Can You Drink from Rome’s Water Fountains? Really?

Is the water in Rome safe to drink?

There’s one question I often get in Rome: Is the water — especially from all those, yuck, public fountains — safe to drink?

The short answer: Yes. And it tastes good, too.

Rome’s never been a city limited in water usage, as I wrote in my recent Guardian piece. By the first century A.D., thanks to the aqueducts, the city had 1,000 liters of water available per person, per day. Today, there are 500 liters available. Per family. Still, though, more than enough.

And lots of that water still freeflows out through the fontanelle (little fountains) placed around the city. (You might also hear these fountains called nasoni, after their nose-shaped spigots). The water’s brought in from outside the city. It’s safe. Fresh. Super-cold. So do as the Romans do: Save your €1.50 and refill your water bottle at the nasoni. There are 2,500 in the city, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding them.

[Update, 2013: And just in case you did have trouble… there’s now an app for finding fountains in Rome’s city center! Oh, how things have changed in a mere couple of years.]

One last tip: If you plug up the end with your thumb, the water will spurt out of a handy hole on the top, providing you a makeshift water fountain. See, modern Romans are good engineers, too! Well, sometimes.

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My New Favorite Gelateria: Ciampini

Gelato from Ciampini, the best gelato in Rome

I'm doing some research for an upcoming story, and this research includes finding Rome's best gelato. (There could be worse things).

Thus far, I've been pretty good: Ordering a "coppa piccola" of gelato, tasting, and throwing half out.

But at the gelateria Ciampini, even though I'd already had two frozen treats, I couldn't keep myself from gobbling the whole gelato down. I tried chestnut, mixed berry, and peach with pinenuts. Each one was super-creamy, but with bits of their namesakes mixed in (including actual, chewy bits of chestnut, and whole pinenuts). Yum, yum, yum. I had a stomachache afterwards, but it was so worth it.

(Since then, I've been back to Ciampini a number of times — and I still think their gelato is some of the best in Rome).

Ciampini. Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina 29, in between the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon. Click here for a map.

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The Best Gelato, and Best-Kept Secret, in Rome

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Artisanal Beer, Pizza, Fritti and Steak — In One Place

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