tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post2124235415619467287..comments2024-03-29T10:30:21.072-04:00Comments on venezia blog: Living Venice, and If Venice DiesSteven Varni, aka Sig. Nonlosohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10066672605318740533noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-50306751663211534322017-04-18T15:53:31.716-04:002017-04-18T15:53:31.716-04:00You were lucky not to be here over Easter, Anne, a...You were lucky not to be here over Easter, Anne, as there was a good deal of dismay at the crowds (headline in a local paper: hotels at 95% occupancy for Easter weekend, with their prices doubled). Ugh, I can't even think about it tonight. But I'm glad you didn't think I was knocking the health care system or the medical people of all sorts who actually are responsible for treating people and those who administer these services in Venice. It's the politicians who are forever it seems trying to cut services and staff in Venice that I'm not too fond of. Steven Varni, aka Sig. Nonlosohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10066672605318740533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-9975345670544067372017-03-23T03:27:10.313-04:002017-03-23T03:27:10.313-04:00Steven, thank you for this article, which echoes m...Steven, thank you for this article, which echoes my own feelings very accurately. As a 'part-timer' who visits Venice regularly (just returned to Australia from a 15 week stay on Sant'Elena), watching Venice change and the determined efforts of the remaining 'locals' to retain their city as a real place, not a Disney simulacrum, it distresses us enormously to see genuine stores replaced<br />with more leather goods or, as at Via Garibaldi, the sisters swallowed by a Coop section of prepackaged tourist snack food. Oh and re the Italian health system, I didn't think you were criticising it at all, and as you said, have nothing but praise for the staff and their efforts. We have had a couple of visits to Pronto Soccorso and they have been wonderful. I wish I could be more hopeful about Venice's future, but remain eternally impressed with the fortitude and persistence of the residents.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02669122386428193400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-20391260609148456892017-03-22T12:31:03.993-04:002017-03-22T12:31:03.993-04:00Thanks very much for the link to the piece on Ital...Thanks very much for the link to the piece on Italy's healthcare and you comments, Cat Bauer, but I'm sorry that you perceived this post as a criticism of the Italian health care system when nothing could have been further from my mind. I have no complaints about the health care system and referred to it here, as I have in one or two previous posts over the years, only to show how cuts have been made to essential services needed by residents in Venice. My dismay is over such cuts, and to refer to the "half-staffed Ospedale Civile" (which is what my primary care physician calls it) is not to cast any aspersions at all on the staff that remains there or the jobs they do, but to call attention to the fact that important facilities needed by residents of Venice are being moved to the mainland (or trying to be). Steven Varni, aka Sig. Nonlosohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10066672605318740533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151589473709505648.post-21951033798645189762017-03-20T18:00:36.446-04:002017-03-20T18:00:36.446-04:00Steven, although you have lived here in Venice for...Steven, although you have lived here in Venice for several years now, I have never met you, which I find a little weird. I try to keep up with your blog to see what you -- an angry, new, vocal American addition to Venice, complete with family -- are up to. When it comes to health care in Venice, and your gloomy outlook, I completely disagree -- especially when compared to health care in the United States(!) I am deeply grateful for the Italian healthcare system, and what great benefits, I, as an immigrant, receive. In fact, someone just tweeted me an article today entitled: Italy’s Struggling Economy Has World’s Healthiest People, which you can read here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/italy-s-struggling-economy-has-world-s-healthiest-people<br /><br />Best,<br />Cat BauerCat Bauer in Venice Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18376687575392758300noreply@blogger.com