A couple of years ago the municipal government of Rome decided to make it illegal to sit on the Spanish Steps. Why? I'm still not entirely sure. The New York Times reported at the time that "Rome has tried for years to get ill-mannered tourists to behave. In 2012, Mayor Gianni Alemanno’s government passed regulations to stop tourists from snacking on monuments. But sitting was mostly O.K." But that wasn't enough, and eventually they decided that Rome's monuments needed to be treated more respectfully. Part of that included an end to sitting on the steps.
Today's picture is a view of the Spanish Steps at dusk with a Roman police officer making sure that no one sits on the steps. It sounds like a bit of a thankless job, but I guess someone has to do it.
Kevin's blog.
Kevin's rules.
That said, as part of demonstrating their interest in the long-term accuracy of their articles, Mother Jones at some point decided to close comments on their articles after 70 days.
Here at Kevin's blog?
7 days.
What got me interested enough to figure that out?
From way way back on August 17th, 2021: https://jabberwocking.com/after-24-hours-of-panic-our-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-is-suddenly-running-smoothly/ after seeing: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/08/asia/afghanistan-women-taliban-government-intl/index.html Demonstrating "long term" being "about two or three weeks." Though perhaps that is the sort of "ought to be local" news Kevin has recently lamented in: https://jabberwocking.com/the-nationalization-of-trivia-has-turned-us-all-into-nervous-wrecks/
You need a better hobby.
Judging from the look he's giving you, the police officer is not entirely sure about the purity of your intentions.
And, something more upbeat: https://api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/animals/article/how-tabby-cats-get-their-stripes
How do you say get your ass off the stairs in Italian?
https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=it&text=Get%20your%20ass%20off%20the%20stairs%20in%20Italian&op=translate 🙂
This picture would be so much better if there were someone sitting on the steps behind the cop.
Or, you could be one of the guards in the Sistine Chapel, who spend most of their days shushing the crowds, like the disapproving nuns of my elementary school days.
Public health measure. Sitting on concrete gives you piles. At least that's what my grandma used to say.
"Or, you could be one of the guards in the Sistine Chapel, who spend most of their days shushing the crowds, like the disapproving nuns of my elementary school days."
Yeah, who could possibly object to tourists talking loudly, wandering round, interrupting services, in a church? Or crowding the Spanish steps so you have no room to walk up or down them? Or flooding Venice with huge numbers of cruise liners so the locals who live there can't move around?
Just turn the world over to Disney, and divide all sites properly into customers and service workers.
You do have a point about Venice, but the Spanish Steps is a meeting place, a place for exhausted souls to rest their soles....and an interesting place to watch and see people.
I will miss hanging on the Spanish Steps.
This is sad news you bring back.
Traveller
I've sat there myself a few times over the past 49 years, and enjoyed it, but it's one of those places where there are getting to be just too many people attracted by the fame.