Richard Jernigan -> RE: Newly-Published Novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte (Jul. 9 2016 22:04:25)
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A few blocks east of the Piazza San Marco in Venice is an area with a number of restaurants, many with outdoor tables in warm weather. During the tourist season they are filled with people from many countries. We were walking about after 9 PM, deciding where to eat. As we passed one place in a street with no outdoor tables, the owner (manager?) was standing at the door, next to a display of very good looking fresh fish and seafood. He spoke to us, inviting us in to the nearly empty restaurant. Larisa replied in Italian, jokingly asking for a discount. The man replied, offering ten percent. We went in. The middle aged waiters were gallantly polite, full of friendliness and compliments (all in Italian) as one would expect Italian men to address a nice looking young woman. The menu was poorly organized, and printed badly, so we asked the waiter for recommendations. We ordered salads, a whole roasted bronzino (local sea bass) some side dishes and wine. The fish was shown to us for our approval before it was prepared. The food was excellent, cooked perfectly, the wine was good, the staff charming. The prices were perhaps 10-20% higher than in other restaurants in the area, but we thought the food was better, and the staff incomparable. We enjoyed our meal very much, and returned a couple of times. The place was never full. There were few tourists, most of the customers were Italian. I am not familiar enough with local dialects to reliably pick out where people are from, but Larisa, who lived nearby for four years, pointed out that some people were speaking Veneziano, which is hardly comprehensible to people from other regions. Back home one day I looked up the place on Tripadvisor. There were a few very complimentary reviews, and a very long list of one-star comments panning the place. People complained that the prices were high, the menu incomprehensible, the staff distant, the tablecloths were paper--paper tablecloths are common in all but the very most expensive restaurants in Italy. I pointed out the bad reviews to Larisa. After talking it over, we theorized that the place had made a reputation with the Venetian middle class, but had not lowered its prices nor its standards to attract tourists. The staff seemed to have been there for a long time, but they were still quick and attentive to us. All our interaction with them was in Italian, so perhaps their tourist languages were lacking a little, inhibiting the warmth and friendliness we experienced. The middle class has been very much driven out of Venice by rising real estate prices and high rents. Furthermore, everything you buy there is notably more expensive than in Mestre, just a few miles away on the mainland. If you are out and about early, you will see the freight boats in the canals being unloaded, the porters carrying literally everything for daily use on handcarts to their destinations. It is as though everything I buy in Austin were delivered to my door by the U.S. Postal Service, UPS or Fedex. I am sure we will return to Venice, and I hope our friends at the restaurant are still in business. Despite the effects of rampant tourism the city is strikingly beautiful and impressive, and many of the people you meet every day are friendly and charming. My college room mate who lives in Munich only goes to Venice in the winter. He says he likes the quiet freedom from tourists and the fog. I am thinking of spending a month or so in Italy in the winter. It would be nice to be able to get into places without standing in line in the hot sun for half an hour or more. RNJ
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