A family has been left stunned after being charged over $100 for three hotdogs, a sandwich and four drinks in Rome.
Now, while the family had expected the meal to be on the pricey side because they were eating near the Vatican, they didn't expect it to be quite this bad. The simple order which would likely cost less than $20 at most establishments, came to a whopping $132.26 (€119.34).
In the video below, tourists play with a venomous octopus:The family of four revealed that they had spent their morning sightseeing, and they had worked up quite the appetite. So when they stopped at Via dell Conciliazione by St Peter's Square on Saturday morning (2 November), they decided to fill their bellies at an unnamed bar.
In an interview with Il Messaggero, Leo Recchia, the dad in the family, said: "€22 [$24.38] for each hot dog... Almost €20 [$22.16] for service. To think that the night before we had gone to a restaurant behind the Pantheon: We spent the same, but for a complete dinner."
After the expensive prices were made public, the bar's manager defended them, saying that they were made clear on the menu and that the price is raised because of the establishment's close proximity to the Vatican.
He said: "We had other cases like this, other complaints, but the prices are on the menu, you can check, also we are near the Vatican, it costs."
However, this is not the first time that tourists have been shocked by the price of food in Rome.
Last month, two Japanese tourists were charged an incredible $475.98 (€429.80) for two plates of spaghetti and fish and two glasses of water. This was broken down into $387.38 (€349.80) for the food and a mandatory $99.67 (€80) service charge.
These tourists might have had a lucky escape, however, as these travellers happened to discover that a furry animal was in fact a giant spider's nest:
