Fontana dei Cavalli Marini Photo: Antmoose 

Although the seaside is only a 30-minute drive away from the city, and frequently you can sea seagulls right downtown, it’s clearly too far away to hear the waves breaking. And yet the sound of flowing water is one of the first things you notice about Rome. No, not from the Tiber river, but because just about everywhere you may go, there is a fountain with running water, some of which are still connected to the aqueducts that the ancient Romans built.. Water trickles, drips or spouts from gargoyles, nymphs, dramatic masks, stone tiaras, lions’ heads, barrels, seahorses, tortoises and in one case even from a heap of stone cannonballs.