddles that were becoming good friends with my socks. I did notice that as we neared the Trevi fountain, more and more shops were becoming tourist oriented. There were souvenir shops galore, gelato stands at every corner and English menus waiting outside every restaurant. Once at the Trevi fountain, street vendors worked hard to catch your eye to sell you umbrellas and toys. This particular area was very tourist oriented but once we wandered back a few streets the area looked vary familiar to the neighborhood where we live. Small jewelry shops, clothing shops and bakeries were on every block.
Through talking with others we were able to get other’s perspectives on the rione Trevi. We first set out to speak with a resident of the Rione Trevi in order to get to know the area better. After wandering around awhile, we found ourselves at a gelato store around the corner from the trevi fountain. Here we spoke with an Albanian female whose store served as the perfect hide out from the pouring rain outside. She had immigrated to Italy from Albania ten years ago and was a student here studying international relations. She spoke of the high population of immigrant workers in the area due to the low pay they will take compared to Italians. We thought it was fitting that the person we decided to interview fit well with our program’s ideas since she was an immigrant youth. When we asked her about the neighborhood she talked about how the Trevi area was mainly focused around the tourists and the fountain. There were many commercial buildings most of which were very tourist oriented. Tourism and the fountain are very important aspects to this area since they bring in a lot of money. The fountain draws the tourists in and the stores, restaurants and gelato stands reek the benefits through making dents in these tourist’s pockets. Due to the rione Trevi’s location in the historic part of town, living there is very expensive. Many who worked in the Rione Tevi lived outside and commuted to work. We then shifted to talking about her views on the rione Trevi. Overall, she really liked the area due to the character of the buildings and the location in the city. I found myself wondering if others in this area had similar impressions of the rione Trevi.
The next people we talked with were a Swedish couple visiting Rome for the first time. They were only in Rome for four days and were hitting all the top sites on their visit. The only reason for their visit to the rione Trevi was to check out the fountain. They didn’t know anything more about the area other than the fountain. When asked about their initial impressions on the rione Trevi, they mentioned how the weather had definitely made an impact. Instead of really being able to enjoy the sites on their walk from the pantheon, they were rushed and trying to avoid getting drenched. The husband stated how once he rounded the corner and got a view of the fountain, that he was surprised by the sheer size of the fountain. They said that overall they liked the area and if given more time in Rome, they wouldn’t mind spending more time exploring the area. Since many don’t really explore the rione Trevi other than the fountain, I think it would be interesting for tourists to try and escape the tourist traps around the fountain and explore more of the surrounding area. Hopefully tour books will include insights on exploring more of the area around the Trevi fountain since there are a lot of cute shops and beautiful buildings with a lot of character.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience exploring the rione Trevi. It was great to go back to this area that I don’t really get the chance to go to other than visiting the fountain. Talking with both people that were familiar with the area and those who were just passing through was interesting to get their differing viewpoints on the region. It is a gorgeous area that never really gets explored other than the immediate area around the fountain. After leaving the rione this time I was only left with more questions. Why was this area filled with wealth? How much money does tourism bring into the rione? Where are some of the resident’s favorite places to spend their time in the rione since they are hard to spot in the region directly surrounding the Trevi fountain? In order to find answers to these questions I will need to return to the area and speak with more knowledgeable people as well as do research online.
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