Rome's Water Fountains
Rome has lots of ancient monuments and important art collections, sure. But my favorite part of the whole city were its water fountains. No, not the Trevi Fountain, as magnificent as it was...
I mean the public water fountains all over town, and inside of the key sights like the Forum. Here's one right outside of St. Peter's Basilica.
It was nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or over 35 degrees Celsius, and to fill up your water bottle anywhere around town was such a luxury. Sometimes they'd be ornate like this one.
Or simply on a street corner like this one. Wherever you are, the water that comes out is ice cold. It puts a sweat on your bottle immediately!
Not only are these a great service for tourists, it really impressed upon me how magnificent the Roman Empire was. They constructed aqueducts to bring potable water from all over to these fountains, and here they are still in use. My favorite fountain was this one adjacent to the Colosseo subway station. The water has a very broad stream, so more than one person can fill up their bottle at the same time. I always stopped by this one before heading back to my hotel room. Not only is the water free, it's cold and you don't waste another plastic bottle!
