No eating in Rome!!!!
 

At least not near any monuments. Ban went into affect on July 10.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/postthr...;x=50&y=12

Oh pickles, I meant this link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...i064933D69.DTL

I wonder if this extends to water bottles? Seems awfully sneaky to just walk up to tourists and hand them a ticket for something they didn't know was illegal.

On the face of it, this is a bad idea -- taking away the opportunity to snack on gelato on a summer day, or roasted chestnuts in front of the Spanish Steps when it's colder. That's a lot of pleasure snatched away, plus the economical impact of forcing people to eat at seated establishments.

Wonder if this will stand up over time, or whether there will be sufficient protests to recall it? The vendors can move away from the monuments, of course, but I guess this means customers cannot take their snacks close into a forbidden zone.

Geeez...

Jim

We returned yesterday from a 10 day stay in an apartment overlooking the Pantheon. People sat everywhere in the Piazza Rotunda and ate pizza, sandwiches, etc. No signs of any enforcement of the snacking ban.