Drinking Wine in parks or public areas

Good questiion Connie---I am curious too!!!

Yes, as long as you're permitted to picnic. Several cities, including Venice, have tried to shoo picnickers away from around major sites. But, if you are allowed to picnic, you can enjoy your wine.

And on the trains, too!

Part of the fun of Europe for me is drinking that beer or wine where I'm 'not supposed to' (in the USA) ;-)

I feel like I'm sneaking out of my bedroom window...

The other Doug is right on. Public consumption is not a problem, though public drunkeness is. Some cities are cracking down on picnicing and police may shoo you away from popular sites, but in general, parks and little out-of-the-way spots should be fine.

Thanks for your insights. We are sure to enjoy our wine in many places!

To add to the wine drinking issue -

Where do you get the glasses to drink the wine in these locations? Or do you just drink out of the bottle encased in a brown paper bag? ;-)

The plastic cups that the hotel provides. No need for brown bagging. Remember that some museums, example Pitti Palace, makes you check-in any glass wine bottles.

Not a problem at all. As for the cups question, many times the bottega that you buy your supplies from will have some. We bought wine, bread, cheese, prosciutto and the owner caught on and asked "peekneek?" We answered in the affirmative and he uncorked (and recorked) our wine and offered us two plastic cups for our picnic. This happened several times without us even soliciting. Have fun!

Wow Darren, that is fantastic. I hope we get that kind of treatment as well!

We used to bring a 'VacuVin' pump and a few rubber 'corks' to re-seal our wine, then I had the bright idea (it happens occasionally) to bring what you might know as a 'Platypus' - a food-grade plastic flask. Duh - we can squish out the excess air so that our 4 Euro wine doesn't go bad...AND we bring a champagne stopper...we usually end up with some champagne/prosecco/beer that needs a cap for a little while.

Remember - your corkscrew is OK with TSA, but NOT with European airport security. Even w/o the knife. Check it on the way home, or be prepared to let Miette take it (to her home. No, I don't have actual proof, but...). I don't really want to talk about that anymore (grinding teeth)

Cups - You might guess I've given this more thought than anyone should, but the easy answer is - airplane cups. The ones from American Airlines are great; they're 'soft' plastic with a little 'give' - not brittle & easy to crack - they don't look too badly, and in the last 9 months or so they're even stronger than before. It's easy to collect a few on the way over the pond...Even yogurt cups, etc., if you're desperate.

Mary, do you remember where you got that flask? Does it leak?

I have an old Platypus (REI, and the usual suspects), and some from a company called EasyTravelerInc.com. Their website is nice - they show you how to use their products...in addition to the flasks (some might known them as "Rum Runner" flasks aimed at the cruisers - can carry booze onto cruise ships undetected), they also sell empty and refillable tubes for shampoo, toothpaste, lotion that are 3-1-1 bag sized. The tubes can be arranged head-to-toe, so more stuff fits in those 3-1-1 bags. (No lectures on THAT, please LOL!)

I've had no problems with them leaking. I carried water all over Europe in them; I started out each day with a few of them full, then as I drank the water (poured CAREFULLY into my water bottle to keep flasks clean) I could flatten or roll-up the empties until ready to use again. They have sizes (ex: 8oz)that can fit in your pocket. [what you fill it with is YOUR perogative ;-)] You can also freeze them. When my husband bought (and we started drinking!) some Calvados last year in Bayeux, we just poured the rest of it in a flask and put it in our checked luggage for the flight home. Less likely to break than a bottle. We just double-bagged it in ziplocs.

So, you can tell I really like that company LOL! You can get 8/16/32 oz flasks, so you could pour an entire bottle of wine into one, and not have to carry the heavy glass bottle all over Paris. Just squish the extra air out of the flask to keep the wine fresher (and you're less likely to 'pop' the puffed-up flask in your daybag).

Does it leak? I've never had one full (of wine) long enough to know ;-). Seriously, I've had no problems with them over the last year of use. You just have to treat them well, ie roll, don't fold them or put them somewhere they might get punctured...And NO carbonated beverages!!!

Thanks Mary, I will check this out. You got me all excited about drinking on trains, etc. A flask would be much better than a bottle.

As others have alluded to, a little wine or a beer with a snack in a park or on the train is fine. Basically, if you are allowed to eat, then you can drink. To sit around and only drink though, might be a little frowned upon, with some exception for a romantic spot in the evening. The only other issue that comes to mind is if your picnic or bottle of wine occurs in an area with a number of cafes (on a square for example) you may run into some problems, but only from gruff waiters.

Drinking in public is not a problem at all, in fact in many cases it adds to the atmosphere. Whenever I go to Rome, I always pop into the little store next to the Trevi Fountain and buy a couple small bottles of prosecco to enjoy as I take in the view (the shop gives you little plastic cups too). In Cinque Terra we always bring a bottle of vino down to the rocks in Vernazza as the sun goes down. Whne I go to Venice for New Years, I usually take a bottle up to the top of the Rialto Bridge to ring in the new year in style.

Drinking age is 16, so a little public wine drinking is probably acceptable. We had a picnic lunch, with wine, in the Borghese Park in front of the Villa Borghese in May '09. We were furnished a complete picnic basket with utensils, plates, and bamboo mats to sit on. This was furnished by Gina Restaurant near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

http://ginaroma.com/index_eng.shtml