As Plain as the Nose on Your ... You Know the Rest

Throughout Roma, there are delightful continuously running, stone water fountains on every street. I thought they were for washing hands, watering pets, or whatever required quick moistening. That is until Lisa put her finger at the end of the spout and water came up from a hole in the middle of the tube -- voila! A drinking fountain. 

These fountains are called  "nasoni," or big noses and when you see them, it's actually pretty clever.

Apparently, these "runny noses" have been around since ancient times and are not only considered safe drinking water, but have actually been tested (if you can believe the Italian government) to "prove" that the water is better than bottled -- some of the best drinking water in all of Italy.

Yesterday I saw a man drinking water from a regular fountain fountain outside of Cantina del Vecchio's doors. I pointed and said to Allan, "look!" He said that people drink from Rome's fountains all the time and the the water is safe. Imagine form and function -- what a concept.