No Pizza on the Piazza? - NYTimes.com

ROME???Stefano, look! There?s another eater,?? one police officer said to another, dapper as ever in their bleached white shirts and matching caps. The culprits, a couple of foreign tourists, had settled down on the Spanish Steps, one of Rome?s most famous landmarks. In their hands were the offending items: sandwiches.

The officers launched into action, and after much waving of hands, the tourists wrapped up their lunch again and sheepishly slouched off.

That has been the scene in Rome?s city center since Oct. 1, when a city ordinance outlawed the consumption of food and drink on the streets in areas of ??particular historic, artistic, architectural and cultural value.??

The new rules are aimed at protecting the monuments of a city so trampled by tourists it can feel like a theme park. But they have also been met with more than a little chagrin by tourists and locals, many of whom could not resist noting that the city might have larger problems at a time when Italy is skating sideways through an economic crisis.

Read more about the new regulation here, and let us know your thoughts: Is a ban on eating takeout food on Rome?s historic sites a boon or bane?

Source: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/no-pizza-on-the-piazza/

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