Garbage as usual@Pantheon’s nearby

Rome has an unrivalled way of holding beauty and decay in the same frame, and this street is no exception. The cobblestones, slick from a recent rain, mirror the ochre façades and Renaissance windows in a way that almost disguises the litter piled quietly along the curb. Almost. A man in a crisp shirt walks down the centre, back straight, seemingly immune to the refuse that flanks his path. It’s not that he doesn’t see it—it’s that he’s learned to live with it, as many Romans have. On the right, another figure leans against a doorway, absorbed in his phone, framed by stacked crates and plastic bags. Life continues unbothered. T

This is not the Rome of postcards. It’s the Rome of daily commerce, of imperfect maintenance, of a city whose splendour and neglect coexist in stubborn harmony. The photograph doesn’t accuse, nor does it romanticise. It simply shows what is, leaving the viewer to decide whether the scene is a mark of resilience or resignation.