Bellinis In Venice Poem by gershon hepner

Bellinis In Venice



Americans no longer order a Bellini
in Harry’s Bar in Venice. Hemingway
might well have done, but who today can pay
so much, the euro being mighty, dollar teeny?
It’s farewell now to cocktails; in the afternoon
no alcohol is found upon the breath.
Although in Venice sun still rises, death
seems near, without a single drink in the saloon.
Remembering the old man’s fish and his bullfights,
the tourists walk away as cold and sober
as Hemingway, the thirtieth of October
in ’66, when bells tolled, and death dimmed his lights.

Tracy Wilkinson (“205 off at Harry’s Bar? They’ll drink to that, ” LA Times, June 1,2008) writes about how the weak dollar and strong euro have caused American tourists to abandon Harry’s Bar in Venice:

The weak dollar and especially strong euro have sapped American buying power in Europe. And Venice, the historic city of canals that attracts 20 million visitors a year, is one of Italy's most costly places. So people are looking for deals. They are picnicking in the piazzas, despite a city ban on what it considers such indecorous behavior, and shortening their stays. (Overheard: two young American women deciding that a gondola ride, which can cost a couple of hundred bucks, was really not worth it - unless you were getting a marriage proposal.) Truth be told, visitors who dine at Harry's Bar either aren't too worried about their finances or aren't too aware of just how high its prices are. They come for the celebrity quotient, maybe the impeccable service, certainly the spectacular panoramic views of the sparkling Venice lagoon.


6/1/08

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