Planning on enjoying some gelato on the Spanish Steps? Think again. This month Italian cities, including Rome, put a new regulation into force- no eating and drinking in areas of “particular historic, artistic, architectonic and cultural value” in Rome’s center, to better protect the city’s monuments, which include landmarks like the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps. Fines range all the way up to $650 for culinary recidivists.”
After Gianni Alemanno, Rome’s mayor, noticed that people were camping out and literally making themselves at home, he cracked down on the rules. But is it really necessary to ban all eating and drinking?
An excerpt for the article: “Mr. Gazzellone, Rome’s head of tourism, dismissed concerns that visitors strolling with ice cream or slices of pizza would be fined, ‘as long as they throw any waste in the trash bins.’ It’s more a question of civility, he said: ‘You wouldn’t eat a pizza and drop tomato sauce all over the steps of the White House in Washington.'” I agree that the monuments and historic cities should be respected, but I don’t know how much harm eating a sandwich will do.
Everyone should just be respectful, because there is no need to “Declare War on the Sandwich.”
Chew It Over 