Yes! In case you were worried, it’s still there! Alive and well and flocked to by tourists from all over the world!

I joined their numbers in August of 2026 and paid my respects to this awesome wonder of the world.

Only now there is a team of matching t-shirt wearing young men who are scattered across the lower levels of the staircase leading to the fountain who will not let anyone up close and personal with the monument. Given mass tourism, I guess it was inevitable. But is sad, compared to yesteryear.

The world is a richer place because this monument exists!