ITALIAN TOILETS
Thoughts
and observations concerning public bathrooms in Italy:
(We
were told some towns and tourist sites in Europe would charge for
access to a public bathroom. In some cases it would be advisable to
use the facilities of cafes and restaurants where we ate. These
observations include both “pay toilets” and free ones in cafes.)
My observations are offered for those like my wife and I who travel
infrequently.
- Our tour bus had an onboard john, but it was never made available to us. Guess none of our bus excursions were deemed long enough to meet any real needs. And later the facilities onboard the excursion boat were inoperable or closed.
- Our first opportunity was a “pay” facility in Cinque Terre. Sitting at a card table outside the entryway was a lady collecting one Euro (about $1.30) per person. Facilities were not terrible, but forgettable.
- The convenience store in Pisa which was our meetup point allowed use of facilities with proof of purchase from the store. A guard sat at the entryway punching store receipts to prevent unqualified use.
- The only other “pay” facility I accessed was in Venice on St Mark’s square. It had two coin operated gates (1.5 Euros) and a live person to facilitate use of the automated equipment and/or prevent bypassing. Like many of the restaurant baths this one was up one flight of stairs.
- Several of the restaurant baths were laid out strangely, at least unusual by American standards. They had a group sink/mirrors/towel (or air dryer) area serving both males and females. The private toilet stalls were marked for either Male or Female and had the expected door lock.
- Some of the washup sinks had hot and cold faucets controlled by foot pedals rather than handles.
- I don’t know about the ladies’ facilities, but several of the toilets in the men’s stalls possessed no toilet seat as we know and expect it. There was just the porcelain toilet bowl.
- Bathrooms in hotels typically contained two odd features.* In addition to a standard toilet there is a free standing bidet.* Limited shower curtains. One end of shower stall often left open, uncovered.
