ROMAN HOLIDAY FOR ITALIANS, THIS IS LA DOLCE VITA.

Byline: RAMONA SHELBURNE Staff Sriter

ROME - I suppose if you closed your eyes and just listened, it would've sounded like a wave. But I, of course, could not bear to deprive myself of the sight.

It was breathless and breathtaking. From one moment to the next, the 200,000 people who had crammed into Circus Maximus, where the greatest games and chariot races of ancient Rome had taken place, held their breath in collective anticipation, then erupted in unbridled joy.

They waved their flags, threw water in the air, kissed their girlfriends and sang whatever song came into their heads. Within seconds it seemed every car in the city was honking, every person smiling and screaming.

``This is the best feeling in the world,'' said Luca Jamba, 26, before he joined in with the chorus of people who had begun singing the Italian national anthem. ``After 24 years, the World Cup is ours again.''

Earlier, the concierge at my hotel, Massimo Laurenti, had tried to explain what this moment would be like, even though he feared jinxing the outcome with too much talk of victory before the game.

``The whole city is ready to explode,'' he explained. ``If we win, everyone in Rome will jump in the Trevi Fountain.''

I went to see if he was right.

Any Roman tour guide worth his salt will tell you two things about the Trevi Fountain. First, throwing a coin into it will ensure a return trip to Rome. And second, it was the site of the famous scene in Federico Fellini's existential classic ``La Dolce Vita'' where Yvonne Furneaux and Marcello Mastroianni wade into the water and kiss.

I never made it to Trevi Fountain.

On the way, I ran into a couple who seemed to be re-enacting the scene at the Triton Fountain at Piazza Barberini. They seemed a bit older than most of the other people in the piazza, and happy about more than just the game.

``Three months ago, my boyfriend asked me to marry him,'' Laura Cortesini explained. ``But I said, `No. I'm too old. I don't believe in marriage anymore.' But he kept insisting and insisting. So I told him, `Maybe we'll get married if Italy wins the World Cup.'

``That was three months ago. I never think they will really win. But now, we have to get married.''

She did not seem altogether unhappy about the way the outcome of the game had affected her life.

``It's destiny, I think,'' she said, simply.

Her fiance, Marco Frassi beamed, then laid another kiss on her.

La dolce vita, the sweet life, indeed.

From Piazza Barberini, I followed the parade of cars and Vespas up Via Sistina towards the Spanish Steps. On most summer nights, the steps are filled with young people looking to socialize and drink beer and musicians good at getting everyone to join them in singing pop tunes.

When I arrived at the top, at the bottom of Trinita Dei Monti church, the crowd was well into its umpteeth rendition of the Italian national anthem.

The Spanish Steps were a sea of red, white and green flags and the party spilled out onto the fashionable boulevard, Via Condotti.

``We're going everywhere tonight. Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Repubblica. We just want to be with everyone. We want to see everyone,'' Shara Orarno said. ``We want to celebrate together.''

Most everyone there was Italian, but a handful of foreign tourists showed up to share in the revelry and maybe switch allegiances for one night.

``I live in Philly and I've seen the Sixers win the NBA title, the Flyers win the Stanley Cup. Nothing compares to this,'' said Jim Gill, an American who'd been traveling in Italy with his wife and another couple. ``In the U.S. this kind of thing might happen in one city. But this is the whole country.''

It was getting late, and my flight home was just five hours away, so I made myself take in one last glimpse before going back to my hotel.

This time, I made myself close my eyes and just listen. I was in Rome in one of its most glorious hours. But if you listened hard enough, you could hear all of Italy singing.

``It is not the team who wins,'' Massimo had told me earlier. ``It is us. It is everyone, the whole country who wins. We don't say, `They won the World Cup.' We always say, `We won, Italy won. We all won.'''

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Italian soccer fans celebrate the team's World Cup victory in Rome's historic Trevi Fountain.

Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press