City of Water, Trevi from Above, and the Galleria Sciarra

A walk that starts below the street and ends in a courtyard nobody photographs. It opens underground at Vicus Caprarius, where Roman rooms sit around a working channel of the Aqua Virgo. The water still moves; the aqueduct was never switched off. From there the group comes up for the Trevi Fountain, and this is the point to read carefully: the fountain is seen from the viewpoint above, at street level, and the tour does not include going down to the basin. The guide covers the Baroque composition, the story of the spring and the coin ritual from up there. Then Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, again from the square rather than climbing them, and the part they have played in Roman social life since the 18th century. The last stop is the one worth the price. The Galleria Sciarra is a covered courtyard a minute from the Trevi crowds, painted floor to ceiling with Art Nouveau frescoes, entered through an unmarked arch and almost always empty. Most visitors walk past the opening without turning their heads.