The Spirit of Venice, a Beacon for Civilization in the New Year 2023

Palazzo Polignac far right; Salute Church far left - Photo: Cat Bauer from the Accademia Bridge

(Venice, Italy) It has become a happy tradition to kick off the New Year in Venice with a late morning concert at Palazzo Contarini Polignac on the day of New Year’s Eve when an international crowd is here. Music keeps the palace alive and humming — as it did during the days of the salon of the American heiress Winnaretta Singer aka Princess Edmond de Polignac, one of the heirs of the Singer sewing machine fortune (Isaac Singer had 24 kids!). Winnaretta's protégés included Debussy and Ravel. Both composers were on the program today. It was the best of all cultures.

Full house at Palazzo Polignac for New Year’s Eve Day concert

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m grateful that Venice remains a civilized city despite all the nastiness and deceit confronting the world these days. (Especially those who still try to cyber-influence Venice’s narrative from afar by way of social media, trying to create the illusion that they actually live here. Suggestion: Run the gauntlet and try to get a resident visa — it’s not easy. Really come and live here — see if you can make it. Or else get a real life.)

Today's New Year’s Eve Matinée invitation was worded like the good old days when people were cordial even if they disagreed:

This year there were two pianos, eight hands and a string quartet. The audience in the palace responded with applause and goodwill. Here is the program:

As long as there is music in the palaces of Venice, there is hope for the world. #LoveWins. #TruthWins.

Love is so powerful that it always wins.

Truth is so powerful that it always wins.

All it takes is Time.

——Cat Bauer

Happy New Year 2023!

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer

Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog

Venice Is a Gift to Humanity - Merry Christmas & Buon Natale 2022!

Christmas in Venice 2022 - Photo by Cat Bauer

(Venice, Italy) Venice is full of light this Christmas. From the twinkling lights in Piazza San Marco to the sparkly smiles of the locals as we greet each other in the street, the Christmas season is serene and full of tides of good cheer -- not tides of acqua alta and flood waters of destruction.

Just three years ago, in November 2019, Venice was hit by a disastrous flood. Then, in February 2020, came the global pandemic. Shop windows brimming with traditional Venetian masks of mystery and seduction were usurped by sterile hospital masks that covered the noses and mouths of pedestrians in the streets. (It will be interesting to see if Venetian artisans have found new inspiration after the most recent quarantine to incorporate another dimension into their 2023 Carnevale repertoire.) 

The Four Black & White Aquitaine Marble Columns of the Portal of San Pietro
Basilica of San Marco, Venice - Photo: Cat Bauer

Venice has miraculously recovered after each calamity the gods want to fling at her. Instead of slowing dying a salty death from erosive seawater, the Basilica of San Marco in Saint Mark's Square is now tucked safely behind a wall of glass, and is prepared to face its third millennium. A post from 2019, before the flood:

Looking Far to the Future: San Marco - The Basilica of Venice in the Third Millennium

MOSE - Consorzio Venezia Nuova via AP

And MOSE, one of the biggest civil engineering projects in the world, actually functions when no one believed it ever would, including me. The underwater gates of MOSE astonishingly rise up to protect the rest of the city from flooding during high tides. I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that humans engineered an underwater wall that surfaces to hold back the angry force of the Adriatic Sea and floats back down when the mission is accomplished.

At Christmas -- as at all times -- Venice is a gift to humanity filled with treasures and wisdom. Remember to be gentle with the wrapping paper when you open your gift.  

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog