Welcome to 2015's A–Z Challenge. This year I'm taking you on a tour of one of my favourite cities!

Friday 24 April 2015

U – United Nations

© United Nations
I really am an uninformed traveller. During a visit to the Forum I was distracted by a large poster that adorned a massive building in the distance. Intrigued by this modern intrusion I spotted ‘Fiat’ through my zoom.

I’m sure many motor vehicle fanatics despair at the merest suggestion that I might have considered the building be associated with Fiat cars. Their name is derived from Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory Turin) – FIAT for short and eventually becoming Fiat. Was I really the first tourist to confuse Rome with Turin?

Later, I was able to discover that the building was actually home to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Fiat panis is the organisation’s Latin motto, meaning ‘Let there be bread’.

I am grateful to the UN for allowing me to reproduce the photo that illustrates this post (the only photograph in this Challenge that isn’t my own).

4 comments:

  1. Whenever I see a building like this and hear "United Nations" I think of the great film, "North By Northwest"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really enjoyed your blog and a great idea to pick a city. I remember FAO from years ago when I was an au pair there. Clare of Clare's Blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. My brother works for FAO in Rome. We actually were inside this building and have a picture up on one of the top floors when we visited in 2000. -http://50andfabulousblog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete