Italy and Germany fall out in a heated row over beer, topless bathing and

Italy and Germany fall out in a heated row over beer, topless bathing and beach etiquette

By John Phillips in Rome
Published: 29 July 2005

An Italian beach etiquette guide that advises against topless bathing and consumingbeer on beaches has provoked a backlash from German holidaymakers and the newspaper Das Bild.

The guide has been issued by the Italian Union of Bathing Establishments (SIB). It consists of a series of "suggestions" for good behaviour on beaches, some of which critics allege are targeted at northern European holiday habits. As well as nudity and drinking, the tourists' habit of hanging clothes from seaside umbrellas is also frowned upon.

Yesterday's Bild claimed that the Italian authorities "want to ruin our holidays" by banning German tourists from such practices.

A war of words erupted as the La Stampa of Turin newspaper attacked Bild for "stigmatising the Italian summer", by claiming there are so many rules banning activities on Italian beaches that "Germans are unable to enjoy themselves".

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article302261.ece

No drunken nude clothes hanging!

Holy cats! What is one to do at the beach!

For crying out loud.

Well, there's plenty of beaches around here they can use...
Tide has been out for a few million years. But, we *do* have
beaches.

...

animosity exists between germans and Italians to this day.

I lived right in the middle of them and it's true, there's no love lost.

:smoke:

Or is this a complexion thing we're talking about?

"The euro has screwed everybody - Berlusconi"

See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1538925,00.html

of a story in one of Stravinsky's books. Apparently there was this music festival that was being co-produced by the (West) German and Italian governments. The areas of responsibility were very clearly divided between the two countries. The Germans were responsible for the staging and the orchestra-- and everything went like clockwork. When a rehearsal was called for 10AM, every musician was in his/her seat at 9:55, with his/her instrument tuned up and his sheet music open in front of him/her.

The Italians were responsible for stage lighting-- and they were still pulling cable and hanging lamps the afternoon of the show.

Apparently Stravinsky found the latter humorous, or at least forgivable, since he opted to be interred in Venice.