Venice, Italy known for the water that surrounds and runs through the city is turning to the tap for its drinking water. Tired of trash cans and canals filled with empty water bottles the city government is encouraging residents and tourists alike to start drinking tap water.

Trash in Venice has to be collected on foot which is labor intensive and expensive.  Men with wheelbarrows cruise the alleys and canals collecting trash. Collection costs over $300 per ton compared with just under $100 per ton on the mainland according to Ricardo Seccarello, a city official. And the trash collectors only collect trash from bins, not the trash including a large number of plastic bottles that ends up in the canals each day.

Italians drink more bottled water than consumers anywhere else in the world drinking more than 40 gallons per person per year. Go to any restaurant or home in Italy and you will be offered bottled water “con gaz” or “senza gaz” meaning sparkling or natural. Rarely are you offered tap water and never are you offered ice.

From the beaches of Venice to the historic ruins of Rome the Giro d’Italia is winding its way through Italy. Commonly known as “The Giro” the Giro d’Italia is Italy’s answer to France’s Tour de France.

This year the tour has the added excitement of having Lance Armstrong who is competing after a 4 year layoff spent drinking beer – his words, not mine. He also has to cope with the aftermath of recent shoulder surgery, the result of taking a spill in a race this past spring.

Adding emotion to the race is Danilo Di Luca from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Abruzzo is home to L’Aquila, the city damaged in the April 6 earthquake. Di Lucca who was poised to come in second before being overtaken by Stefano Garzelli in the last seconds was cheered wildly by Italian fans who in turned booed Garzelli. Di Lucca the clear fan favorite finished third in the stage.

While the Tour de France has its yellow jersey The Giro has the “Maglia Rosa”, the pink jersey. You would think it would be easy to pick out a pink jersey in a group of male cyclists but given the bright outfits cyclists wear it is harder than you would think it would be.

The town of Lucca, Italy is being accused of “culinary racism” for denying licenses to new non-Italian restaurants. Presumably, the foreign restaurants now operating will be allowed to stay. Lucca located just north of Pisa is trying to protect its rich culinary tradition.

Lucca’s municipal council ruled that “with a view to safeguarding culinary traditions and the authenticity of structure, architecture, culture and history, establishments whose activities can be tracked to different ethnicities won’t be allowed to operate.” The Tuscan regional government has warned against “gastronomic or culinary racism”.

The ban applies to fast food outlets and food stalls whether they sell kebabs or pizza. This means no new Middle Eastern restaurants or Chinese take-out and hopefully no new McDonalds. The ban is only on restaurants located within the old walls. Lucca has one of the largest McDonald’s that I have ever seen (it is outside the town walls) so there is no need for another one located anywhere near Lucca.