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IT'S ONE WAY TO GET ATTENTION
Margaret Cameron • June 17, 2020
This is Venetian Mayor Luigi Brugnano. He wanted to make a point.
Some councillors had suggested that Venetian restaurants be clearer about the amount of meat (or fish, or chicken) they offered in their dishes. Like the 300 gram Big Mac, or The Whopper that takes two hands to handle. You know the sort of thing. Tourists felt cheated with the meagre serves they received after ordering from a menu photo that had promised abundance. The answer, councillors believed, was to cite the precise quantity, measured in grams, that a diner could expect to receive when placing an order.
Mayor Brunano has had a lot to say about tourists in his city. At this Council meeting he dressed as a shop-keeper to make his point. The meeting dissolved into pandemonium. Social media erupted with comments about the Mayor and his dress-up antics. But what was he saying? Did he agree with the proposal or not?
I've no idea. After reading the translation of his comments and the seventy-eight social media posts they prompted, I'm still none the wiser. All I can say for certain is that Venetians didn't like their highest elected official using such theatre. Uncool. Totally.
Venetians have a reputation for panache. Even when they illegally dump their rubbish, they do it with aplomb.
Little wonder they objected. Venetians want to maintain their position in the style stakes and Luigi-the-shop-keeper just didn't tick the boxes.
But there are plenty of stylish Venetian men around.
You just need to know where to look.
Gondolas and Venice are inseparable. Think of one and the other immediately follows.
The petrochemical plant at Port Maghera has been responsible for significant pollution and damage to the fragile lagoon ecosystem. It is justifiably held by many Venetians to be public enemy number one. Just as concerning is the impact of climate change and rising sea levels for a city built on water. Worrying issues indeed, and there is another problem - sometimes overlooked, often discounted - of equal significance. arm photo here to side of text. Venice belongs to the world. And the world agrees, it seems, if tourist numbers are anything to go by. Visitors from all parts of the globe descend on the city each year, totting up more than twenty-five million visitations. This represents an environmental impost to a geographically small area, and massive disruption in the day-to-day lives of its fifty-five thousand residents. Look at it from their point of view. Their city is consumed by tourists.
After all this time and writing and research, all those edits and redrafts, countless workshops and mentoring sessions, I can now say that it's official. My manuscript, 'Under a Venice Moon' will be published by Hachette Australia in April next year. I'm both delighted and grateful. More news to follow when I come down to earth!
maracam48@gmail.com