I spent a month in Rome in ‘96, was in and out of that station many times...the best bookstore in Rome was there along with a lot of other interesting little shops that sold things without gouging tourists. I’m quite sure the merchants there are going out of business.
As a woman alone, I had no fear in Italy though crime was high thanks to the mafia. You couldn’t walk into a bank without being checked out through a small bulletproof glass window...your car would probably be stolen without three security systems, it wasn’t like the USA. Even so,I felt safe enough walking all over Rome — and Florence, Sorrento and Assisi by myself.
It only took 20 years to lose Europe. I’ll never go back. Most tourists probably won’t.