This Christmas season is a time for celebration in Rome’s bustling Piazza Navona. And I’m not celebrating the honky tonk Christmas market, selling cheap toys, balloons and ceramic Nativity scenes that always grows there this time of year. No.

The special treat for 2008 is this: After two years undercover for massive restoration, Bernini’s magnificent Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi), located in the center of the Piazza, has finally been unveiled. Wow. It was worth the wait.

Before it disappeared in 2006 behind wooden walls and scaffolding, the 17th century fountain — made of white marble and travertine stone — had clearly seen better days: brown water stains marked the river beds; the massive sculptures of humans and all variety of fantastic animals were mostly worn and chipped. Then, up went the barricades to allow for the work, giving Piazza Navona the feel of a construction site for the past 2 years. Now both the Fountain and the Piazza have returned to their former glory.

Though there are three fountains in Piazza Navona, the Fountain of the Four Rivers is by far the largest — a huge, magnificent work that forms the epicenter of the oblong Piazza, holding its disparate architectural elements together. Not so well know as Rome’s Trevi Fountain, The Four Rivers Fountain is (in my opinion) far more interesting, for its mix of history, art and whimsy. Yes, there is pleasure in the running water. But at heart this is not so much a fountain as a sculpture of rock and water that tells a fascinating story.

Stop at Trevi to snap a picture and throw a coin, according to custom. But leave a good half hour or more to check out Bernini’s Four Rivers Fountain. It takes some time to read it.

At each corner of the fountain is a figure representing one of the great rivers of the earth that were know to cartographers in Bernini’s time: The Nile, The Ganges, the Danube and the Plata. Though the fountain bears the seal of the Vatican and the Pope (Innocent X) who commissioned it, unlike so much art in Rome, it has an eclectic, naturalistic feel. Indeed, a real Egyptian obelisque somehow grows out of the fountain’s midst. And the obelisque’s point is, in turn, topped with a sculpture of a dove — the symbol of the Pamphili family, to which Innocent X belonged.

Each principal human figure is clothed (or unclothed) in garments representing his part of the world. The Nile is represented by a turbaned figured because (it is said) its source was unknown in that age; the Plata is depicted as a largely unclothed man with an African looking face and delicate ankle bracelets. Between the four figures is a mountain of jagged marble and gushing water, with horses, lions and reptiles weaving in and out of it.

Circle round the fountain several times, you will see something new with each visit. Every aspect, every time of day, tells a different story. Like Mount Everest no written description or photograph does this magnificent work justice….

On Dec. 14 the Italian railways introduced a new high-speed train line between Rome and Milan. What used to take four and half hours (and often more) is now a three and a half hour journey (At least in theory. I never underestimate the propensity of Italian trains not to run on time).

For now, the high-speed, or Alta Velocita’, train track runs only between Milan and Bologna, but by December 2009, it should extend all the way to Salerno, cutting the time even more (three hours between Rome and Milan). In a year, high-speed trains will also connect Turin and Milan in one hour.

By reaching up to 300 km per hour, the train has been able to shave about 45 minutes off the Milan-Bologna run, and by extension off the Milan-Rome run. In cases where the trains skip stops in Bologna and Florence (19 of 51 daily runs between Rome and Milan) the journey takes 3.5 hours. When it does make the stops the trip takes four hours.

When I went to Milan this week, I arrived at the station expecting something futuristic (the new trains have a flashy name: Freccia Rossa, the Red Arrow), but the AV Fast trains I traveled on were standard Eurostar models, which was fine, though a little disappointing. But they did run on time. The nice thing, too, is that most Eurostar trains now have sockets for computers or DVD readers in second class, which helps make the time pass.

There are desks at the AV platforms providing customer care, and if you’re traveling in First Class you have access to the Eurostar club, which is a members-only office at main train stations in Italy with their own ticket counter and (importantly) clean washrooms.

First class passengers can also rent a car, with chauffeur, for a four-hour period upon arriving in Rome or Milan. Prices start at 35 euros an hour.

I struggled, I admit, to figure out the pricing scheme for the new run. In part it’s because the railways are offering promotional prices during the first month of service, then there are discounts if you book on line. And prices vary according to the time of day, and whether or not you book a return trip for the same day. In any case the full fare at peak hours for the Milan-Rome trip will be 109 euros in first class and 79 euros in second. Best to go on line and see what’s available.

You can also book via the Trenitalia call center – dial 892021 – but know that there are costs involved in the call.

This month the railways also introduced Eurostar Fast trains – the trip takes 3 hours 59 minutes -between Rome and the following cities: Venice, Verona, Genoa, Bari and Lamezia Terme. There is at least one fast train per each destination each day.