rude to share?

Rude to each other? In a whole year, you'll have plenty of time to work out those issues.
Oh! You mean to the restaurant. I would not worry too much about it. You're not planning on too many Michelin star restaurants, are you? Like the US, there are more and more small plate and tapas type places all over western Europe. In a year, (hope you get visas), you will get the local lay of the land.

We just got home from dinner and guess what, we shared. In Europe, many times we would get a cup of soup each and share a sandwich and never had a problem. For a year, are you aware of the Schengen Rule for how long you can be in Europe?

We returned recently from 4 weeks in Italy where we shared meals often. A salad and a pasta, a salad and a pizza, a pasta and a secondi, etc. etc. It never seemed to be an issue. Have a great trip.

It’s no different than here, really. You wouldn’t share here in a fine restaurant…it would be tacky and ill-mannered. But everywhere else…share away…I can tell you from experience that it’s no problem anywhere! Since your question had nothing to do with visas, let’s assume you already know why you’ll be in Europe for a year and have all of your visa considerations already well thought out.

Having covered the visa problem in response to a food question, it's time to move on to a discussion of pickpockets in restaurants.

And best pub, bar.

Many replies have been edited or deleted. Perhaps we can all assume that Lyndsey really is only asking a food question and not doing anything illegal with relation to visa restrictions, etc. For the sake of the OP, please stick to the question at hand.

Please, no replies to my post. Thank you.

In Italy bear in mind that in most restaurants the table is yours for the evening so don't be surprised if in a busy place your welcome cools if you share every dish. Having said that we usually ask if it ok to share our first course (pasta dish, risotto etc), order separate mains and then, if we can manage one, share our dessert. I think the trick is to ask beforehand and not assume it is ok.

You do not have to order every course. In more tourist places they are used to people just ordering say a pasta (first) course and a dessert. You will probably find that the portions are usually smaller than the ones you may be used to and if you do not fill up with bread beforehand find them manageable. We were amazed at the amounts served when we first visited the States.

In the same vein as Linda, we tend to order two appetizers, then split a main. We don't skip on drinks, though, so our bill is usually not much different than people eating who were just getting two mains. The only time anyone got mad was at a Bangladeshi restaurant in Brick Lane, London, because we were taking advantage of a special deal and they wanted us to order two mains to get the benefits. We simply made motions to leave and they managed to give us the deal anyway. ;)