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By Katie Walmsley, Director Adjust font size:
    Monday 1200 ... I meet Alessandro the cameraman from CNN's Rome bureau. We grab a cab and go to film general shots of the city. He and our taxi driver have a heated argument in Italian about exactly where the Giardino degli Aranci are. We finally find them and they are the most beautiful gardens overlooking Rome. Strangely, they are also filled with stray kittens wandering around everywhere. 1400 ... We walk around an area called Trastevere -- which literally means over the river -- to film locations. As it's less well known and also November, there are hardly any tourists, so we get to see the city at its best. 1500 ... We film on the other side of the river, all the typical tourist sites. We convince another taxi driver to drive repeatedly around the Coliseum so we can get driving shots that capture its huge scale. Tuesday 1200 ... We meet Maria Grazia Cucinotta, her bodyguard, the cameraman and our driver in the lobby of our hotel. Cucinotta gets into our car to begin the interview while her bodyguard follows behind. She says her fans in Rome mob her wherever she goes. This turns out to be something of an understatement. We start the interview as we drive to the first location. Cucinotta talks about her childhood in Sicily and how she ended up living in Rome, becoming an actress. 1300 ... We start at the Spanish Steps where Cucinotta calls her husband to find out some information about them as none of us seems to know when they were built, or by whom! The steps lead straight down to Via Condotti -- where all the designer shops are -- so Cucinotta shops while we film. Most of our time is spent in Armani (Giorgio Armani is a good friend of Cucinotta's and often dresses her for appearances and film parts) where she makes several purchases before we move on down the road, a crowd of fans photographing her all the way. 1330 ... We go into Paciotti shoes, an amazing store further down the road, where Cucinotta tries on footwear as hordes of passers-by and builders gawp at the window. Eventually a group of builders persuades Cucinotta to join them for photos, which are snapped on mobile phone cameras and quickly sent to friends. Cucinotta buys a pair of shoes to change into, which she later regrets as they keep getting stuck between the cobbles of Rome's streets. 1400 ... We reach Piazza Navona where Cucinotta tells us the 17th century story of Gianlorenzo Bernini's fountain and Bernardo Boromini's church. Bernini hated Boromini and his church, so he built a fountain surrounded by sculptures that look personally offended and disgusted by the building. As we walk through the piazza Cucinotta spots a friendly paparazzo and introduces us. He starts snapping away (even taking shots of the CNN crew, although we can't imagine who would want a photos of us!). This in turn attracts hordes of other tourists and people wanting photos with Cucinotta. After about half-an-hour we finally extricate ourselves just as a nun, who is a huge fan, wants even more photos. 1500 ... We go up to Gianicolo; the most beautiful view of Rome. It's fairly cold and you can see snow on the mountains behind the city -- which is apparently a rare sight. Then we head on to Piazza San Pietro to film the Vatican while Cucinotta talks about the Pope. She and her daughter met Pope Jean Paul II after he wrote her a letter praising her. She hasn't yet met Benedict XVI. 1600 ... The next location is the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth -- a sculpture that people traditionally would put their hands in before answering questions. Legend has it that if they lied, their hands would be cut off. 1630 ... Finally we end up at the Fontana di Trevi, the location of the famous scene in "La Dolce Vita" in which actress Anita Ekberg gets into the fountain. Cucinotta understandably doesn't want to get into the fountain as it's freezing, but throws a coin in before being surrounded by yet more fans. Even a man dressed as a centurion - who usually poses for tourist snaps -- wants a photo with her. |
 | Passenger ignites device on plane landing in U.S.A passenger on an international flight bound for the United States Friday ignited a small explosive device shortly before landing in a move the White House ... |
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