Venice is a bit pissy about its coffee, and yours...

[davids]

We are talking about a public place, a bridge, not your porch. As long as people don't leave trash in the place there is no reason to go into defensive mode. I don't think we know enough about what happened in that particular event to describe the mentionned 2 german tourists as yahoos.

Yahoos:

Attachment 112644

[mzilliox]

So you guys would be OK with someone camped outside your office, or home, making a nice cuppa over a propane stove?

Not me. I live in a tourist destination and find the people who treat Boston as an Instagram photo op really annoying.

We're not talking about housing the homeless, we're talking about tourists treating the natives and their city as a backdrop for their convenience. It's thoughtless at best and exploitative at worst. I approve of Venice making a very public example of these yahoos.




Oh irony.

I'll take your complaint to my reporter friend. I'm sure she'll be happy to work without pay so you can read her work for free.

yeah, id be ok with it, especially if they shared a cup. whats so weird about making coffee for yourself? i do it every day

[Christian Fox]

yeah, id be ok with it, especially if they shared a cup. whats so weird about making coffee for yourself? i do it every day

yeah, ok.

How about not treating whatever patch of Earth you happen to be standing on as your own? A little awareness of your surroundings goes a long way to becoming a civilized human being. Setting up a little vagrant camp on the steps of a monument is not really cool.

[ericpmoss]

Is it just me, or are people acting like this was a gypsy horde cooking meth in St. Peter's?

[Peter Polack]

So you guys would be OK with someone camped outside your office, or home, making a nice cuppa over a propane stove?

Not me. I live in a tourist destination and find the people who treat Boston as an Instagram photo op really annoying.

We're not talking about housing the homeless, we're talking about tourists treating the natives and their city as a backdrop for their convenience. It's thoughtless at best and exploitative at worst. I approve of Venice making a very public example of these yahoos.




Oh irony.

I'll take your complaint to my reporter friend. I'm sure she'll be happy to work without pay so you can read her work for free.

It was meant more as a door opening to humor. What really makes no sense to me is, why bother posting a link to a web site with stringent paywall restrictions when it's likely many can't read it-is it assumed that everyone subscribes to the NYT?

I still don't know what the article was about...

[ericpmoss]

What really makes no sense to me is, why bother posting a link to a web site with stringent paywall restrictions when it's likely many can't read it-is it assumed that everyone subscribes to the NYT?

Because that's where the article was.

[happycampyer]

Or charge them 10 Euro and give them a coupon to one of the local cafes.

The base fine is actually €10, but I heard they were using Starbucks ground coffee.

[SteveP]

I wonder if they got aggressive with the cop when confronted?
Doesn't say but the fine seems so disproportionate to me.

[davids]

It was meant more as a door opening to humor. What really makes no sense to me is, why bother posting a link to a web site with stringent paywall restrictions when it's likely many can't read it-is it assumed that everyone subscribes to the NYT?

I still don't know what the article was about...

I used to have that complaint about WaPo articles. I got a subscription from my daughter for Father's Day!
Now I need one to the WSJ and I'll be good.
Oh, maybe the Economist too?

[TTX1]

I used to have that complaint about WaPo articles. I got a subscription from my daughter for Father's Day!
Now I need one to the WSJ and I'll be good.
Oh, maybe the Economist too?

Don't forget Foreign Affairs.

You'll need that one to refine your ideas re: instagrammers in the Hub of the Universe.

[Moke]

Italy in general and Venice in particular have tourist problems. You would not believe the "no photography" violations now that everyone has a cellphone attached to their bodies. A lot of the problems are in places of worship. When you have a hundred thousand or so folks a day tromp through your village. Eat samwiches on your church, fountains, gov't buildings and disrespect the religious order of things to get a good selfie some rules need to be enforced. We like going to Venice and over the last 20 years tourism is being hard on a very old and fragile city. I shake my head and am saddened at all the rude behavior. What if 1,000 campers all want to fire up the stove and brew some joe around the bridge every day? Is that ok? People need to think and respect the places they go and things they do. Gotta support the city on this one.

[davids]

Don't forget Foreign Affairs.

You'll need that one to refine your ideas re: instagrammers in the Hub of the Universe.

If my thoughts were any more refined they'd be pure.
Screw that!

[NYCfixie]

Is it just me, or are people acting like this was a gypsy horde cooking meth in St. Peter's?

It's a slippery slope so I understand wanting to set very clear and public limits.

...You would not believe the "no photography" violations now that everyone has a cellphone attached to their bodies. A lot of the problems are in places of worship. When you have a hundred thousand or so folks a day tromp through your village. Eat samwiches on your church, fountains, gov't buildings and disrespect the religious order of things to get a good selfie some rules need to be enforced....

ABC News - When a selfie goes too far: How Holocaust memorial sites around Europe combat social media disrespect

[mzilliox]

yeah, ok.

How about not treating whatever patch of Earth you happen to be standing on as your own? A little awareness of your surroundings goes a long way to becoming a civilized human being. Setting up a little vagrant camp on the steps of a monument is not really cool.

yes of course, making ones own coffee is a sure sign of the end of civilized behavior. of course taste and decorum go a long way in any situation, but so does a cup of coffee.

i simply dont see this as selfish or uncivil behavior, it seems rather normal. but in this culture of overreactions, a guy making coffee in Venice is a vagrant camp unaware of civilization, pfffft.

[Christian Fox]

yes of course, making ones own coffee is a sure sign of the end of civilized behavior. of course taste and decorum go a long way in any situation, but so does a cup of coffee.

i simply dont see this as selfish or uncivil behavior, it seems rather normal. but in this culture of overreactions, a guy making coffee in Venice is a vagrant camp unaware of civilization, pfffft.

I kinda think you know that "making coffee" is secondary to "unpacking your shit out of your rucksacks and firing up a propane stove in a busy public tourist spot." I do my own car repairs, I just don't do them in the middle of the street.

Jeez, they got fined, just like if they had done that shit in any city

[ericpmoss]

The base fine is actually €10, but I heard they were using Starbucks ground coffee.

"Mama Mia, 'Via' no mean powder caffe! 1000 euro!"

Speaking of which, has anyone tried the Starbucks Reserve Roastery coffee beans? Here in Chicago, Princi (the bakery aligned with the Milanese Starbucks) has them alongside some really yummy pistachio chocolate goodies, but I'm having a mental block based on my Starbucks memories.

[BBB]

The fine is dispproportionate to the offence and 990 Euros have probably gone to the Venice Policeman's Christmas Party Fund.

[rwsaunders]

I was in Venice this past Spring and I cannot imagine for the life of me, the crowds in the Summer. One of the first things that I noted upon arrival was a banner sign on a Police station that read “No More Mafia!” If they just let the Mafia get back in the game and have a small piece of the cafe’ action, perhaps we would have never heard of those rogue baristas...

[BBB]

Forget the Mafia. If brewing a coffee results in a 1000 Euro fine, MI6 are in big trouble. That pesky Bond character caused a whole building to go to a watery grave in Venice. 1000 for a coffee. At least 100,000,000 for a building. I imagine Alex the new PM will have words to say to M. When he gets his shoe out his mouth. Tut.

[sk_tle]

The police will probably never see that money.