Lazio Explorer

One of the strange things about Lazio, and perhaps Italy in general (I don't know - is Lazio representative of Italy?) are the variety of laws that change between one area and the next. One example is the toilet seat law.

Now, Italy is a civilized, modern country, and this post isn't going to be all Italy-bashing, so you can stop right there. However, I think it's fair to say that, as with any country, sometimes Italy could perhaps be accused of occasionally having laws that don't quite add up, or that don't quite make sense.

In the province of Rome, i.e. the area of Lazio associated with Rome, toilet seats are required by law in public toilets. OK, fair enough. Of course, there may be the occasion toilet lacking in a seat (see the Stadio Olympico if you doubt me), but this is simply an oversight that will be fixed asap (apart from in the Stadio...)

In the neighboring province of Viterbo... well, you see, there they do things differently. A toilet seat is considered unhygienic and in fact, is illegal in a public toilet. Wow. I was shocked by this. It's illegal? Apparently you can be fined and everything. Is this true? Well, my Italian isn't up to researching legal documents, but, I've been to at least 5 restaurants in the province of Viterbo (Vazianello being my favourite, incidentally), and they all tell me the same thing. How can one area think they are a good thing and by law force restaurants to have them, and the area next door, still in Lazio, say that they are illegal and will fine restaurants if they have them?

Amazing.

Do you have any stories of bizarre laws in Italy?