podcast
Chance Encounters
The unexpected connections you make while traveling can change your life: from romance that sparks at 30,000 feet to unlikely friendships that begin on the road. Chance Encounters, the podcast companion to the hit column on CNN.com from Francesca Street, chronicles incredible real-life stories of unforgettable travel connections.
Rome: We Fell in Love at the Trevi Fountain
Chance Encounters
Jun 27, 2025
American Catherine Tondelli won a trip to Rome, Italy in the summer of 1999. On her first night, she threw three coins in the city's Trevi Fountain and came to face-to-face with her future husband, Italian local Fausto Mezzana. Here’s how a vacation romance turned into a love story spanning 25 years and counting.
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Episode Photo: Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images
Episode Transcript
Francesca Street
00:00:01
Imagine you're standing in front of the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy. And you're about to toss three coins into the fountain and make a wish. You know that old tradition, right? After all, when in Rome.
Fausto Mezzana
00:00:24
The first coin you can make it in Rome. The second coin, you find your love in Rome. One, two, three. The third coin, your marry in Rome.
Catherine Tondelli
00:00:39
One, two, three. All of a sudden I heard this voice just saying, you know, if you want the wish to come true, you must throw with the left hand because it's closer to your heart.
Fausto Mezzana
00:00:56
Funny situation by the Trevi Fountain. I saw throwing the coin at the fountain like crazy. Continue to throw the coin in the fountain. It was a million of dollars in the fountain, okay, say whoa.
Catherine Tondelli
00:01:10
You know, there was like an immediate connection. I knew they say, you know, "colpo di fulmine" in Italian, which is, you now, love at first sight. And I really believed that. I think I looked at him and was like, oh my God, this fountain works like it's magic.
Francesca Street
00:01:31
'I'm Francesca Street, CNN Travel Journalist, and this is Chance Encounters, a podcast about the incredible connections we make while traveling. This show is based on my series of online articles for CNN.com, where I interview ordinary people about their extraordinary travel-based love stories and tales of friendship. In this podcast series we're chronicling the summer loves that turned out to be more than just a vacation romance. And since all roads lead to Rome, we're starting there today with Catherine Tondelli, who just threw three coins into the Trevi Fountain and made a wish. So here's how Catherine got here.
Catherine Tondelli
00:02:21
When I won this beautiful trip to Italy, everybody had their husband, their wife. I took my mother.
Francesca Street
00:02:33
This all happened back in the summer of 1999 when Catherine was 39 and newly single. For Catherine, life was good. She'd just won a trip to Rome, for one. Plus, she was content with her job, her cats, her life in California. She wasn't looking for love. In fact, she'd kind of given up on the idea altogether and she was fine with that. Catherine's mom, on the other hand, wanted her daughter to be able to enjoy companionship. She was really proud of Catherine and her achievements, but she loved the idea of Catherine having someone to share them with.
Catherine Tondelli
00:03:12
The first night we ended in Rome, my mom said, let's go to the Trevi Fountain. You brought me on this beautiful trip. You should have someone in your life really special.
Francesca Street
00:03:25
So Catherine and her mom, they made their way to the Trevi Fountain. These marble statues standing tall above the glistening blue water. It's pretty impressive anyway, but that night it was illuminated by a blue moon. Catherine's mom pressed the coins into her hand. And so, per Trevi Fountain tradition, Catherine got ready to throw her coins over her shoulder and make a wish. And that's when the second protagonist of our story today, Rome local Fausto Mezzana, appeared. And he was about to change Catherine's life. There were instant sparks.
Catherine Tondelli
00:04:13
She gave me the three coins and...
Fausto Mezzana
00:04:15
One, two, three.
Francesca Street
00:04:20
That initial meeting at the fountain, what were your first impressions of each other, do you recall?
Catherine Tondelli
00:04:26
First of all, he was very cute. He was very handsome. He was funny. He made me and my mom laugh so much, and I thought, oh my God, he's so funny.
Francesca Street
00:04:36
While Catherine didn't necessarily believe that all of the coin's wishes were about to come true, she did feel like something had intervened or something else was going on.
Catherine Tondelli
00:04:50
I was like oh my God, you know, this is like fate, right? Destiny, whatever you want to call it.
Francesca Street
00:05:00
As for Catherine's mother, Mary Lee, she was also immediately taken with Fausto, especially when she found out that he worked for an Italian airline because Mary Lee was a retired airline accountant. So they instantly instantly jelled.
Catherine Tondelli
00:05:16
So airline people sort of find each other, they always have this common bond. And he loved my mom I mean my mom and him hit it off like I always thought he always says he was interested in my mother, not me.
Fausto Mezzana
00:05:27
Because the truth is, I was not approaching her. I was approaching the mother, because I'm very fond of old ladies. I'm joking. I'm kidding.
Catherine Tondelli
00:05:35
He was using some very smart...
Fausto Mezzana
00:05:36
That is very good Italian...
Catherine Tondelli
00:05:38
He was smart. He was working the mother to get to the daughter.
Francesca Street
00:05:47
When Catherine and Mary Lee told Fausto that they'd just arrived in the city, Fausto suggested he could take the two women on a tour of Rome that night.
Fausto Mezzana
00:05:58
Believe me, I come to pick you up so we can do a ride in Rome.
Catherine Tondelli
00:06:02
But it's important because my mother's feet, we'd been walking all day. So my mother's feet were, she goes, I can't walk anymore. My feet are so, I just can't. So he said, no problem. I go get in my car. I pick you up and I will take you to Roma and I take you back to the hotel. So my mom was like, great. And I, and I said, mom, well, we just met him. I mean, what, you know, what if, I mean he, maybe he's a fountain hanger. Maybe he just hangs around fountains picking. She goes, Oh no, honey. I can tell. Mothers can tell.
Francesca Street
00:06:34
And so Katherine and her mother reunited with Fausto at the Piazza Navona later that night.
Fausto Mezzana
00:06:41
And when arrived, they were both surprised, you know, and the mother to the, oh my God, one four doors car. She, maybe she was thinking that I'd arrive like Gregory Peck, you remember, with the little motorbike. She said, oh, my God.
Francesca Street
00:07:03
'It might not have been Roman holiday, but it sure felt like something out of a movie. And growing up in the US, Catherine had seen all the rom-coms set in Rome. She'd read amazing books set in Italy. She'd heard about the city's famous fountain, the wishes, but nothing could have prepared her for that evening.
Fausto Mezzana
00:07:26
And that was an amazing night, really, because it was a summer night in Rome, you know. Have you ever been in Rome?
Francesca Street
00:07:34
Yes, I have, but a long time.
Fausto Mezzana
00:07:37
Yeah, because the summertime night, especially, it's a magic environment.
Francesca Street
00:07:48
Fausto drove Catherine and Mary Lee around Rome, pointing out everything from the Coliseum to his favorite jazz bar. Catherine was charmed, fascinated by his stories of his life in Rome, but also the attention and care that he showed her mother.
Catherine Tondelli
00:08:06
She was convinced that he was this great guy and thank God I listened to my mother.
Francesca Street
00:08:16
And so later, when Catherine's mom retreated back to the hotel to rest, Catherine and Fausto stayed out for several more hours.
Fausto Mezzana
00:08:26
Two o'clock in the morning. Then I say, okay, now we go to drink something to my house, I show you if you want. I mean, as she said, yes. Four o'clock.
Catherine Tondelli
00:08:42
Yeah, and he played piano for me.
Fausto Mezzana
00:08:43
So it was a very magic night, a really magic night.
Catherine Tondelli
00:08:46
I was like, oh my God, it was so beautiful. And I'm a musician too, I play trumpet. So it was like oh my God, we both love the music. We both love arts. We just had so much fun. We never really, I never really felt that, that I wanted to be with somebody that much. Cause it was, like, I didn't want the night to end. I'm like, this could be the one. I really did. Cause after so many years of looking and not finding the person, I just gave up.
Francesca Street
00:09:14
Fausto felt the same way. In fact, before he met Catherine, he wasn't sure he'd ever find love.
Fausto Mezzana
00:09:20
I was very worried because when I was 47 years old, I said, my God, I think in my life something must change because I can't continue like that. And you know, something like a present from the sky. She arrived.
Francesca Street
00:09:40
The next day, Fausto invited Catherine and her mom out for dinner. Catherine enthusiastically agreed. Mary Lee, on the other hand, apparently she already had "plans."
Catherine Tondelli
00:09:52
And she said, I'm super tired. I want to stay in and, you know, we'll have a drink and then I'm going to go back to the hotel. So I was like, oh, thank you, mom, so...
Fausto Mezzana
00:10:03
She was completely lying.
Francesca Street
00:10:06
But Catherine and Fausto were just grateful for the chance to spend more time together. That evening, they stayed up late again, talked about their families, their hopes for their future, past relationships, their passions.
Fausto Mezzana
00:10:20
The second night really we enjoy only another magic night to stay together.
Catherine Tondelli
00:10:25
Yeah but we went, we talked about...
Fausto Mezzana
00:10:27
Yeah, but I remember we didn't speak so much.
Francesca Street
00:10:37
I wonder for both of you, did you think this could be something more? Or did you this is just like a fun encounter that maybe I'll look back on fondly, but it won't necessarily turn into a lasting relationship as it ended up doing?
Catherine Tondelli
00:10:51
I definitely thought it could be more. I mean, I knew that I wanted to be in touch with him. I knew it was going to be more than this. And I wanted it to be because I thought he just was, you know, he wasn't like the typical American man who just wanted to sit around and watch sports. I mean he was a musician, he was in the airline, he loved to ski, he loved to, I mean, he was an actor.
Francesca Street
00:11:19
Before Catherine returned to California, she gave Fausto her business card. She was hopeful she'd hear from him, but unsure what exactly the future held. But then she'd only been back in the US for a couple of days when Fausto reached out.
Catherine Tondelli
00:11:38
There's something here. Why don't I send you the ticket, come back and let's just see if this was just because you were on vacation or really is something special. So I told my boss he said well you don't have any more vacation time so if you go I will let you go for four days because I said if I don't go I'll always regret it and he said if you don't come back in four days we will not have your job and I said okay. So I went.
Francesca Street
00:12:04
So Catherine is risking her job and her comfortable life in California for a man that she's falling for, but still doesn't really know. Will the magic of those two Roman summer evenings hold up in the real world? We'll find out after the break.
Francesca Street
00:12:32
Welcome back to Chance Encounters. I'm Francesca Street. Before the break, Catherine decided to return to Rome to revisit her vacation romance with Fausto. It was a gamble, but over those extra days in Italy, Catherine and Fausto became more and more sure they wanted to be together. And don't worry, Catherine returned in time and she didn't lose her job.
Catherine Tondelli
00:12:58
It was four beautiful days and we both were like, okay, now what do we do? It's like, I finally found somebody that I was really attracted to, not just physically, but also mentally. And of course I'm like, finally I meet someone I really, really want to be with, and he lives, you know, 14 hours away on a plane. But I was like, no, I think this, I'm gonna fight for this one because I think he's really special.
Francesca Street
00:13:25
'Fausto felt exactly the same way. They were committing to a long distance, cross-continental relationship.
Fausto Mezzana
00:13:32
Every month commuting from Rome to California, so California to Rome, Rome to Califonia, Califona to Rome.
Francesca Street
00:13:42
This mammoth journey was made a little easier by Fausto's job, which offered complimentary airline tickets. That helped keep the relationship going, but the commute was still difficult.
Fausto Mezzana
00:13:55
The first year was very hard. I mean, I was thinking, oh my God, I can't continue like that. This was computed between Europe and California is very hard.
Catherine Tondelli
00:14:04
So then I said, let me see. And I happened to be at a conference and this man asked me if I knew anyone for London. He was looking for someone and I'm like, yeah, me. So he said, you'd be perfect. You know, I was very scared because I had had terrible relationships. I was not lucky in love and I didn't want to make another mistake. So I said, I really want to take this one slower and I'm going to move to London. We'll still be close, but every weekend we will be together.
Francesca Street
00:14:36
And while Catherine thought moving to the UK, rather than moving right to Italy, was the pragmatic choice, her Californian friends and loved ones, they still raised an eyebrow at the whole thing.
Catherine Tondelli
00:14:50
My girlfriends were like, you are crazy. What are you doing? You're thinking about moving for this man you met at a fountain? The night that I was leaving, I was sweating. I woke up in the middle of the night going, oh my God, I can't believe I'm doing, I mean, because it's such a major step in your life. You're leaving your family, you're leaving you career. It wasn't just moving to another state, it was moving to a another country. And I have a twin sister. So she was probably the most difficult because she's like, she was mad at him. She's like you can't take my twin away from me. And when he came in, it was very hard for her. It took her a long time to really start to love him and get to know him and then she finally did.
Francesca Street
00:15:35
Ultimately, her friends and loved ones, they knew Catherine had to do what was right for her. And so she moved to London on August 10th, 2000. Compared to that trek across the Atlantic, Catherine and Fausto found navigating the distance between London and Rome pretty easy. Plus, due to differences in pet quarantine laws in the UK and Italy, Catherine's beloved cats settled in Rome with Fausto. So, whenever she visited Rome to see Fausto, she also got to see her cats.
Fausto Mezzana
00:16:08
I understood that my family would be coming with three person, one woman and two cats. There are still now, of course, we change many cats in the life and I love cats. I was hating the cats before in the starting my life, but now I love that. I love those, it's so nice, so nice.
Francesca Street
00:16:25
One evening, while visiting Catherine in London, Fausto broached the idea of Catherine moving to Rome permanently. And in another twist of fate, that same weekend, Catherine saw an ad for a hotel company in Rome looking for a marketing director. It sounded like her dream job. So she went to Rome the next week and she got the job.
Catherine Tondelli
00:16:51
Had to learn Italian, I mean it was a long learning curve.
Francesca Street
00:16:56
So in 2002, after years of long distance, Catherine and Fausto were finally living together where they first met. Then came the next step, fitting Catherine into Fausto's family.
Fausto Mezzana
00:17:11
This, when I introduced her to my family, it's the same. She was the exotic animal. They don't speak English, not so much, but of course they immediately appreciate her because it's something different. My father loved her.
Catherine Tondelli
00:17:31
It was a nice, warm welcoming that I had here and it was beautiful. And it would have been much more difficult had they not been so accepting of me.
Francesca Street
00:17:45
As Catherine and Fausto settled into this new chapter in Italy, their relationship only grew even stronger. And so two years later, they got married in a breathtaking medieval town called Viterchiano in central Italy. Catherine's friends, her twin sister, and her other siblings all gathered to celebrate with her. Alongside, of course, her beloved mother, Mary Lee, who was there when the relationship began.
Francesca Street
00:18:18
25 years later, I wonder how do you feel looking back on that meeting and all the life you've lived together since and the happiness you've clearly had? I wonder what emotions does it bring up for the two of you?
Catherine Tondelli
00:18:30
I think of it as a gift. When you're not looking for something, I think that's when something actually comes into your life. And so I look back at that and I still get excited. I still think, oh my God, wow, it brings up a lot of emotion for me and happiness. I never regret it. I never thought, oh, my God. What a mistake. You know, I left. I really feel that it was supposed to happen. We actually don't celebrate our anniversary. We celebrate the day we met. So we go out to dinner and have like our big celebration every year on the day we met.
Fausto Mezzana
00:19:09
The time was so fast. Of course, it remained like a moment that remained in my mind like yesterday.
Catherine Tondelli
00:19:20
Sometimes, you know, wishes come true and I was very lucky, so I got to meet this guy. And I'm still with him!
Francesca Street
00:19:38
'Thank you to Catherine Tondelli and Fausto Mezzana for sharing their Chance Encounter. If you have your own Chance Encounter to share, I'd love to hear it. You can share your story with CNN in the contact form linked in our episode description. This is Chance Encounters, reported, hosted and written by me, Francesca Street. Dan Bloom is our showrunner and co-writer. Sofia Sanchez and Kyra Dahring are the producers. Dan Dzula is technical director and Matt Dempsey is technical production manager. Steve Lickteig is executive producer of CNN Podcasts. For more Chance Encounters, check out cnn.com/travel. CNN Travel's global editor is Barry Neild. Special thanks to producers Lori Galarreta, Felicia Patinkin, Graelyn Brashear, Haley Thomas, Lauren Kim, Grace Walker, and Jesse Remedios. Jamus Andrest created the artwork for this show. We had support from Alex Manasseri, Mark Duffy, Robert Mathers, Joey Salvia, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Lisa Namerow, David Allan and the team at CNN Travel. Wendy Brundige is CNN Digital's SVP of Content Strategy. Chance Encounters is a production of CNN Podcasts. Thank you for listening.
