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picnicing

Picnicking is the term Rick uses to refer to something similar to what I think I want to do. I am currently on a radically restrictive diet consisting mostly of fruit. Are there places outside in the places I plan to visit (Pisa, Naples, Florence, Rome) where I could eat without getting into trouble with the Italian authorities? How far away from the museums should I walk before I put food in my mouth? Can you eat while walking on sidewalks? Should I find a park or piazza or plaza with a fountain or benches before I start to eat or are these areas no-eating zones? Do they have benches and garbage cans? How easy would it be to brush my teeth right after I eat?

Posted by
3119 posts

I'm not aware of Italian authorities objecting to people eating a piece of fruit while seated on a bench in a park or a piazza. That said, in recent years the influx of migrants from Africa, the Middle East, etc. may have motivated them to tighten up some vagrancy ordinances. From what I understand, these laws have more to do with washing oneself in public (e.g., using a public fountain), or public consumption of alcohol, than picnicking of food.

Look around and--in this case, literally--do as the Romans do. If you see other people having ice cream or drinking a beverage, then it's extremely likely you can enjoy a piece of fruit without any trouble. However, don't expect to open up your lunch sack while seated in a café, even outdoors. Your waiter would probably throw you out, pronto.

To brush your teeth, I'd say carry a bottle of water inside your daypack and go into a restroom, whether in a museum or train/bus station, or in a café or bar where you've bought something to drink.

Here's an article that may be useful, although it is mainly about the ins & outs of eating in restaurants https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/travel-tips/how-not-to-get-ripped-off-eating-in-italy

Posted by
11613 posts

There are some relatively new prohibitions against eating at/near monuments, but this is due to trash and littering, mostly by tourists, nothing to do with migrants.

Posted by
7737 posts

FWIW, with the exception of gelato, I don't think I've ever seen an Italian walking while eating something.

Posted by
11613 posts

Michael, pizza!!! Especially a slab of pizza bianca (crust, olive oil, rosemary, salt) in the morning.

Posted by
15041 posts

Doesn't look like the authorities are prohibiting much:

http://comeviaggiareinformati.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/centro-storico.jpg

http://www.italianostravenezia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Picnic-ponte-1-600x350.jpg

http://corrierefiorentino.corriere.it/methode_image/2016/04/07/Fiorentino/Foto%20Trattate/WP_20160406_14_00_23_Pro-kfIH-U46030186158262IIG-1224x916@CorriereFiorentino-Web-Firenze-593x443.jpg?v=20160407111202

http://foto.ilmessaggero.it/photogallery_img/MED/61/87/1846187_595.jpg

However many municipalities have introduced limitations to picnicking in the historical centers. Rome introduced a general prohibition within the historical center with fines up to 500€ (not sure how strictly enforced). Nobody will tell you anything if you walk while eating an apple or a banana or a pizza or a gelato, but if you sit on the staircases of the St. Peter's Basilica and spread a towel with cheeses, cold cuts, etc. like in the photos above, you might see some policeman coming to you.

Posted by
792 posts

Never had a picnic in Italy. But in France it is a well accepted custom ..spread out a blanket and have at it. Different strokes

Posted by
16893 posts

I would consider most actual benches to be fair game but the trouble can be finding one. In the heart of city sightseeing, you have a lot more people than benches. More space is given to cafes where you pay to sit. In Piazza San Marco in Venice, I've definitely seen the posted "no picnicking" signs. If anything is marked on the map as a green park, it's a decent bet to find a bench, though the park may be less green than you expect. Think about shopping at the Mercato Centrale in Florence, where you can probably eat your purchases at a table in the upper level food court. Might also work for the Eataly building- most of what you buy there can probably be eaten there.

Posted by
975 posts

Perhaps I will judge rice to be less bad than other restaurant foods - at work recently, people were ordering chinese food and I let them convince me to try some. I swore off wheat, and cooked foods, for supposed health reasons. I think restaurant food has too much sodium or is otherwise bad for you but I can't medically prove it. And I don't want eating to be an elaborate or long affair. My family thinks I am nuts and perhaps they are right. I want to avoid having food in a bag and then having to throw it away before entering a site or museum, and to avoid getting arrested or worse for eating - of course I want to be respectful, only eating sitting or standing in out of the way places, if at all possible in places they don't mind eating, in a non-elaborate way, not making a mess or harming antiquities, and so on.

Posted by
3812 posts

There are laws agains camping on monuments, nobody cares if you eat while walking or sitting on a bench or within a certain distance from a museum (this is officially the Strangest Thing I've Ever Red Online and I'm used to read some really strange sites) .

Eating pizza by the slice or arancini rice balls while walking is absolutely normal. Teens have an "hobbits style" second breakfast while going home to have lunch after school.

Really, where do you learn this stuff?

Posted by
6264 posts

We were enjoying a light picnic on the steps of San Lorenzo in Florence, and were asked to leave by the police.

Posted by
3812 posts

We were enjoying a light picnic on the steps of San Lorenzo in Florence, and were asked to leave by the police.

I'm afraid that falls into the definition of "camping on monuments" (and, if everyone did it, hindering the passage).