Thursday, January 17, 2008

Rome ball-barded

The historic centre of Rome has been brought to a standstill by a protest with a difference. Authorities took several hours to clean it up - but the stunt has brought huge publicity to the man who staged it.

Visitors to the Spanish Steps on Wednesday were greeted by a rather peculiar sight.
For most of the morning street cleaners and smartly uniformed policemen were chasing little brightly coloured balls, armed with dustpans and brushes.

To everyone's amazement half a million of these balls were suddenly bouncing down the steps. Within minutes, the famed Piazza de Spagna resembled a children's playground.

The joke was largely on the policemen. It was another colourful stand from Graziano Cecchini, a man who protests against government incompetence in the most unusual ways.

Last year he poured a dye into the Trevi Fountain, turning it red.

This latest stunt cost him £15,000 (20,000 euros) - and probably a rather large fine.

Tourists grabbed the balls as mementoes at the base of the steps.

No comments: