8988 Hello from Cat Bauer in Venice

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Hi, everybody! My name is Cat Bauer, and I am an American writer who has lived in Venice since 1998. I learned about Italy Magazine a couple of years ago when they wrote an article about a friend of mine who lives in Panarea. I wrote to the editor here, Melissa Ormiston, because I saw that the Venice forum seemed to be inactive, which surprised me because we have so many visitors here from the UK. I just created a new blog called Venetian Cat - Venice Blog that hopefully you will find interesting:

[URL="http://venetiancat.blogspot.com"]Venetian Cat Bauer - Venice Blog[/URL]

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]Depending on who you talk to, we are expecting between 20 to 30 million tourists this year. In addition to knowing many people here in the ex-pat community, I also have many Venetian friends. Often I have played the role of unofficial mediator between the two sides. I believe a little communication and understanding goes a long way. Instead of the "us" against "them" attitude that tends to exist these days, I believe there is room for everyone here in [I][I]La Serenissima. [/I][/I]I live here because I love Venice. It is not Disneyland, it is the Magic Kingdom.

[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]There is plenty of general tourist information out there, but what I am more interested in is doing my best to explain the difference between the cultures, and focusing on businesses who welcome lovers of Venice. So, I am happy to answer any interesting questions, but not the "Do you know an inexpensive hotel" type.

Ciao,
Cat

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Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 11:07

What an already informative and beautifully written introduction Cat. Benevenuto.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 15:18

Welcome, Cat. It is a pleasure to have someone like you amongst our members. Keep on sending us posts.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/08/2008 - 15:00

Hello and welcome to the forum. Ok, a question for you. We live in Palmanova (Udine), about an hour away, and we're coming for a day trip to Venice soon. Can you think of five things (not the most obvious ones) we could do/see in one day?

Over to you!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/09/2008 - 18:05

Get a Chorus pass and wander around Venice, using the churches as destination points.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 04:22

Hi Cat - you could be the answer to my prayers! My student son and his girlfriend are off to Venice at the end of the month for a short weekend and I know he would like to take her somewhere good for dinner. Where would you recommend? Funds are limited (I would say around the 75 euro mark for the two of them - maybe a little more or is that being to optomistic?) and as they are staying in St Marks square somewhere easy to find from there would be good! A set meal would give them an easy option but I know some restaurants offering tourist menus can be dire.

Look forward to hearing from you and welcome to the forum.

Jackie

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 04:48

I have recommended this one in the past:
[url=http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/italy/venice/entity_40763.html]Trattoria Ca' d'Oro (Alla Vedova) | Venice Restaurants[/url]
and it is excellent and within the price range your son would like.
But perhaps Cat may have other addresses.
Restaurants in Venice are generally expensive... and some of them not terribly good, even if they charge high prices.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 07:52

You are giving me all sorts of ideas! What I have found is that so many visitors to Venice feel lost and confused. I just had three rounds of visitors, and they are pulling restaurants, hotels, etc., off the Internet at random. I am already overwhelmed by the amount of people reading my new blog, so it makes me think there is a need to have someone here in Venice who speaks English that people can trust. If you have a look at the Venetian Cat blog, you will see that my friend Sergio Boldrin and I created a little quiz -- he will give you a discount on a mask if you can answer a question buried inside my blog, which, hopefully, explains a little bit about why masks exist in the first place in Venice. Let me see if I can do something similar with some friends of mine who own restaurants -- at least set something up so that you are assured a decent meal for a fair price, and understand what you are eating. This way, you can report back to me, and I can speak to my friends, who I have known for years, e.g. if there are any problems; the things that are working, and what is not. The goal is to highlight the businesses here in Venice who want to attract intelligent travelers, and avoid the ones who are in it for greed. So, give me a little time, and I will concentrate on doing that this week. We are just as frustrated by the huge amount of travelers wandering around like sheep, as you are to be treated in such a fashion.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 08:45

[quote=jackie C;85000]Hi Cat - you could be the answer to my prayers! My student son and his girlfriend are off to Venice at the end of the month for a short weekend and I know he would like to take her somewhere good for dinner. Where would you recommend? Funds are limited (I would say around the 75 euro mark for the two of them - maybe a little more or is that being to optomistic?) and as they are staying in St Marks square somewhere easy to find from there would be good! A set meal would give them an easy option but I know some restaurants offering tourist menus can be dire.

Look forward to hearing from you and welcome to the forum.

Jackie[/quote]

Dear Jackie,

I am going to answer you down in the Venice & the Veneto section. I am having Internet overload, and a little difficulty grasping exactly how this Forum works. I'll meet you down there in [I]La Serenissima[/I].:smile:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/20/2008 - 07:54

Dear Jackie,

I spent several hours yesterday with Sergio from Le Bistrot, and we arrived at the conclusion that it was just not possible to meet the 75 euro mark for dinner -- in fact he "hired" me to explain why, which I will do very soon in the blog. He has offered to wave the service charge for the historic menu to anyone who mentions the "Venetian Cat Blog," which is a savings of 12%, but that is out your son's price range -- the historic menu is 68 euro each plus 12%. (When you hear all the work that goes into it, you will understand why:)

We did come up with a historic lunch menu, however, which I will also explain very shortly. That will include an appetizer, an historic risotto, desert, a glass of wine and mineral water for 30 euro each, including the service charge.

I'll try to find something special for dinner with some other friends' restaurants before your son gets here. Of course, there are many places where you can eat for 75 euro for two . There is a wonderful little book by Michela Scibilia called "Venezia Osterie & Dintorni" that I recommend. You can get it at most book shops in Venice.

Ciao,
Cat

[quote=jackie C;85000]Hi Cat - you could be the answer to my prayers! My student son and his girlfriend are off to Venice at the end of the month for a short weekend and I know he would like to take her somewhere good for dinner. Where would you recommend? Funds are limited (I would say around the 75 euro mark for the two of them - maybe a little more or is that being to optomistic?) and as they are staying in St Marks square somewhere easy to find from there would be good! A set meal would give them an easy option but I know some restaurants offering tourist menus can be dire.

Look forward to hearing from you and welcome to the forum.

Jackie[/quote]