What to Know
Julia Latoff has learned an important lesson about traveling abroad: make sure you do detailed research. Latoff, a dietician and avid runner, went on vacation to Italy with her boyfriend and his family and the young couple found themselves unknowingly caught in a controversy.
What they believed to be an innocent run nearly ended with them getting arrested. And it was because of a law they didn’t know existed. The couple had no idea that running outside shirtless could lead to fines. But once they found out, they quickly righted their wrong. However, that wasn’t enough, and people on social media still called them out.
Julia’s video about the experience went viral.
In the video, Latoff and her boyfriend are in Venice, and she explains that she didn’t know it was illegal to run shirtless in the city. She then shows her boyfriend Mike, who is shirtless. Latoff then says that while they were running, locals were “shaking their heads” and looking “disgusted” when they saw Mike.
After someone yelled at her boyfriend, the couple stopped their run and looked into why they were being called out. And that’s when they found out it’s illegal to run without a shirt on.
The camera then pans to Mike, who is squatting against a building while still shirtless.
Latoff then explains that they’re “hiding in a back alley” while Mike’s sister attempts to find him a shirt so they could make it back to where they were staying without getting a ticket.
Soon, his sister appears, and hands him a shirt that says “Spritz.”
“Sorry Venetian people, we didn’t know,” she says.
She was sharing their experience to let others know, and was met with backlash.
“PSA if you are planning to travel to Venice, make sure you pack a running shirt!!!” she captioned the post. “We had no idea that you can get fined for this and were soo confused by the rude looks and comments we were getting. By the time we were 1 mile in, we knew something must be wrong so we stopped and did a quick google search. Sure enough, a new law was created in 2018.”
The comments were full of people calling the couple out for their ignorance.
“People should wear shirts in the city/shops etc. No one wants to see sweaty bodies during their day to day errands/work. Beach or sauna however is down time. It’s just common sense really. Think about your impact on someone else’s space,” one person wrote.
“Tell me you are American without telling me you are American,” another added.
“Who tf goes jogging in the historical narrow streets of Venice. That in and of itself is disrespectful. If you don’t see locals doing it, read the room 😭😭,” someone else said.
“It’s literally illegal. Maybe you can just follow the local rules and not have to make a video about how uneducated you are in a civilised country,” another commenter wrote.
Julia Latoff and her boyfriend genuinely felt bad for their mistake.
“As soon as we realized what they were upset about, we hid in an alley and bought a shirt. It was an honest mistake, and we felt bad and embarrassed,” she told Newsweek.
Latoff told the outlet that they were in Italy and Austria to celebrate Mike’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary.
“Both of us are runners, and we make an effort to run in almost every city we travel to,” she explained. “It was early July and very hot, so my boyfriend was running without a shirt, which is the norm in NYC in the summer where we live,” she added. “We had also run in Florence earlier that week and saw other shirtless runners, so we didn’t think anything of it!”
According to Newsweek, authorities in Venice introduced the laws to protect the historic environment, public hygiene, and safety. People are also not allowed to wear beach attire. The fines for such behavior range from €25 to €500 ($29 to $583).
Thankfully, the couple learned their lesson.
“Mike still runs with his shirt off at home but has been more wary when traveling, even in the U.S.,” she said.
READ NEXT: Florida Mother Arrested After Abandoning Her Crying Child Alone at a Bar To Go Off & Party
