In the late 1560s a cardinal at Tivoli decided to build Rome in his garden, only smaller. The Rometta, “little Rome,” has the she-wolf with the twins, the goddess Roma on guard, and a small ship with an obelisk for a mast, standing in for Tiber Island. No traffic, no scooters. RR
The square is named for Lauro de Bosis, the poet who in 1931 flew over Rome dropping 400,000 anti-Fascist leaflets. A fine name for a place built as a Fascist academy of physical education, now home to the Italian Olympic Committee, hence the rings. Berlin's 1936
Monte dei Paschi began in 1472 as a charity pawn shop: you left a coat, got a loan, paid a little interest, and if the coat was sold for more than you owed, you got the difference. Commercial lenders charged 40% or more. In 2026 it is fighting off a
Paradiso sul Mare was built in 1924 to be Anzio's casino. It never opened as one. It became a film set instead: Fellini used it as the Grand Hotel in Amarcord, and The Talented Mr. Ripley turned it into a jazz festival in Sanremo. A casino that never
Rome has absorbed Greeks, Goths, Napoleon and tourists, so a few parakeets were never going to be a problem. Two are landing on this magnolia, and more are hidden in it. Bright green, and still nearly impossible to photograph, unlike the pigeons, who pose for anyone. They're believed