In June of 2016, my husband and I traveled to Italy. It was the biggest adventure of our lives to date. We planned a grand tour of some of Italy’s greatest hits, spending time in Rome, Florence, Venice, and the Cinque Terre. We were excited, of course, to experience masterpieces like the Colosseum, the David, the gondolas and canals. But what we were maybe looking forward to above all else was the food.
This we knew: The Italians take their cuisine seriously.
This we learned: The Italians take their cuisine VERY seriously, and the water they drink is no exception.
Water is water, right? Bottled mineral water or fizzy water (what the Italians refer to as “still” or “sparkling,” respectively) … what’s the big deal? The main thing most tourists to a foreign country are concerned about is if the water will be safe to drink. Throughout Europe in general, the tap water is fine. But with Italy, in handling the water situation, I feel that we were a little misguided by our trusty Rick Steves guidebook. While he does explain in passing that the Italians can be “water snobs,” he goes to some trouble as well to make sure we American tourists know exactly how to order the perfectly fine tap water at a restaurant. He provides the exact terminology (“Acqua del rubinetto, per favore”) and describes how, if all else fails, one can mime the charming little hand motion of turning a tap and drinking its output.
Rick’s advice is always spot-on. We felt well prepared to order our tap water and avoid the tourist trap of paying for water—and save our euros for the important stuff. Like gelato.
The only problem with that plan is that the Italians are water snobs. Yes, their tap water is perfectly fine, but they prefer special, bottled water. Our first clue should have been the fact that the waiters actually ask what kind of water you want with your meal. (“Still, or sparkling?”) Italians must discern some taste enhancement that makes it worth the extra euros when ordering out at dinner. To them, it defies logic that someone would order tap water when they could have the superior still or sparkling water instead. We didn’t think twice about ordering our “tap water,” but more often than not, it earned us furrowed brows, disdain, even outright refusal. On a couple of occasions the service and possibly the quality of our meal suffered after we were so gauche as to request tap water. On one outing, we were told flat out that they didn’t have any tap water. At least once, we were served plain old water in a glass carafe … and charged for having special water. It must be charming to mime turning on a tap only if you’re Rick Steves.
We were a little frustrated. What was the big deal? To us, water in a restaurant is a given, and rather an afterthought. It’s always free, it’s always from a tap, and it’s always perfectly fine. But dining is a much more serious activity in Italy, to the extent that not even a detail like the water is overlooked. Every meal is a mini-occasion. Waiters never ask if you are ready for the bill, because it is expected that you will linger for perhaps the entire evening. A traditional Italian dinner, a formal dinner, can have as many as ten courses! Granted, we did not go in for a ten course dinner, but even a much shorter Italian dinner is more involved and leisurely than we are used to here in the States.
These cultural differences gave us much food for thought as we explored and ate our way through some of Italy’s iconic cities.
These cities are known for their ancient ruins, Vespa scooters, and native women strolling in stiletto heels. But they are also known for their public fountains that serve up cold, fresh (and free) water. We frequently partook of these, filling up our reusable bottles whenever we had the opportunity.
We really hit the jackpot, though, with a fountain we discovered in Florence, tucked along the back of the piazza outside the Palazzo Vecchio. There were two spigots, one which provided still water, and the other spigot?—sparkling water. Fizzy water from a public fountain! Who ever heard of such a thing?! It was easily the best water we tasted on our trip.
That experience at the fountain was the turning point for us. A baptismal cleansing of our palates and preconceptions. Clearly, if these people have a public fountain serving “acqua gassata,” they take their water seriously. We had no choice but to embrace the Italian appreciation for excellent water. For the remainder of our dining experiences in Italy, in addition to the house wine, we wholeheartedly requested and drank every drop of the delicious sparkling water.
Don't Fleece the Bees 