Venice: The War on Impropriety Continues

Photo by Lee Coursey via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Buoyed by their recent victory against the St. Mark’s pigeons, local authorities in Venice are once again turning their attention to the battle against uncivilized tourists. We’ve covered their clampdown on bare chests, littering and public naps—now, the new targets include fare-dodgers on the vaporetti, bag lunches in the piazzas, and all those folks who don’t give up their seats for pregnant women and the elderly.

I’m with them on the first and the last ideas, but bag lunches? There’s nothing like taking a seat in a quiet campo and enjoying a light snack before getting lost again. Cracking down on that practice seems more like an attack on tourists’ wallets than on our manners.

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