(Venice, Italy) As Venice yawns, stretches and blinks her way into the sunlight, slowly coming out of quarantine, contrasting stories emerge -- a bit like the parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant. One individual's version of reality can depend on which part of town they see, and who they talk to -- if you go here, you will see the elephant's tusk. If you go there, you will see the elephant's trunk. Or the knee. Or the ear. Each person's subjective experience is true, but it is not the totality of the whole. Even when Venice is operating "normally," there are many different worlds that exist at the same time as you cross a bridge and step from one campo into another.
Yesterday afternoon, May 21, I took a little tour around town to see what type of Venice was emerging from the cocoon. In areas that catered to tourists, many shops and restaurants were still closed and shuttered, and it felt isolated and abandoned. But in campi where Venetians and locals live, the ambience was vibrant and pulsing with life.
Even though the international press has misleadingly used images of Venice to illustrate the pandemic in all of Italy, reality inside the historic center is very different. The latest figures still show ZERO cases in Venice's main public hospital, the San Giovanni e Paolo Civil
Hospital. Since the beginning of the outbreak, according to the latest statistics, 15 people have died, and 28 people were treated and released. In the entire province of Venice, which includes the mainland with a population of about 850,000, 281 have died. In the Veneto Region, there have been 1,841 deaths. In all of Italy, 32,486 people have died. However, there is always a disclaimer that the numbers may not be accurate.
On Monday, May 18, Italy declared we could finally travel once again
between towns, as long as they were within the same region. Shops and businesses could open. Bars and restaurants could serve customers again, as long as safe distancing was maintained. Things started off a little bit rocky as we tried to find some kind of normalcy after such a long time in quarantine, but then slowly started to move.
Venetian Cat Sunbathing on the Grand Canal, Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer
In Venice at Rialto, there were plenty of locals out and about, with everyone wearing masks. I saw about six or eight photographers, who were clearly not from Venice. I wondered if they were part of a group, so I spoke to one of them. He told me that he was from a town in the north of the Veneto Region, and that he was alone. He said he could not miss the opportunity to photograph Venice at this special moment in time. I was surprised. "I thought you were all together!" So, it seems that some of the first arrivals from the outside world are photographers hoping to capture some of the remaining silent beauty with their lens.
At the top of the Rialto Bridge, I found more people who were not residents of Venice. I asked one couple if they were tourists, and they said yes. "Where are you from?" "Verona," they said. I smiled. "Well, you're not really tourists."
Two middle-aged women were also taking photographs. One was from Vicenza, and the other was from Padua. They said that they just had to see Venice in all her glory. "Venice is the capital of our region," said the woman from Padua. "Now is a great opportunity for Venetians from all over the Veneto to have Venice to ourselves. Be sure to write that down."
Instead of "tourist menus" that once catered to tourists, many eateries are offering a "daily menu" with a first (usually pasta) along with a second (usually fish) for around €15-€20, with discerning Venetian appetites in mind.
Even the boat taxis have come up with special (temporary) rates to certain destinations -- for example, you can go from Piazzale Roma to Rialto for €20 -- still pricey, but a lot less than they were charging before. Since the vaporettos are still not running as frequently as they used to, perhaps they hope to capitalize from people eager to get somewhere in a hurry who don't have the stamina to walk?
Frankly, Venice is a lot more pleasant without the boat taxis churning up the water in the canals. Wouldn't it be nice if the gondoliers could offer special rates for the same service? A set price to go from Piazzale Roma or the train station to Rialto? A throwback to when gondolas were actually used as a method of transportation to move around town?
Leo - the next generation - Photo: Cat Bauer
At Sant' Aponal, I ran into Leo, a young woman I know from the gym. She's 22-years-old, and very smart -- she majors in law and economics at Bocconi University in Milan. I asked what she thought about the situation in Venice, and what she wanted to do after completing her studies. She felt the atmosphere was positive, and that Venice would bounce back. She was still not sure about a specific career (but had decided it was not law -- I told you she was smart). One thing she was sure about is that she wanted to stay in Venice, and do something "to help my city."
Giovanni Pelizzato of Libreria Toletta - Photo: Cat Bauer
One of my touchstones is Giovanni Pelizzato, owner of the Libreria Toletta bookstore in Dorosoduro. Giovanni became a social media star when he created his own home delivery service during the pandemic -- you could order books by email or phone, and he would deliver them himself to your house, better and faster than Amazon. Giovanni said he had done well enough during quarantine because "Venetians like to read." What he misses are the students. Actually, I think much of Venice will have a new appreciation for the students, and all their zestful energy that livens up the air.
Walter Mutti of Edicola fame - Photo: Cat Bauer
Walter Mutti is another fixture in Venice who leapt into the spotlight when his newspaper kiosk was swept into the Giudecca Canal during the November 12, 2009 flood. Walter's edicola was its own little world -- not only a place to buy newspapers, but a place to leave messages and somewhere to go for advice. Walter now works out of a space on the Zattare just across from where the news stand was, and he, too, has managed to survive because of the curiosity of Venetians and their desire for news in print.
Cat Bauer in Campo Santo Stefano - Photo: Silvana Di Puorto
Since I've gained about 3 kilograms (around 6 lbs.) from eating way too many sweets during quarantine, I've cut out carbohydrates (it works -- after about a week, I've already lost 2.5 lbs.) and, therefore, forced myself not have a spritz, the greatest Fine della Qarantena reward. It took all my willpower not to succumb, but I settled for a glass of Pinot Grigio in Campo Santo Stefano. It was divine. I actually enjoy my solitude, and have worked at home for decades, so the quarantine was not a big upheaval for me. I didn't realize how starved I was for human companionship until I tip-toed out into familiar spaces.
It was pure bliss to sit once again in a campo, chatting and watching people go by, comparing masks and gloves (I opted for a black mask and white gloves -- in fact, I'm hoping white gloves make a comeback). It's so nice to be able to see each other again without the blur of tourists blocking the view. If a tour guide had barged through the scene followed by a herd of tourists, they might have gotten pelted with peanuts.
Venice and the Veneto are united when it comes to reopening an economy not based on mass tourism, but on respectful, intelligent travelers. Some of you regular readers of this blog, who have been traveling to Venice for years, have written to me saying that you have already made reservations for later in the year. This is wonderful news. Venice is eager to welcome you back again. For there are chunks of Venice that focus on the quality traveler -- and not mass tourism -- that cannot recover without you.
This type of traveler is loyal to certain hotels and pensiones and has become part of the Venetian family and community, another necessary ingredient that gives Venice its special flavor. They support local artisans and eateries, museums and art galleries, and are an integral spoke in the wheel that turns Venice's economy. One artisan told me, "When the regular visitors return, they will find Venetians so happy to seen them, and with a joyful attitude... We will be able to give them the time they deserve because we won't be so stressed from the over-tourism."
As Venice opens one door, and then another, it will be fascinating to see if the people who enter the lagoon can help the Queen of the Adriatic get back up on her feet with dignity.
Iris Dalmatica - Photo courtesy of Venice Gardens Foundation
(Venice, Italy) Tomorrow, Saturday, May 9th, Venice's Royal Gardens come out of quarantine, ready to welcome Venetians back into its lush embrace. Since its conception back in the times of Napoleon, the Gardens have faced many challenges, but like true royalty, they have always managed to bounce back, more charming than before.
The Royal Gardens had reopened on December 19, 2019 after undergoing a dramatic restoration headed by Adele Re Rebaudengo, President of the Venice Gardens Foundation. Then, all the green spaces in the Veneto were closed in March due to the health pandemic. I wrote a detailed post about the opening at the time, including some history:
Grand Canal seen from Accademia Bridge during Venice quarantine - Photo: Cat Bauer
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic prevented the public from enjoying a normal spring surrounded by sunshine and blooming flowers, birds and bees. But while human beings remained closed inside their homes, nature thrived. The Internet was full of images and videos of the calm, clear water in Venice's canals, so clear that jellyfish, octopuses and even a seahorse were spotted frolicking in the water, undisturbed by boat traffic.
Tulips - Holland's Glory - Photo courtesy of Venice Gardens Foundation
Even after being challenged by several bouts of acqua alta in the winter, followed by a dry and windy spring, the Royal Gardens still produced many beautiful blooms. Yellow Daffodils burst forth during the first week of March, along with red-orange Tulips and the violet Redbud tree.
Tetrapanax and General Schablikine Rose - Photo courtesy of Venice Gardens Foundation
In April, different shades of Wisteria brightened up the Gardens, along with Irises and Lavender. The Tetrapanax evergreen shrubs have thrived, creating exotic islands between the four central flower beds. The Gardens are not only colorful, but fragrant, attracting many desirable insects, especially bees. A colony of wise sparrows has never left the Royal Gardens, knowing a good home when they see one.
As humanity takes its first tentative steps back out into the world, hopefully we will come out of this surreal experience stronger, wiser and more dignified. The transformation of Venice's Royal Gardens from a neglected jungle into an oasis for contemplation is a prime example to follow. Venice's Royal Gardens are now open and waiting for you.
Note to subscribers: Feedburner recently sent out several old posts as if they had been recently published. My apologies for any confusion.
(Venice, Italy) Like all public gatherings where large groups of people congregate, La Biennale di Venezia's schedule has been upended by the COVID-19 coronavirus. As everyone knows, Italy was hit hard and early by the virus, forcing the International Architectural Exhibition to postpone its opening, which was scheduled for May 23. La Biennale has announced the new dates for all its different international sectors — real-life events, not cyber.
The Architectural Exhibition is now scheduled to open on August 29, 2020, with press previews on August 27 and 28.
UPDATE MAY 18, 2020 - Due to the ongoing pandemic, La Biennale announced today that the Architecture Exhibition has been postponed until 2021. How Will We Live Together, curated by Hashim Sarkis, will open on Saturday, May 22, 2021 and run through Sunday, November 21, 2021. La Biennale International Art Exhibition, curated by Cecilia Alemani, has been posted to 2022. It will last seven months and be held from Saturday, April 23, 2022 through Sunday, November 27, 2022.
“The last few days – declared President Roberto Cicutto
- have clarified the real state of the situation we are all facing.
With the utmost respect for the work done by all of us, the investments
made by the participants, and considering the difficulties that all
countries, institutions, universities, architectural studios have met
together with the uncertainty of the shipments, personal travel
restraints and Covid-19 protective measures that are being and will be
adopted, we have decided to listen to those, the majority, who requested
that the Biennale di Architettura be postponed. I have received many messages asking for a postponement to 2021. We now plan to open the 17th
Biennale Architettura in May 2021 and allow it a longer life until
November, as it was before the pandemic. Nevertheless Architecture will
be in Venice this Fall organizing several events keeping at the center
of the stage the question, more relevant than ever, of “How will we live
together?”.”
Actress Cate Blanchett attends the premiere of the film "A Star Is Born" during the 75th Venice International Film Festival
in Venice in 2018.
The Venice Film Festival starts on September 2 and run through September 12, as originally scheduled. The international film star, Cate Blanchett, is the president of the jury.
These international events normally draw large numbers of journalists and visitors from all over the planet. In normal times, during the openings, Venice's lagoon is often full of yachts and jet-setters, as well as a vibrant, educated general public. There are parties in palaces, bustling restaurants and busy bars. It is difficult to get a hotel reservation.
Venice looks forward to La Biennale's openings because they attract a valued type of traveler. The private and civic museums, art galleries and local businesses often schedule their own events based on La Biennale's schedule. Contrary to the destructive over-tourism that feeds off masses of tourists and daytrippers whose sole purpose seems to be to pose for selfies, the educated travelers who visit the lagoon for cultural events bring a welcome, dynamic energy.
It will be fascinating to see how Venice and La Biennale organizes these events with the COVID-19 coronavirus health crisis lurking in the background. La Biennale is a wise organization who understands well how to manage large crowds and keep people safe with military precision. We can imagine that this year will present one of its greatest challenges, with the eyes of the world watching how it goes.
Prophetically and appropriately titled, "How Will We Live Together?" the Architecture
Exhibition directed by Hashim Sarkis will have 113 participants from 48
different countries, all of which you can find on La Biennale's website.
La Biennale International Architecture Exhibition 2016 - Photo: Cat Bauer
La Biennale also has a new President, Roberto
Cicutto, who was born in Venice in 1948 and has a background as a film producer and distributor. His production company, Aura Film, won the Golden Lion in 1988 for La Leggenda del Santo Bevitore directed by Ermanno Olmi. Cicutto replaces the beloved and
highly-respected Paolo Baratta, who has steered the vast organization
through times of political turmoil and threats of terrorist attacks while hosting everyone from world leaders, to renowned artists and architects, to Hollywood celebrities.
The new Board of Directors met online on March 19, 2020 due to the current health emergency. President Roberto Cicutto stated:
“The
exceptional conditions under which we are beginning our work must
compel us not only to find the best solutions to pursue La Biennale’s
mission, in the interest of its international prestige, of the city of
Venice and of our country, but above all to enrich it with new
initiatives and new ideas for the dissemination of the contemporary
arts. Nor can we forget La Biennale’s role as a factor in the growth and
development of the city of Venice itself and of our nation."
Immediately after the Venice Film Festival ends on September 12, the International Theater Festival will open on September 14 through 24. The next day, on September 25, the International Festival of Contemporary Music Festival opens, and runs through October 4. There is a brief pause until the International Festival of Contemporary Dance kicks off on October 13 through October 25. These events usually draw a creative, intelligent and young-minded crowd, interested in the cutting-edge of what's in vogue.
Here is La Biennale’s program for the remainder of 2020:
·August 29th to November 29th, the 17th International Architecture Exhibition directed by
Hashim Sarkis
·September 2nd to 12th, the 77th Venice International Film Festival
directed by Alberto Barbera
·September 14th to 24th, the 64th International Theatre Festival
directed by Antonio Latella
·September 25th to October 4th, the 48th International Festival of Contemporary Music
directed by Ivan Fedele
·
October 13th to 25th, the 14th International Festival of Contemporary Dance
directed by Marie Chouinard
The masses who were flooding Venice and the businesses who targeted them were like a virus themselves. The disease of over-tourism infected
everything, creeping into all aspects of Venetian life -- the high cost
of AirBnBs priced residents out of apartments. Supermarkets raised
their prices, catering to tourists, not residents. Cruise ships barreled
through the Giudecca Canal, unloading thousands of passengers at once,
who flooded the streets, making it difficult to conduct everyday
business. Daytrippers swarmed into the lagoon on trains and buses from
newly-constructed hotels and hostels on the mainland, where tourists
slept cheaply, crammed eight beds to a room. Venice was being killed in
front of the eyes of the world. Then suddenly, the whole frenetic mess
was brought to a grinding halt by the COVID-19 coronavirus.
We have a new opportunity in Venice to reopen the city with wisdom and foresight. The model of mass-tourism that Venice was practicing must be completely overhauled. Venice can be a leading example for the rest of the world, spinning straw into gold, transforming the sacrifices that all of humanity has made, and is still making, into worth and value. Let us hope that Venice and the travelers who visit the city have learned something during these demanding times and rise to the challenge.
(Venice, Italy) I left Los Angeles for Venice twenty-two years ago,
on April 8, 1998, planning to stay for three months to write, the amount
of time an American could stay on a tourist visa. When the three months were up, I
stood in the middle of Piazza San Marco, weeping. I didn't want to go
back to Los Angeles. My then-husband didn't want to come to Venice, so I
went back to LA and started divorce proceedings. I was back in Venice
by September with an extended visa, and have lived in Italy ever since.
I fell in love with Venice on our first vacation here, back in 1991. I wandered off alone, strolling through the calli and campi,
astonished that such a city could exist. I took the vaporetto
to the Lido and back, sitting outside in the front seat, not knowing exactly where I was going... swept
up in the journey... just enjoying the ride. Venice felt so familiar, so comfortable, like coming home. I visited again in 1995 and 1997, and the feeling of familiarity only grew
stronger.
Venice bewitches many people, of course. But it
is an utterly different experience to have the privilege of being a
resident rather than visiting on vacation. I was talking about this during the quarantine with a friend
on Facetime. He said, "You can't genuinely be in love with a place where
you've never lived. Otherwise, it's just a fantasy."
On vacation in 1995 - Venice as a fantasy
When I first arrived in 1998, Easter Sunday was on
April 12, the same day it was this year. I briefly lived in an apartment
on Calle Santa Maria Formosa Lunga, right across from where the Acqua
Alta bookshop is now. I bought my cheese from a little shop owned by Marco Contessa and his father -- I have a weakness for Gorgonzola, and they always cut me a gooey piece. (These days, the shop no longer exists and Marco has transformed into a popular photographer whose images of Venice have captured the haunting stillness of the coronavirus lockdown.)
The apartment next door to the one I was renting was being
restored, and the noise was disturbing. So I moved down to Castello to a tiny ground floor apartment
in Corte Sarasena, off Via Garibaldi. Elderly women sat outside their
doors, sewing lace and chatting. Laundry stretched across the courtyard
like color-coordinated works of art from house to house, and people
spoke Venetian. I wrote about the experience in an 2001 article for the International Herald Tribune's Italian supplement, Italy Daily:
I only knew two Venetians when I decided to come to Venice -- one was the concierge at Hotel Flora, and the other was Sergio Boldrin, a mask-maker whose shop, La Bottega dei Mascareri, is at the foot of the Rialto Bridge. My husband and I had bought one of Sergio's masks a few years before, a happy sun, and it had a starring role in our living room in L.A.
Sergio's prophetic Sun Mask on the wall in L.A.
So I went over to visit Sergio, whom I hadn't seen for several years. He was in the process of wrapping up a box to ship to the United States. To my astonishment, it was addressed to a friend of mine in Los Angeles. "I know him!" I said. Sergio replied, "Your friend is leaving today for Rome. Maybe he's still here. I have the number of the man he was staying with."
My friend had gone, but that is how I met Jack Cope -- Jackson Irving Cope -- a Leo S. Bing professor emeritus of English at the University of Southern California. Jack was living in an apartment at Rialto overlooking the Grand Canal, and working on a monograph about Ernest Hemingway and his circle and their attachment to Harry's Bar. Jack was thoroughly engaged in his research, and invited me to Harry's for a drink. He was quite a character, a small, wiry 72-year-old man and former Golden Gloves boxer from Chicago, who had morphed into an eminent scholar with a rich knowledge of Italian theater. Jack still practiced the art of seduction and was in the process of drinking himself to death -- a goal he achieved a year later on August 9, 1999.
In another strange coincidence (actually not very strange when it comes to Venice -- coincidences are woven into the fabric of the city), at the last minute, the apartment I was about to rent on Riva degli Schiavoni down in Castello overlooking the lagoon fell through. I had to scramble to find a new one. I answered an ad in the paper, and was shown Jack's former apartment on the Grand Canal. He had promised me a wooden cat as an inheritance, and the cat was still inside, as if it had been patiently awaiting my arrival. So I rented the apartment, which would later become the perfect theatrical setting for much festivity, drama and trauma.
Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge during quarantine 2020
This Easter we are in a state of suspension, quarantined due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. We are finding new ways of communicating through ZOOM tea parties and SKYPE video chats. I have spoken to friends and family members that I haven't talked to in years, reliving fond memories and reinforcing lifelong relationships. The entire planet has withdrawn into their private spaces as we watch heroic health and essential workers put themselves in life-threatening situations to keep the Earth's vital heart beating. Characters are being tested. The masks of leaders are being stripped away. The voices of truth ring out over the rumble of deception.
While a few profiteers look to capitalize (as always) off human suffering, much of the world has realized what the prophets and Jesus Christ have been telling us all along -- that the engine that runs this planet is fueled by Love.
Grand Canal, Venice, Italy during quarantine - Photo: Cat Bauer
(Venice, Italy) Dear Friends & Readers -- please forgive me for not updating. I've started writing about 10 different posts, but the situation changes so rapidly that it seems that before I finish one sentence, it is already out of date.
I am well. Everyone I know is well. Personally, I don't know a single person who has the COVID-19 coronavirus, nor do any of my friends, but that is a limited circle. Everyone wants numbers, and so do I.
I am focused only on the numbers inside the historic center of Venice. Most of the time the official numbers about Venice get lumped together with Mestre, or with the province, or with the region, or with all of Italy -- it is difficult to get accurate numbers.
As far as I can understand, there are about 7 people in intensive care at Ospedale San Giovanni e Paolo. There are around 10 or less inside the hospital that are non-critical. There are less than 50 cases inside the historic center who are confined inside their homes. Those numbers are not official or accurate. It is just to let you know that all of Venice has not fallen victim to the pandemic.
I am a great believer in Mother Nature, the gods, Jesus Christ and the stars. I am also pragmatic and logical. Most of all, I believe in the power of Imagination. Venice only exists because of the powerful imagination of committed, enlightened, honorable souls.
This tragedy can transform into an opportunity. Mother Nature is creating a new world in front of our eyes. After the coronavirus, what kind of world do we want? Together, we can imagine anything. Together, we can re-imagine the world.
Public Hospital of Venice -The Scuola Grande di San Marco - Photo: Cat Bauer
(Venice, Italy) The entire country of Italy has been quarantined in a herculean effort
to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Much of the media has
described the lockdown as "draconian," which gives it an authoritarian
connotation. On the contrary, I think it is more of an act of Caritas -- an act of charity in the true sense of the word.
The Scuola Grande di San Marco is home to Venice's main public hospital, the Santi Giovanni e Paolo Civil
Hospital. It has been my hospital for the 22 years that Venice has been my residence, and I have made good use of its excellent services.
It was originally the home
of the Confraternity of San Marco, one of the six major confraternities
in Venice. The core value of the confraternities was Caritas.
In Christian thought, charity is the highest form of love. It is the love of God expressed by human beings for fellow human beings. Saint Paul called charity the greatest virtue of all.
Even though ancient Venetians could be distinctly decadent, the confraternities of Venice considered it their responsibility to provide acts of charity to
those in need -- caring for the sick and destitute, distributing food, providing shelter, offering funeral services and prayers -- practicing the concept of "love thy neighbor as thyself."
The Scuole
Grandi were an integral part of Venetian society that provided for those less fortunate.
Carved & gilded ceiling in Scuola Grande di San Marco - Photo: Cat Bauer
Putting an entire Democratic Republic like Italy under quarantine is not easy to do. The Italian word "furbo" is difficult to explain to English-speakers, and is often translated as "sly" or "cunning." But in Italy, it can have a positive attribute -- more a sense of using ingenuity or being clever to get around the rules.
On Saturday night, March 7, as new regulations were being formulated in Rome, someone leaked an unsigned draft to the press, and all hell broke loose. Some politicians who were omitted from the decision-making process first saw the news on television. It spread like wildfire through social media.
Italy was in quarantine. Everyone had to stay at their legal residence.
Both Luigi Brugnaro, the Mayor of Venice, and Luca Zaia, the President of the Veneto, said the draft had been written without their knowledge, and was being rushed through.
People who were outside their regions of residence dashed to the train stations before the new rules kicked into effect, wrongly thinking they would be forced to remain where they were. If they were going to be quarantined, they wanted to be at home, in their own region. This mad dash from one region to another could possibly spread the virus from the north of Italy to the south.
This compelled Giuseppe Conte, the prime minister of Italy, to address the nation on Sunday morning, March 8, 2020 at 2AM. He told Italians not to be furbo.
Instead, he appealed to their sense of Caritas, their civic duty to protect "our health, that of our parents, and above all, the health of our grandparents." He later said, "It's not easy to change the habits of an entire life from one day to the next, and accept personal sacrifices for the greater good.... But if we all respect the rules, the country will soon be able to raise its head."
Even though Italy is a secular Republic, it is more than 80% Christian -- Catholic in particular -- and backed up by a popular Pope in Rome, that message can be very effective.
I experienced first-hand the damage the English-language press and foreign-based social media accounts wreaked on Venice when the city closed its Carnival two days early after three elderly people tested positive for the virus.
Misinformation flashed rapidly across Twitter, as if controlling the English-language narrative about Italy were a competition. Reality on the ground was utterly different from what was being reported, creating unnecessary panic as tourists fled the city.
As I wrote in a previous post, the word "quarantine" is a Venetian word, and means "forty days." In 1448, the Venice Senate passed a law that required ships and crews to remain isolated outside the city during the time of the plague, which had a 37-day cycle from infection to death.
Entrance to San Giovanni e Paolo Civil Hospital, Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer
I spent hours searching for a trustworthy voice that clearly explained the current situation. I finally stumbled on an article in SIR, the news source of the Episcopal Conference of Italy, featuring Dr. Giovanni Leoni, a surgeon at the Civil Hospital in Venice, who was also the President of the Order of Doctors of Venice (OMCeO).
Dr. Leoni explained the situation succinctly with a touch of wit, and concluded with the message that the Serenissima Republic was the master of quarantine:
"If we survived several plagues without antibiotics and respirators, despite serious loss of life, we owe it to the use of isolation implemented by our ancestors."
That made sense. In today's society, when the pharmaceutical industry has promoted a vaccine or a pill for all that ails you, if there is no cure to an infectious disease then the only thing to do is resort to tried and true techniques, stretching back to medieval times. Hence, the quarantine.
I am glad the quarantine has expanded to include all of Italy. Before it felt unfair, with much of the mainstream media using images of the historic center of Venice to illustrate the coronavirus outbreak in the entire country, as if Venice were the center of the outbreak.
Reality was very different. Now that everyone's movement has been limited, it feels more like a united front.
More confusion lies in the way the numbers are reported. In 2015, the province of Venice transformed into the Metropolitan City of Venice that includes 41 comuni or municipalities with a population of around 850,000 and Venice as its capital.
But in the historic center of Venice itself there are just over 50,000 residents. So far in Venice there has been a handful of cases and one death linked to the virus, that of Danilo Carraro, a well-liked optician and eyeglass designer, who was 80-years-old and already seriously ill.
As of today, March 13, there are 9 non-critical cases and 5 cases in intensive care in Venice's Civil Hospital, according to Il Gazzettino, although the numbers in all of Italy change rapidly.
It has been my experience (which has been limited to South Tyrol and the Veneto Region, the historic center of Venice in particular) that the healthcare in Italy is excellent. It is a human right. Again I think it's because it's based on a sense of Caritas, something that has been inherent in the Italian nature for centuries -- especially in Venice, where going to the hospital is an awesome experience.
Cats wander in
the gardens and in the majestic halls of the former Scuola Grande di
San Marco. Thereis a fountain full of turtles and bathing songbirds.
The World Health Organization European Office for Investment for Health and Development is located inside, down an immense corridor.
The original building was completed in 1260, but almost destroyed by fire in 1485. It was immediately rebuilt and completed by 1495, which is the structure still standing today.
Just stepping through the portal is like entering a magical, ancient world. But woven inside the historic structure is a slick, modern hospital, with a Venetian attitude.
WHO office in Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer
Last Monday, I went to the hospital for a routine exam. The mood was jovial and friendly, full of humor and community spirit, though we all knew reality was harsh and scary beneath the surface.
The doctor who examined me was calm, and explained things clearly with diagrams, stressing that when people understand a situation there is no need for panic and fear. His manner was reassuring, and I glanced at his name tag.
"You're Giovanni Leoni! You're the president of all the doctors. I read your article. I quoted you. It is an honor!"
That is the real beauty of Venice -- not just the magnificent structures, not just the priceless art, not just the calli and campi. It is the people who live and work here today, combined with the wisdom of the ancestors. It is the sense of community that stretches back through the centuries.
It is the fact that I can go for a routine exam and be consulted by the same Venetian doctor whose calm, clear voice sang out among all the discord on the Internet.
Even though Venice has been thrust into the international spotlight by the media, at its heart it is a close-knit town based on human
relationships.
Italy is making great sacrifices, not just for the people inside the country, but on behalf of the entire world. Healthcare in Italy operates on something for which there is no prescription, but still within the grasp of humanity -- the greatest virtue of all, the virtue of Caritas.
Venice Carnival 2020 - Costumed revelers from France - Photo: Cat Bauer
(Venice, Italy) The word "quarantine" is a Venetian word, and means "forty days." In medieval times, Venice was on the cutting edge of healthcare for its citizens by confronting how to prevent the plague from entering the city. Venice was a major commercial center for international trade, and much of the world's goods passed through its waters.
In 1423, Venice established the first plague hospital on Lazzaretto Vecchio, an island in the lagoon just off Lido, a lazaret for maritime travelers with infectious diseases. Nowadays, if you have ever been to the Virtual Reality competition during the Venice
Film Festival, you have visited that very island, which transforms into a very cool screening area, mixing the ancient with the contemporary and pulsing with the newest
VR offerings.
In 1448, after determining that the plague had a 37-day cycle from infection to death, the Venice Senate passed a law requiring ships and crews to wait outside the city for 40 days. This system was remarkably effective -- you either got better or you died, or you were not contagious.
Quarantine has since become an English-language word, and means any period of isolation from infectious diseases. Since there is no cure at the present time for COVIT-19, the world has resorted to medieval techniques to try to contain the spread of the infection. So in the year 2020, we are back to using quarantine to limit the spread of the disease from human contact until an antidote can be developed.
Venice Carnival 2020 - Revelers from England - Photo: Cat Bauer
Venice caught the eye of the world when it cancelled the last two days of Carnival -- Monday and Fat Tuesday, Martedì Grasso -- news that blared across the headlines of the international press and thrust COVIT-19 into the spotlight. Some people thought it was too harsh a decision.
Others thought Carnival should have been cancelled on Sunday morning when health officials first learned there were two cases of the coronavirus inside the historic center -- two elderly Venetians in their 80s who didn't know each other and had no contact with the Chinese community ended up in the Civic Hospital. Later, a third female case was included. So inside the historic center of Venice itself there are three cases.
I thought the decision was just right. Sunday at noon was the Flight of the Eagle in Piazza San Marco, an event that I did not attend, but attracted about 20,000 people -- far lower than previous years, but still substantial. There was not enough time to turn that many people away without causing chaos and panic. I was notified by the press office about the cancellation of Carnival on Sunday, February 23 at 5:24pm, something I would have found out sooner if I watched TV.
But what I found outrageous was the immediate level of panic and misinformation about Venice being generated on social media by accounts that were not even based in Italy, and had no first-hand knowledge of what they were talking about. I have wondered repeatedly about the abnormal interest in Venice by professional marketers posing as simple bloggers and self-published booksellers who try to control the English-language narrative by giving "expert" advice as if they were actually on the ground. What's up with that?
Venice Carnival 2020 - Performers from Korea - Photo: Cat Bauer
Before the cancellation of Carnival, I was having a very good time, zipping all over the city. This year's Carnival had a different vibe under the new direction of Massimo Checchetto, the scenographer of Teatro La Fenice, with many projects nurtured by Venice residents. I came into contact with people from all over the world, including China and South Korea.
Right now, I feel healthy and fine. In Venice, children play in the courtyards and people go about their everyday business. The only difference is the lack of tourists, which to me is a good thing.
Marietta Barovier - Woman of Fire
Pioneer of Venetian Glass Beads
Project by Chiarastella Seravalle
As I've said repeatedly, Venice is a microcosm of the macrocosm. There were way too many tourists tripping through Venice, clogging up the calli and campi, feasting on junk food and buying fake souvenirs made in China.
It would be nice if educated, civilized tourists who appreciate real Venetian artisans and fresh, local food came and supported the city. It would be wonderful if AirBnB tourist rentals were diminished, and landlords rented their properties to people who actually live in Venice, bringing life to the city. It would be great if the cruise ship industry was hit with a wake-up call, causing them to rethink and evaluate how they operate, not just in Venice but all over the world.
The entire mass-market tourism industry must take responsibility for the state of travel today, from airlines, to hotels, to cruise ships, to AirBnBs. The travel business is out of control, profiting with quantity not quality, and destroying the beauty and ecosystem of the whole planet.
In the past, Venice built churches, thanking Christ the Redeemer (Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore) and the Madonna of the Salute (Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute) for delivering them from the plague, which was believed to be a punishment from God. These days, instead of trying to squeeze another buck out of Venice, the focus should be on what can be done to create an environment where the citizens of Venice can thrive.
Isadora Duncan Dance Co. from USA at Palazzo Contarini Polignac - Photo: Cat Bauer
Should you come to Venice? That is an individual decision. As panic spreads across the world, there is no place that is "safe." Italy has been very aggressive about testing for the coronavirus, as well as closing schools, postponing soccer matches -- even religious ceremonies for the beginning of Lent were cancelled.
Emma Thompson and Greg Wise have just moved to Venice, and I hope they inspire a new colony of like-minded people to make Venice their home. Artists like Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese, who were valued by the Venetian Republic, allowed Venice to thrive in the past. With a solid base of creative people, Venice can flourish once again today. The November 12, 2019 flood and the current coronavirus epidemic can be a blessing, not a curse.
To me, Venice is especially beautiful when it is mostly full of residents, living everyday lives. Personally, I don't know a single person who is afflicted with the coronavirus, and neither do any of my friends.
Just walking around Venice is magical, sitting in a campo and enjoying a leisurely lunch, or seeking out genuine Venetian artisans. When it comes to Carnival, everyone agrees that next year's Carnevale will be better than ever.
Italy is ranked number 2 in the world after Spain in the 2019 Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index. The U.S. is in 35th place. Italy's healthcare system is ranked number 2 in the world by population after France, according to the World Population Review.
So, if you're feeling healthy, flexible and ready for reflection, now is a great time to take a deep breath and come to Venice, and confront the present by embracing the knowledge of the past.
Carnival Revelers at Caffè Florian - Photo: Cat Bauer
(Venice, Italy) Caffè Florianhas always beenthe place to be and be seen during the Venice Carnival. Thousands of people all over the world expressed their love and concern about the plight of Caffè Florian when images of the flooded cafè spread across social media after the November 12 aqua granda in Venice. The situation seemed bleak.
Happily, life goes on: I am glad to report that Carnival revelers have once again flocked to the beloved coffeehouse decked out in all their Carnevale regalia, as they have done for centuries.
Carnival Revelers at Caffè Florian - Photo: Cat Bauer
Carnival Revelers at Caffè Florian - Photo: Cat Bauer
Caffè Florian was established in Piazza San Marco in 1720 and celebrates its 300th anniversary this year. It is the world's oldest coffeehouse in continuous operation.
It was the only coffeehouse that served women, making it one of Casanova's favorite hunting grounds. The Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni was a regular.
Since its early years, it has attracted everybody who is anybody -- Lord Byron, Goethe, Marcel Proust, Charles Dickens, Richard Wagner and D'Annunzio were some of the notable clientele.
Carnival Revelers at Caffè Florian - Photo: Cat Bauer
Caffè Florian's original name was "Venezia Trionfante," or "Triumphant Venice," but it soon became known as Caffè Florian, after its owner Floriano Francesconi. It was a place where history was written. Inside its rooms, plots were devised to overthrow French and Austrian rule after the Napoleonic conquest of the Republic of Venice in 1797.
Carnival Revelers at Caffè Florian - Photo: Cat Bauer
The idea for the very first Venice Art Biennale was hatched at the Florian. In 1893, Riccardo Selvatico, the mayor of Venice, together
with a group of artists and intellectuals, decided to hold an
illustrious art exhibition in honor of the silver anniversary of King
Umberto and Margherita of Savoy. Beneath the paintings of The Age of Enlightenment and Civilization Educating the Nations in the Senate Room, the first international art festival in the world was born.
Through the window of Caffè Florian - Venice Carnival - Photo: Cat Bauer
Throughout the years, celebrating the Carnival of Venice inside the rooms of Caffè Florian became a staunch tradition. To this day, revelers wearing elaborate costumes walk through the door and into another dimension, sipping hot chocolate and dreaming up adventures along with the spirits of Carnevale past.
(Venice, Italy) First, I want to thank those of you who have been long-time readers of Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog. Many of you have been loyal subscribers for more than a decade, through triumphs and tribulations, and I greatly appreciate it -- especially those of you who took the time to write with New Year's greetings. (For those who prefer not to leave a public comment, I can always be reached at venetiancat@gmail.com, and you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.)
I started this particular blog in January 2008, twelve years ago, and have written 665 posts about the life, art, history and culture of Venice. My blog evolved from one I had on the now-defunct MySpace, and before that, on my now-defunct Author's Guild site before much of the world even knew what a blog was. Some of you have even followed me from the old America Online travel boards, back when I first arrived in Venice in 1998, nearly 22 years ago.
Venice has been through many changes since that time, many of them not positive. One of the most serious is how climate change is progressively affecting the city -- the November 12th flood was a shock to the system -- in addition to rampant over-tourism, monster cruise ships, short-term apartment rentals, new hotels, lack of affordable housing and outside interference on social media.
MOSE, the underwater barrier that was supposed to protect the city from acqua alta, was wracked by corruption, money laundering and kickbacks, and is now set to function by the end of 2021 after years of delays. The first real test of MOSE was this past Monday night. The results were "OK," and it seems that the barrier can be raised in emergency situations. Let's hope it's not soon put to the test.
Sunset in Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer
When I first moved to Venice from Hollywood in 1998, an American living in the city was still something of a novelty. Before moving to the highly-visible apartment on the Grand Canal at Rialto (which is now a short-term tourist rental), I first lived down in Castello, a zone thick with Venetians and mom & pop shops -- cheese, bread, wine, vegetables, meat, fish -- everything was nearby and came with a conversation -- not easy, because I didn't speak a word of Italian, let alone Venetian. But somehow we communicated.
Back then, there were about 80,000 Venetians who lived in the historic center, as opposed to less than 55,000 today. There were tourists, but not 30 million of them, and they stayed in hotels, not short-term tourist rentals, a 21st Century plague that is killing Venetian life. It was an utterly different, magical world.
There were exotic new traditions to discover, and one of the most marvelous was the Venetian celebration of Christmas, which began on December 24th, Christmas Eve, and continued through January 6th, the Epiphany, the day the three Magi visited the Christ child.
Unlike Christmas in the States, the festival season actually felt tied to the birth of the Christ child, and connected to Mother Nature. It was a combination of the Christian world and the pagan world rolled into one great festival, culminating in the burning of a good witch called La Befana -- an element of the tradition that occurs on the mainland of the Veneto, not in Venice. (Venice has evolved its own quirky Befana tradition, which includes a short regata of Venetian male rowers dressed in drag as female witches, which I have written about many times before.)
La Befana in the Veneto - Photo: Cat Bauer
Even though the holidays have passed, I have still been thinking about La Befana, and how she came to be. La Befana behaves a lot like Santa Claus, filling children's stockings with sweets if they are good, and coal if they are naughty -- except she looks like a Halloween witch, and flies on a broom.
One legend says the three Magi stopped by her house asking for directions to bring gifts to the infant Christ, and asked her to join them, but La Befana was so busy cleaning, that she refused. After she realized what an opportunity she had missed, she jumped on her broom and went house to house leaving gifts for children, searching for the Christ child.
Back on the Eve of Epiphany on January 5, 1999, 21 years ago, my Venetian friends brought me to the Veneto countryside, where they burnt La Befana in a bonfire -- something that is missing in Venice. The whole community joined together, sang songs, drank hot mulled wine and ate pinsa, which is sort of like a fruitcake, but moist and delicious, and is reportedly La Befana's favorite food.
The visitation of the three Magi was reenacted with live human beings, and there was a real-live witch that handed out stockings. It was an anticipated event for all the families, and kept the focus of the holiday season on the birth of Jesus Christ all the way through to the day of Epiphany on January 6th.
This year, I again had the opportunity to join the Epiphany celebrations on the mainland, where the bonfire is still in full swing. I think this element of the festival is critical because it symbolizes the ending of the old year, and the ringing in of the new. It is tied to nature because the new year will be good or bad depending on which direction the ashes of the fire blow. I am happy to report that this year is predicted to be a good one.
But it still doesn't answer the question: why a craggy, hooked-nose old witch? Even though she is physically "bruta" or "ugly," the children see her as "bella" or "beautiful." There are many theories, none of them definitive. I think La Befana is a unique amalgamation of all of them. But what fascinates me the most is that in the United States, we don't have her at all:
A theory connects the tradition of exchanging gifts to an ancient Roman festivity in honour of Ianus and Strenia (in Italian a Christmas gift used to be called strenna), celebrated at the beginning of the year, when Romans used to give each other presents. ...
...The tradition of Befana appears to incorporate other pre-Christian
popular elements as well, adapted to Christian culture and related to
the celebration of the New Year. Historian Carlo Ginzburg relates her to Nicnevin.
The old lady character should then represent the "old year" just
passed, ready to be burned in order to give place to the new one.
In
many European countries the tradition still exists of burning a puppet
of an old lady at the beginning of the New Year, called Giubiana in Northern Italy, with clear Celtic origins....
Christ Pantocrator in the Basilica of San Marco, Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer
Something important to remember is that Venice did not evolve like the rest of Italy, which was inhabited by many different peoples over the centuries, who were eventually conquered by pagan Rome. Back then, Venice was just a bunch of mud flats and salt marshes inhabited by fisherman until refugees fleeing Germanic and Hun invasions settled in the lagoon.
According to tradition, Venice was born in 421 A.D., four hundred years after the birth of Jesus Christ, but shortly after Christianity became the State Church of the Roman Empire in 380 A.D. -- Emperor Constantine in Constantinople himself converted in 312 A.D.
Venetians were Christians linked to the Eastern Roman Empire from the start, not the Western Roman Empire, which finally collapsed in 476 A.D. The image of Christ that is in the Basilica of San Marco is that of the Christ Pantocrator, an image that is an Eastern Catholic conception. Over the centuries, on those mud flats and salt marshes, Venetians created the most beautiful, impossible city made by man, a city that today is tragically at the center of the international news after the November 12th flood -- an event that was the scream of Mother Nature herself.
With the invasion of mindless tourists and foreign investment into Venice, this mystical, magical element of Christianity is being suffocated, which is as critical to the foundation of Venice as the stones, marble and piles used to physically build the city.
Venice's unique expression of Catholicism is an invisible, crucial fabric that was woven into the construction of her churches and palaces, in the bells that chime throughout the city, the images, the festivals, in the calli and campi. It is embedded into the very soul of Venice itself.
Last Sunday, on January 12th, exactly two months after the November 12th flood, Venice was featured on 60 Minutes, the esteemed, long-running television program that airs in the United States. For those of you who have never seen it, the show is a news magazine and Sunday-evening fixture that debuted way back in 1968. Here is an excerpt. To watch the entire clip, go to 60 Minutes.
In the episode, Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, said the November flood was due to climate change, and that he would like to make Venice a "world laboratory." As always, there are people on social media who complain about this, saying it is not only climate change to blame for acqua alta.
Of course it's not, but if the mayor announces publicly that he wants to combat climate change on one of the most important television programs in the United States of America, then let's hold him to it! I think it is an excellent idea, and have said the same thing for years, as have many others.
In fact, there are several organizations already in existence in the city; you can get a PhD in the Science & Management of Climate Change at Ca' Foscari, Venice's university. Venice desperately needs another industry besides tourism.
LET'S SAVE VENICE TO SAVE THE WORLD
From 60 Minutes:
To give Venice a future, its mayor wants to turn the city into a world laboratory to combat climate change.
Mayor
Luigi Brugnaro (Translation): Why don't we do it here? Let's do it
here, let's study it here. Let's study the water, let's study the
pollution, the rising waters, the temperature. It could be an example of
great mobilization at a world level.
John Dickerson: Is the message to the rest of the world, if you don't save Venice, it will happen to you next?
Mayor
Luigi Brugnaro (Translation): I don't want to worry anybody, but I
think that I'd like a different message. Let's save Venice to save the
world.
Are those just empty words, or is Luigi Brugnaro serious about rallying behind such a plan? Making Venice a world laboratory is not an impossible dream. Venice is the perfect city to become a showcase for the best of mankind, self-sufficient and thriving on its own natural resources, with alternative energy, electric/solar transportation, healthy salt marshes, housing for residents, fresh, local food, world-class craftsmanship & artisans, and sustainable tourism.
What exists instead is a system based on greed, corruption, overtourism, depopulation, more hotels, AirBnBs, cruise ships, etc. -- in short, the worst of mankind, a disease that is afflicting the entire planet.
Yes, Venice can be a World Laboratory, but we need the help of the entire world to accomplish such a feat. If we don't act immediately, there will be no Venice to save. It is a New Year and a New Decade, and time to make radical changes.
Right now, if La Befana left Venice a Christmas stocking, it would be filled with coal, not sweets. You don't have to burn the good witch to see which way the wind blows.
