REST ROOMS

This article caught my attention:


By Ian Simpson VENICE, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Venice wants to make itself an easier place to go, so it is launching an online service to allow visitors to pre-pay for access to public toilets with the click of a mouse...Read full story: PAY VIRTUALLY AND PEE VIRTOUSLY IN VENICE.

Toilet facility shortage is one of the main problem of Venice specially during summer when almost 10,000 tourist flood the city in a day. Estimated 10,000,000 people visiting in a year is an overwhelming number for merely less than a dozen public comfort rooms.

WC -AMAV(Azienda Multiservizi Ambientali Veneziana) charges 1 euro per entry and may double for the city sanitation authorities' plan to improve their services. "WC" is the sign, by the way, for comfort rooms and always have coins ready for the loo in case you'll come and visit Venice.

When I was pregnant and using the toilet is an every minute necessity, going around the maze of this floating city would be an excuse to enter bars for a drink(water or anything), a meal in fast-foods restos(McDonalds, Spizzico etc...) and restaurants(on special days if the budget can afford). A bottle of water in a bar which is more or less 2 euros is not bad when you're relieved of "liquid retention". Quite practical than lining public toilets, I think.

I remember when we were still in Baguio City, Jollibee and McDonald's were more like "CR's" than their "intended purposes". I haven't checked the last time we went home if the public toilets of Maharlika and La Azotea Building are still there. Now, I'm making mental count on our public rest rooms. Not much of a handful too when its a very important basic facility that the city should address.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the comfort rooms of Center mall and SM have longer lines than the cash registrar to any of their stores.