BUDGET TRAVEL PLAN FOR SENIORS

 

 

Retirement is the perfect time to explore the world, fulfilling those travel dreams you’ve nurtured throughout your working years. In fact, a recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies confirms my own post retirement plans. It suggests that 60% of retirees dream of spending their golden years traveling. And it's no wonder—travel can broaden our horizons, rejuvenate our spirits, and create lasting memories. But, retirement is also the time when your earnings are limited and concerns of big spending on health emergencies maximum. The good news is that with thoughtful planning and a few savvy strategies, retirees can satisfy their wanderlust without draining their savings. Let us see how we can make the most of our retirement travel dreams while keeping our savings intact.

 

1. Make a retirement travel budget

As a retiree, having a dedicated travel budget can help you afford the trips and experiences you've been looking forward to. Typically, retirees spend around 55-80% of their pre-retirement income each year. However, if you plan to travel often, you may need to budget more for the same. To create a realistic travel budget, research the costs of your desired destinations, including living expenses, food, and activities.

 

2. Try the 50/30/20 spending rule to budget for travel in retirement

A helpful way to plan for travel in retirement is the 50/30/20 rule. This rule divides your after-tax money into three parts: 50% for essentials, 30% for things you enjoy, and 20% for augmenting your savings. Travel falls under the "things you enjoy" category. Most retirees spend about 5% to 10% of their yearly budget on travel. Some retirees save up a lump sum each year for a big trip, like Rs. 500,000 for an overseas couple vacation. Others might plan on spending around Rs. 200,000 per year for the next decade or so travelling inland.

 

3. Plan your trip as far in advance as possible

The earlier you plan your trip, the better. Airlines usually open up their flight schedules about 11 months before the travel date. Instead of booking immediately, spend some time looking at prices for your trip. This way, you'll be able to spot a good deal when you see it. A good time to book domestic flights is usually one to three months before your trip, and two to eight months before for international flights.

 

4. Travel on Tuesdays

When booking flights, Tuesday is almost always the cheapest priced day of the week to travel, due to the low demand for flights on this day. If you’re willing and able to travel out and/or back on a Tuesday, this will save you some money.

 

5. Travel off-peak

The cheapest time to visit a place is when no one else wants to go. As retirees for you everyday is a holiday, so why do you want to compete with regular travelers and jostle with the crowd?  For some destinations, visiting in low season is not only more affordable, but far more pleasant given the lack of crowds. For other places, it might not be feasible: maybe the weather will be prohibitive, or the key attractions will be closed. If that's the case, opt for the shoulder seasons. Either way, you'll save.

I have a blog written on the benefits of off season travel, and you can read it by clicking: https://surajitbrainwaves.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-joy-of-off-season-travel.html

 

6. Be flexible with your destinations

Keep your holiday options open, in terms of both destination and timing. Watch for flight sales and accommodation discounts. Keep an eye out for great deals. Eventually, you'll be able to nab a trip to… somewhere, for a great price. Sometimes some of the most amazing destinations in the world aren’t on your radar yet but are totally worth the trip. Often they’ll even been cheaper too.

 

7. Save on Visa charges

Some countries don’t require visas for entry as a short term traveller, and others charge for the privilege of entering. Be aware what you’re getting into, as you can plan your journey around destinations with cheap visa processes.

 

 

8. Consider staying in Airbnbs / OYO accommodations

 Thanks to vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and OYO, travelers can skip traditional hotels and choose from various condos, apartments, or houses. Hosts on Airbnb often provide discounts for stays of 28 days or more, making longer visits more budget-friendly. Staying longer also allows for a smoother adjustment to a new city, reducing the pressure to see everything at once. If the weather isn’t favorable one day, there’s no rush to visit a tourist spot; you can wait for a nicer day.

 

9. Exchange currency wisely

Don't let currency exchange fees eat into your travel budget. Before you go, do some research to find the best exchange rates. Compare what banks, currency exchange booths, and ATMs are offering. The trick is to find a bank card that doesn't charge for foreign transactions or accessing foreign ATMs. It's also worth looking into cards that allow you to load up in a foreign currency, to take advantage of a strong exchange rate.

Using a credit card with no foreign transaction fees can be a good option for purchases, but double-check if there are any extra charges for converting currencies. Another tip is to withdraw larger amounts of local currency at once to minimize ATM fees. Just be sure to keep your cash safe! No matter where you are in the world always keep some US Dollars with you for contingency and emergency.

 

10. Use travel credit cards

Financial advisors suggest using credit card travel rewards. With more free time, retirees can learn how to get the best value from their daily expenses through these rewards. As they often spend time with family or purchasing gifts for grandchildren, using the right travel rewards cards can help them earn points for their trips without increasing their usual spending.

 

11. Get a sense of local prices before you arrive at your destination

Having a basic idea of what things usually cost in different destinations can help you avoid being overcharged, like a hidden "tourist tax." For example, check the average taxi fares before you go so you have a general idea of what to expect. Look up typical prices for things at the market so you can feel more confident when you're bargaining. Knowing how to buy official bus tickets ahead of time can help you avoid paying too much for a bus ride.

Tip: Websites like Numbeo or Expatistan can be useful for getting a sense of the cost of living in different destinations. They often have information on things like groceries, transportation, and dining out, which can help you plan your budget more accurately.

 

 

12. Use public transport

Save money on transportation by using buses, trains, and ferries instead of taxis. It's cheaper and a great way to experience the local culture. Many cities offer passes that give you unlimited rides for a few days, which can help you save you even more. Or, of course, you could save even more money and walk. You'll see far more of a city if you do this, plus work off a few of those buffet breakfasts.

You don’t always have to take a bus or a train. Try local fishing boats, kayaks, trams, scooters, rickshaws etc. There’s certainly no good reason not to do a little exploring to find a way of getting around that you wouldn’t find back home, and often it’ll be a lot cheaper.

 

13. Join free tours

In most major cities these days you'll find multiple options for free tours. These are usually government-funded walking tours that could be general introductions to a city, or quite focused special-interest tours, all hosted by passionate locals keen to share their city. The open top big red bus is very economical and has audio guides too.

 

14. Go to free attractions

Some of the world's most famous tourist attractions cost nothing to visit. Think Central Park in New York; pretty much all of the museums and galleries in London; the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

 

15. Visit free galleries and museums

Some cities like London and Berlin are full of free museums, including numerous collections of art and history that are free to the viewing public. Other cities charge a small fee for entrance into their museums, but even those places frequently offer discounts and even free days. Google it!

 

16. Shop and haggle like locals

Shop in local markets and not in tourist stores. Temple Bar in Dublin is home to 3 different types of markets all held over the weekend. They offer cheaper and more unique souvenirs than what you will find in the shops. In many cultures it’s the norm to bargain a price down from the asking price. It may not feel comfortable but it’s normal. But, also know when to stop and pay a decent price.

 

17. Cook food or eat where locals eat

If you are staying long in a Airbnb then buy fish, chicken, vegetables, pulses and rice and cook your own food. It cuts down your food bill drastically. Occasionally you can go to eateries where locals eat and avoid 5 star restaurents. Street food is great for breakfast and lunch and a quite home cooked dinner is usually just fine.

 

18. Claim the tax back

Each country has a different process but it is definitely worth investigating if you can claim the taxes of your purchases during your holidays. Look for the tax free logo in the establishments you visit. Some will require a minimal purchase expense and you will usually have to present the passport. Once at the airport back home, before checking in, introduce yourself at the tax return stand to complete the process.

 

Travel extensively and enjoy your golden retirement years. Don’t just hop from place to place but make it a long and languid vacation and enjoy the new place, the new culture and the new society. Nothing is more enjoyable and educational than this.

THE THIRD PLACE

 

 

We all love to visit and live in Rome or Paris, Lisbon or Barcelona, Prague or Krakow. What do you think makes them so attractive and livable?  Why are Melbourne and Vienna repeatedly chosen as the most livable cities in the world? There can be a host of reasons - safety, education, hygiene, health care, culture, environment, recreation, political-economic stability, public transport and access to goods and services. But the thing that stands out most for me is the abundance of ‘the third places’ these cities have.

 

A third place is a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg and refers to places where people spend time between home ('first' place) and work ('second' place). We have a “first place”, which is where we live; we have a “second place”, which is where we work; and then there’s a third place, somewhere for the community where we like to spend our leisure time, somewhere public, somewhere relaxed, somewhere that binds a city and gives it character, as well as plays host to its characters. You may not be familiar with that term, but you will definitely be familiar with the concept.

 

A third place is a piazza or plaza, a city square. It could be a park. It could be a cafe, a bar, a church, a football field, even a mall. Now picture a European city, your favourite European city, and tell me what you love about it. You probably love the history in this city of yours, and maybe the natural beauty. You love the architecture, the mix of styles that has appeared over the centuries. You love the culture, the people, the food, the drink. And I can almost guarantee that, without even knowing it, you love the “third places”. After all, when you don’t live or work in a city, these are the venues you most often find yourself in.

Barcelona 

 

By Oldenburg’s definition, these third places need to be egalitarian, places a person of any socio-economic status could visit and feel comfortable. They need to be spaces that encourage conversations and social mixing; that have regular visitors who set their tone, while still being available to one-time drop-ins (like tourists); they need to be subtle, wholesome, playful, and comfortable. A place where you can pop in and out with little or no money; as a result, social hierarchy is left at the door, and all are equal, allowing for unexpected but delightful professional mingling— a CEO and a street performer can be seen chatting over drinks, while a fashion designer and a mechanic share a laugh at the bar.

To me, these third places define the true character of a city like San Sebastian in Spain, with its pintxos bars that sit below apartment blocks, where drinkers and diners of all generations gather to socialize. Or maybe it’s like Rome with its cafe-lined piazzas, natural meeting places for people from all walks of life. Or perhaps you’re thinking of the marketplaces of Scandinavia, where shoppers chat and eat and buy all the things they need. Or, it can be the Hyde Park of London!

 

Having lived in Melbourne I know I love it because of its ‘third places’. It has markets like South Melbourne and Prahran, natural meeting points for residents, natural places to spend time outside work and home life. Melbourne has restaurants and bars dotted throughout its residential suburbs too – Fitzroy, Brunswick, Collingwood, Footscray each with a flavour of its own, and a culture of visiting those third places to socialize. Melbourne also has Australia’s best pubs and four major sports stadiums basically within the CBD, which duplicate as actual live music venues.

 

It always seems like everyone in Europe lives and works within an easy stroll of third places; everyday life is designed around these areas, these gathering points for citizens and tourists and everyone else. It is not uncommon to find old men sitting around playing chess, groups of kids hanging out on steps, families in parks enjoying picnic and friends getting together for aperitivo or ‘hora de vermut’.

 

And now, think about the cities in India. Where are our third places? What are they? The older cities like Bombay and Calcutta had them in abundance but growing population, mindless development and greed have encroached upon them and destroyed the ‘old world charm’. Only recently when the municipal corporation of Mumbai planned to get rid of the famous Hanging Gardens atop the Malabar Hills in the name of redevelopment, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. Yet another ‘third place’ is being sacrificed at the altar of mindless commercialization.

Hanging Garden, Mumbai

 

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and I’m sure you’ll be able to come back at me with examples. But by and large, India, and much of the “developing world”, has failed to incorporate third places into our cities and towns. Planned cities like Chandigarh and isolated exceptions like Goa and Puducherry may stand out as a revolting minority, but how long their revolt will last is a scary thought.

 

Think about the layout of most Indian towns and cities. You have your central business district, where there’s a main street with all the shops, a few eateries, a shopping mall nearby with a Smart Bazaar or Spencers. And then, in a totally separate area, you have the places people live, sprawling residential suburbs that often have no shops or cafes in them at all, sometimes not even a playground, just house after house, building after building, high-rise flats arranged like Lego pieces. Squeezing between them are slums where the workforce which works in our households live, much to the annoyance of the aristocracy.

 

Then there is the great Indian dream, a quarter-acre farm-house; it’s not walking-distance access to tea stalls, corner stores and barbers, eateries and parks. Our homes are our castles. There’s far more focus here on privacy and getting home life right. We keep on building such castles that will isolate us from people  instead of building community spaces that will bring us all together. Our first place, equipped with security cameras and tall boundary walls, is keeping us away from the rest of the world and turning us into self centered cynics, distrusting everybody else. Our celebrations inside these first places are for muted and for a select few of our tribe only. We wear the same clothes, eat the same food, drink the same drink, discuss the same topics, adhere to the same set of views and have succeeded in creating an echo chamber cocoon for ourselves with no scope of entry for fresh air and no hope for fresh ideas.

 

Our narrow domestic walls guarding our ‘first places’ has broken our small world into fragments and our only hope now is to invest in our ‘third places’ so that our minds can get a breath of fresh air, a whiff of fresh ideas that can lead us forward into a better quality of life for all. The idea that only we, a select few, with expensive castle like ‘first place’ working in a state of the art ‘second’ place’ can thrive as islands of happiness in an ocean unhappiness, struggle and misery, is simply a figment of our imagination.

 

Loneliness has become a significant concern in modern society, with many individuals feeling alienated and separated from others. We have enormous screens with streaming movies, and we can deliver to our homes at any moment using our cell phones. Devoid of third place in our cities, we have a large population of virtual friends in WhatsApp but very few real flesh and blood friends. Short-term sleep issues, drug usage issues, and difficulties with depression are more prevalent among lonely persons. An increased chance of heart attack, stroke, and cancer are among the more negative health effects. Even more intriguing is that the most significant reported rates of loneliness are among Generation Z and Millennials.

 

A lack of “third places” to socialize has caused dissatisfaction among many people. By giving individuals a space to congregate, form relationships with others, and foster a feeling of belonging and community, third places have significantly contributed to the fight against loneliness and the promotion of mental and physical well-being.

 

Third place transforms a drab and boring city into a vibrant and living city. Third places are like the glue that hold communities together, but as they fade away, the people who  are loyal to their place and return regularly to unwind and socialize are losing friends and getting left out and lonely and the society we live in is getting segregated.

Hyde Park, London

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR TRAVEL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS?

 

Memories aren’t perfect, and there’s no better way to capture a Parisian sunset, that breathtaking view of the pyramids, the magic of Aurelia Borealis, or your vacation in New Zealand and Australia than with a trusted camera. In this way, the things that you see and do can live forever. The problem is, as your digital photos and travel videos add up, and sooner or later you are going to run into an organization problem, if you have not done so already. A lack of space on your storage drives or storage in too many locations will make matters worse. Now add to this your printed photographs and your camcorder videos and you have a complete chaos in your hand!

 

You may be an MBA from the best management school in the world, or the most organized homemaker but when it comes to organizing your travel photographs ask yourself honestly, how well organized are you? I have been a traveler for more than 5 decades now and I have black & white printed photographs, coloured printed photographs, coloured slides, videos in tapes of all sizes, in compact disks, and digital images and videos all scattered in one camcorder, 3 digital cameras, 3 desktop computers, 8 pen drives, 4 phones and 4 laptops! Does that make me ‘disorganized’? It surely does, but like all the other desirable but uninteresting things in life, which I have shelved for another day, this is a job I have to do. So, where do we start from?

 

I have one advantage, I am a Plastic Surgeon and ‘planning’ is my middle name. All plastic surgeons always carry a camera to capture before and after surgery photographs and videos for future referencing. Right from day one I have stored all my patient related photographs and videos in a password protected folder called CLINICAL. I have organized them disease wise, procedure wise and patient wise for the last 37 years and this system helps me to recall any set of photographs by just a few clicks on my computer keypad. Armed with this experience I am embarking upon the strenuous task or organizing my travel photographs. Incidentally, storing clinical photographs and videos is a very serious business and an extremely responsible task for the sake of patient's privacy. if you want to know more about it please click: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4292101/

 

So, this is how we plan to go about organizing our travel photographs and videos:

 

Digitize all prints and videos

This is important for preservation and restoration of quality, ease of duplication, instant cataloging and social media sharing. The print photographs can be digitized by a scanner, a digital camera, an app to digitize print photographs and even a professional photo digitization service. PhotoScan is an app from Google Photos that lets you scan printed photographs and save them.

For digitizing videos you can connect your camcorder to your computer using a ‘middleman gadget’ – video capture card, RCA cable or HDMI cable. You can also record directly onto a flash storage device, such as an SD memory card or a USB stick. You can also use a DVD recorder or, as a last resort, record on a digital camera from a screen. Needless to say, you can always hire a professional service to do this for you.

 

Back up the chaos

Before tinkering with files on a computer, save everything to an external hard drive in case anything gets deleted by accident. What size hard drive you need depends on how much data you need to back up. Consider the amount of data already on your computer's internal drive, as well as any data backed up to the cloud. If you have photos on your smartphone worth backing up, add that data to your calculations as well.

 

Collect all in a silo (holding tank)

With everything backed up, you can start collecting images from the smartphone and online locations and place them in a silo. As you bring each set of digital images into this folder, try to keep events or months together instead of dumping a gazillion images from your camera roll. Use your smartphone’s built-in app to identify groupings like months, events or collections. This is also the time to review the images quickly and get rid of anything that isn’t a keeper. Once you have a group of photos in the folder, Next, create or rename a folder and give it a name that represents the group of photos that will go into it.

 

Sort and Discard

Then go through your travel photos and videos and delete all the ones that are dark and blurry (as well as the ones where your thumb is covering the frame!). This step is hugely important as it will keep your collection down to a manageable size.

This is not the time to edit your photos! That step can add days or even weeks and months to your organization process, so for now you just want to get your travel photos into a more manageable state by streamlining the collection into those that are even viable as good memories.

 

Rename and add context

Just as you organize everything into folders; it’s important to add detailed information about the individual photos in the actual file names. After all, the story behind the image is just as important as the picture itself. You’ll want to include who, what and where.

Renaming your images from your camera’s default setting to a consistent system such as trip_month_day_year.jpg, for example, will allow you to search by all four of those labels. Some applications offer batch renaming, which makes the process exponentially faster. If it seems daunting to rename all of your files one by one, then download Adobe Bridge, a free media management program that helps manage and organize images and other files. The batch rename features allows you to quickly rename multiple files in one fell swoop.

 

Arrange in a logical pattern

I have done it country wise and the folders get arranged alphabetically. Inside each country folder you can have State/City folders, Tourist highlights, Festivals etc. Thus in my Australia folder there is Victoria – Melbourne, M.C.G, Cricket, A.F.L, Ballarat, Wilson’s Promontory, Geelong, Great Ocean Road, Dandenong, Puffing Billy, Phillip Island, Penguin parade etc. Similarly my travel photos inside of a Thailand folder has subfolders such as: Bangkok, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Pattaya, Elephant Nature Park, Ayutthaya Day Trip, Thai Food. If you’ve been a couple of times, then it’s time to organize by year within the respective folder.

 

Back up

Plan a 3-2-1 backup strategy The “3” stands for three copies of your files saved in three distinct places. The “2” means that two copies of your data should be in two separate places, such as your computer and a hard drive, or on two hard drives if your archive is too large to fit on your computer. The “1” indicates one set of data should exist at a separate location in case of some unforeseen natural disaster, fire, flood or theft.

You’re already storing your photos on a hard drive of some sort, so now you need a duplication of that drive. Your best solution is likely a low-cost paid subscription to an online storage platform, like Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud. Pick a name you know to ensure that your pictures stay backed up for years to come—even if your hard drive or phone fails. If you’re serious about saving and even sharing your travel photos, you can use a service like SmugMug, which allows you to organize your travel photos into beautiful galleries.

Evaluate whether the service compresses your images and what kind of files it accepts. Read the security and privacy fine print — what safeguards will you have, and will you hand over any rights? And consider the company’s reputation and longevity. Many of the services allow you to search using face recognition, location and more, file labeling is also valuable for actually finding what you’re looking for. So choose one or two back-ups carefully.

Now, keep at it, don’t fall back into the old mess

Going forward, make things easier on yourself by organizing your travel photos as you take them, or soon after your trip. Keep only the “keepers," delete the rest, and back up your devices regularly. By following these simple tips, you'll have easy access to your photo bank and peace of mind. And before you grab backpack and head out on your next adventure, you’ll know that you have a plan for keeping all your future memories safe and sound.

 

Don’t just store, use them and enjoy them

Fortunately, there are some great ideas out there for making use of your travel photos in ways that are more effective and enjoyable than simply printing out a few highlights and placing them in an album, the way it always used to be done. In the digital age today if you have a modern television, then you already have the perfect photo frame – load your best shots onto a USB stick, plug it into your TV, and then follow the instructions to set your photos on a loop on-screen. If you would prefer not to use your TV, there are also many digital frames – that are small, framed screens that plug into the wall.

You can also create a book with your photos. It’s surprisingly easy and affordable to create something of high quality using brands and products such as Shutterfly, Snapfish, Mixbook and more. These websites all have simple-to-use software that will allow you to upload and arrange your photos on the pages, design the cover, and then send it off to the printers, with either a hardback or soft binding.

You can also turn your photos into fridge magnets. Companies such as Vistaprint can take your uploaded photos and post them back to you as fridge magnets in a variety of sizes, with or without borders!

You can also put your travel snaps on T-shirts, print them on arty canvas, turn them into posters or postcards, scan them onto sheet metal, make them into drinks coasters, or turn them into personalized passport holders, luggage tags, or even printed over your entire suitcase!

TREVI FOUNTAIN – MODERN MARVEL WITH A FABLED PAST

The Trevi Fountain serves as a modern marvel that links back to Rome's fabled past. If you have been to Rome, you must have seen the Trevi Fountain and chances are, you must have thrown a coin in it and made a wish. Located in the Piazza di Trevi in the Quirinale district of Rome, Italy, Trevi fountain is the great symbol of Rome’s baroque period, and a testimony to the city’s endurance as a cultural centre. Yet this fountain also has ancient origins. Emperor Augustus was moved by an old legend that thirsty soldiers had been shown the spot by a young maiden, and he built there the Aqua Virgo (virgin water). This water served Rome for 400 years. 

 

The city of Rome has over 300 monumental and beautiful fountains. Still, most tourists choose to flock to just one - the iconic Trevi Fountain. The landmark is considered a must-visit for every tourist, but what is it that makes the Trevi Fountain stand out from the rest? Apart from its elegance and grandeur, the Trevi Fountain has a history that spans millennia, as well as a few interesting traditions linked to it. Even the way the fountain is supplied with water is a fascinating story.

 

History:

If Roman historians are to be believed then there was a fountain at this very location more than two thousand years ago. In Latin, an intersection of three roads is known as a trivium. The name “Trevi” originated from the fountain’s location at the junction of three prominent Roman streets. Today, these 3 roads are called Delle Muratte Street, Poli Street, and Crocicchi Street, but they had other names in the past. During the Middle Ages, the fountain was briefly abandoned, and only a tiny stream is said to have flown from it. However, during the Renaissance and onwards, the popes of Rome conjured up a plan to restore and expand the fountain. This was despite the fact that there was already a building standing at the Trevi intersection. This building was Palazzo Poli, a 17th-century residence of the Duke of Poli. Parts of the building were demolished to make space for a big fountain. That’s why the Trevi Fountain leans against the remaining building, which is now an office.

 

Design and Construction:

It all began in 1629, when Pope Urban VIII decided to commission his favorite architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini to expand the existing fountain in Piazza di Trevi. Bernini sketched out a two-tiered structure, but then the pope passed away, and the project was shelved for a hundred years. Luckily, Bernini’s work wasn’t all in vain; his vision heavily influenced the final structure of the fountain. In 1730, Pope Clement XII chose to revitalize the Trevi Fountain project. In order to choose an architect, the city held a contest, and after much deliberation, architect Nicola Salvi was commissioned to design the Trevi Fountain. Salvi worked from 1732 with several sculptors to create the fountain we see today, but unfortunately, he didn’t live to see it finished. The fountain was completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762.

 

The Sculpture:

The Trevi Fountain grows out of Palazzo Poli’s baroque facade - like a natural waterfall emerging from a rocky cliff. The entire structure is carved out of Travertine limestone, which was transported to Rome from the nearby city of Tivoli. The fountain represents the Roman God Oceanus, who tames wild waters and brings balance to the world. However, Oceanus doesn’t appear alone. In a niche to his left, we see a smiling goddess of Abundance with a basket of fruits. To his right is Salus, the goddess of safety, health, and welfare with a snake coiled around an amphora. The top of the fountain is dedicated to his own history. Written above the statues are the names of the popes who commissioned the fountain surrounded by reliefs of angels and the Papal Coat of Arms. There are also two images illustrating the history of Roman aqueducts.

 

The four statues at the top represent the abundance water brings. From left to right you’ll see Abundance of Fruit which holds a horn of plenty. The Fertility of Crops which holds wheat ears. Products of Autumn which holds a cup and grapes. Finally Joy of Prarie and Gardens which is adorned with flowers.  The last is the most iconic in my opinion.  It represents the complete luxury of growing flowers for personal happiness.

The four statues of abundance water brings

 

It is said that during the fountain's construction, a local barber was constantly annoyed by the noise and debris. Day in and day out, he'd pester Salvi with his dismay. Spitefully, Salvi erected the "Ace of Cups" sculpture at the left of the fountain so that the barber would never have a view of the masterpiece once it was completed.

Ace of Cups

 

The interesting water supply

The water supply of the Trevi fountain hasn’t changed since its construction over two millennia ago. The water source is located some fourteen miles away, where the famous Roman aqueduct called Acqua Vergine begins. This aqueduct was commissioned in 19 BC by the famous Roman statesman and emperor Augustus’ son-in-law Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. At the time, it was one of eleven aqueducts that provided Rome’s citizens with access to drinking water. Today, Acqua Vergine remains the only functioning ancient aqueduct in Rome.

 

Roman engineers are renowned for creating arched aqueducts. These amazing structures were devised in such a way that water flowed in a steady and manageable stream using gravity. The longest Roman aqueduct was the Aqueduct of Valens which supplied Constantinople; it was 426 km (264 miles) long! The massive water system of Rome was serviced by hundreds of workers who cleaned lime buildup and debris from aqueducts and lead pipes. It’s amazing to think that many of those ancient aqueducts still stand and work today - over 2,000 years after their construction!

Throwing coins in Trevi

You will be surprised to know that visitors collectively throw one million Euros worth of coins into the Trevi Fountain every year, according to a 2022 article from Euronews Travel. There are so many coins that a team of city workers is tasked with fishing them out of the fountain each year. And all that money gets donated to a local charity that feeds the homeless population. The fortune at the bottom of the fountain is also likely the reason why swimming in the Trevi Fountain is prohibited. If you try to take a dip the Italian Policia will wait for you and ask for your documents and will fine you the juicy amount of €450

 

But why do people throw coins into the fountain in the first place? This is undoubtedly the most popular tourist experience in Rome. The ritual involves visitors to hold a coin, turn away from the fountain, and toss the coin over their shoulder and into the fountain. The tradition most likely began after the release of the 1954 movie Three Coins in the Fountain. According to the lore of the film, if you throw one coin into the Trevi Fountain, you will return to Rome. Those who throw two coins will fall in love with someone they meet at the fountain. Those willing to part with three coins will marry the person they met. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of that myth, but there’s certainly no harm in trying. After all, the coins are all donated to a worthy cause!

 

Repair and maintenance

In 2012, after a harsh winter, pieces of cornice began to fall from the historic fountain, creating an immediate need for restoration. Two years later, in June 2014, the fountain was shut off drained, and cloaked in scaffolding for what would be 17 months. To carry on the tradition of coin-throwing, a basin was added to its base during renovations. In November 2015, €2.2 million worth of renovations were revealed and the Trevi Fountain's emerald waters finally returned.

 

In 2007 and the again ten years later in 2017, an Italian activist Graziano Cecchini dyed the water in the Trevi Fountain red in protest of corruption in Rome. Cecchini had no intention of damaging the landmark permanently and the stunt didn't, of course. Both times, the fountain was quickly drained before the precious stone was able to absorb the stain.

 

 

The problem is that the fountain faces the relatively small Piazza di Trevi and the large number of tourists visiting it each day causes not only a “traffic jam” and packed spaces, but also damage to the fountain itself with tourists sitting on it for the perfect photo op. That’s why the municipality of Rome has a new proposal to better regulate the access to the Piazza and even build a protective barrier around the fountain so that tourists won’t be able to sit on the marble or jump into the water. I don’t think that will look good in the foreground of the beautiful fountain.