When in Rome, you want to do as the Romans do – and that means being respectful of the city’s historical artefacts as well as its local customs.
This is a lesson Emily in Paris has seemingly failed to grasp, with a recent scene showing the protagonist of the Netflix hit making a blunder that’s all too common among tourists.
At the end of the most recent season, Emily leaves the French capital in favour of Rome, and we later get a brief glimpse the American marketing executive relaxing on the Spanish Steps with a new Italian love interest.
This landmark, comprised of 135 stairs, leads from the Piazza di Spagna to the Trinità dei Monti church, and dates back to the early 1700s.
Numerous references to the Spanish Steps in books, film and television – from F Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night to Roman Holiday featuring Audrey Hepburnand The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), starring Matt Damon in the title role – have added to their icon status. The location is also even home to the apartment where poet John Keats spent his final days.
So much history is bound to attract tourism, but as locals have found out over the year, this isn’t necessarily a good thing.
