A New York couple on a family trip to Venice came very close to learning an expensive lesson about Italian law after the boyfriend went for an early morning run without a shirt.
Julia Latoff and her boyfriend Mike Naccarella were in Venice celebrating his grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary when they decided to start their day with a run. Julia wore shorts and a tank top. Mike went shirtless. Completely normal for summer running in New York City.
It was not normal in Venice.
Halfway through the run locals started shaking their heads. Someone yelled at Mike.
The couple stopped, pulled out their phones and discovered that going bare-chested in public has been illegal in Venice since 2018, carrying a fine of €250, which is around $290.
They hid in a back alley while Mike’s sister tracked down a shirt.
‘Sorry, Venetian people’
Julia posted a video about the ordeal on Instagram, where she has around 8,500 followers. She was upfront about feeling embarrassed and apologized to the locals.
She explained in a later interview with Newsweek that it was a genuine mistake. They had run in Florence earlier that same trip and seen other shirtless runners, so it hadn’t crossed their minds that Venice would be different.
“It was early July and very hot,” she said. “Running without a shirt is the norm in NYC in the summer.”
Netizens not impressed by apology
The apology did not go very far online.
“Tell me you are American without telling me you are American,” one commenter wrote. “And then Americans wonder why everybody hates them,” said another.
Some went further, arguing that running through Venice’s historic narrow streets was disrespectful in itself, shirt or no shirt.
Others thought the whole thing was being blown out of proportion.
“As an actual Italian, you guys need to get a grip,” one person wrote. “They realized it was wrong and then stopped doing it. What more would you expect?”
The rules tourists don’t know about
Venice has a long list of rules that catch visitors off guard. Eating or drinking while sitting on steps, bridges or canal banks can get you fined up to $233. Swimming in the canals will cost you $350. Camping in public areas carries a $233 fine.
Spain, Portugal and several French tourist towns have similar rules about shirtless visitors. In June a handful of French resorts raised their fines from around $20 to $175 for wandering shirtless in public. Thailand is reportedly planning to introduce its own fines for shirtless tourists in central areas.
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