Be Respectful or Face a Fine in Venice

A while back, I wrote about vendors in Venice jacking up the price of goods for rude tourists. Now it appears as if the people of Venice are taking it a step further and implementing fines for tourists who don’t respect the rules of the city. And these fines can range from 25 to 500 euros — ouch! The city is being patrolled by t-shirted stewards who will alert police if the rules are broken. So far, 100 tourists have been fined.

Punishable crimes include laying out food, walking about bare-chested or treating the Grand Canal like a beach, and implementing fines is the city’s effort to uphold its image as a mecca of fine art and sophistication. Still, I don’t see what’s wrong with having an innocent picnic every now and then …