30 May 2011
11:10 am
Most people in the major tourist attraction areas come and go. After all, they are tourists, designed to see a site then leave quickly. They take their pictures and leave once they've gotten the official tourist experience.
The only people around here who seem to stay are the guards. Comprised of both policemen and military soldiers, they walk around the fountain and the plaza to keep the peace. It seems, on a quiet morning like this, that their main concern is to keep the tourists outside the rail of the fountain.
At this moment, they're not doing a very good job. Two soldiers, a policeman, and someone of a higher rank (a captain, perhaps?) are standing behind me, speaking in rapid Italian, ignoring those who are practically swimming in the fountain. There have been a handful of tourists jumping the rail and sitting on the edge of the fountain. There was even a woman who dragged her dog into the ring and splashed water on it to cool it off on this hot morning.
And just like that, the Italian conversation stops behind me. I turn and a two soldiers and the higher ranking officer have disappeared, and the police officer has begun to circle the fountain again. I spot the two soldiers sneaking through an alleyway next to the coffee shop. I'm not quite sure what happened, but all seems well in Piazza Navona.
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