Progress in Rome? About as unlikely as Hannibal turning back at the Alps or Attila the Hun tossing candy to toddlers. But once in a while it's there--shockingly there. Humanity redeemed.
We found an example on the Gianicolo, a place we know well. While taking notes and photos for a stairwalk (it appears as a chapter in
Modern Rome: 4 Great Walks for the Curious Traveler), we noted with disapointment a long line of posters, perhaps 20 in a row, that were not only ugly for what they were--rusty, abused, abandoned, but for those walking on via Giacomo Medici they managed to ruin the approach to one of the city's loveliest fountains and to block the view from the front of Aqua Paolo into the basin below. That's the corner of Acqua Paola, center.
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| Before (2013) |
When we returned to the spot the following spring, the posters were GONE. The city government had promised to remove certain poster lines and, lo and behold, THEY DID IT. We were incredulous, but also pleased. Progress in Rome. Bill
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| After (2014) |
1 comment:
Again, I would like to point out that these panels are temporary, since they only pop up during election times. Nobody is surprised that they're gone...
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