Three Coins and more

Here is another familiar sight on the street corners of Siena, this big footed fellow playing an accordion (that is the correct spelling, I looked it up).  He was not in the movie, but his buddy, a guy in spray paint gold from head to toe, cranking a real music box is the one of these professional pan handlers that appeared in “Letters to Juliet” as Sofie and Charlie strolled through the streets just as we did.  Somehow, even though we saw him, we missed getting a picture of the gold man.

Piazza Navona has been the center of Roman life since ancient times. The oblong square retains the shape of the original race tract built by the emperor Domitian.  Today a variety of aspiring artists hang out here and help keep the famous piazza in Rome’s lime lite.  It was the scene in the movie “Return to Me” where Bob, played by David Duchovny returned to Grace (Minnie Driver) after she fled to Rome upon discovering she was the recipient of his first wife’s heart after she died in a car accident.

You could spend a lot of time looking at them.

With few breaks, we walked all over Rome from 9 in the morning till 9 at night.  We had lunch, dinner and a half hour break in our room between those times.  We wanted to see “the mouth of truth” and put our hands in it like Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) did in our favorite Italian movie classic “Roman Holiday”. However, due to a wrong turn or two on poorly marked streets, we missed the face carved in marble and only saw the mouth that “bites off the hands of liars” in this picture at Piazza Navona.

We did see the famous Spanish Steps where Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn) enjoyed her gelato as Joe sweet talks her into spending the day with him.  I am standing right behind the step she sat on.

Here Gina is sitting right behind the guy who was sitting on the step Audrey Hepburn was sitting on.  He knew he had the step we wanted and was in no mood to move, so we got the next best shot.

Right around the corner was the famed Trevi Fountain, crowded as usual, with people who want to throw a coin in the gushing watery pool thinking it will give them a wish and assure a return to Rome.  The fountain was made popular in the United States in the 1954 film  “Three coins in the Fountain”, a story of three women who go to Rome and throw coins in the fountain to find love.  The song by the same name became a classic performed by both Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

And there you have it.  Our tour of favorite movie sights in Italy.  Join me next week as we take a peak at our favorite alternatives to hotels.