Where to eat picnics?

There are many restrictions in Italy as to where you sit and eat (church steps usually fall among them). And some places you're not even allowed to sit at all (bridges in Venice). There are some gardens with places where you can sit and eat. But it might just be a bench. I'm not remembering many picnic tables per se.

I was thinking of Rome in particular. I just didn't see that many green spaces, except of course large parks like Villa Borghese. How about the many piazzas? Do most of them fall under the category of "on a view?"
I suspect it's easier to make a picnic than find a place to eat it.

Thanks, This is a great link, Michael. I guess I'll just have to plan ahead for a nice picnic, rather than spontaneous, sit-on-the-steps-in-the-middle-of-Rome meals. If you get pizza-to-go or sandwiches in Rome center far from one of the suggested picnic spots, do you just eat standing up? I have an ankle that starts giving me pain after a few miles of sight seeing, and I need to sit down occasionally to mitigate the problem. If I'm not eating, would it be okay to sit on the steps of a church for a brief rest?

There are NO parks in Europe, they spent all their money on high speed trains, good food and wine. lol. There are parks EVERYWHERE and a lot of REALLY BIG FOUNTAINS too!!

You can have a picnic in the circus maximus and at the Baths of caracalla, though that is a pay site and will cost you an entry fee. YOu can also find some quiet spots in the Borghese park. Donna

I removed that link because it seemed to be causing problems with my computer. It can be found by googling rome picnic

If I'm not eating, would it be okay to sit on the steps of a church for a brief rest? If you are at the church, why not go in? Lovely cool atmosphere, quiet, loads of pews (except one very large place I can think of) that you can sit on and rest your ankle for lots of time, art, coolness.