In Venice, a €21 orange juice and cappuccino are available due to Covid (and we're not in St. Mark's Square)
Venice isn't a cheap city. It's well known, and over the years, there have been numerous cases, especially in St. Mark's Square, of tableside coffees costing 10-20 euros, thanks to the small orchestra and the breathtaking view. But this time, the situation is different.
As reported by Corriere della Sera, the incident occurred at the Illy Caffè in the Royal Gardens. So, we're not in a hyper-tourist area, nor are we in one of those tourist-catching, chicken-plucking establishments. A Venetian, who is primarily interested in the Gardens' redevelopment, and who, after all, has no tourists, tries to sit at the counter. But he can't. He's ushered to a table, where he orders a freshly squeezed juice, which costs 12 euros, and a cappuccino, for which he has to fork out 9 euros. Total: 21 euros. At the counter, the freshly squeezed juice would have cost 5 euros and the cappuccino 4 euros. Prices have therefore more than doubled.
The Corriere reported the not-so-authoritative comment by Luigi Giordani, secretary of the Italian Socialist Party in Venice: "A disgrace." And he blamed Covid. Because, in fact, without the rules, it would have been possible to sit at the bar without a care in the world. But are we sure that such high prices are necessary? We wrote a few days ago that it's "normal," in the sense that it's forced by a series of circumstances, that prices in bars and restaurants will rise, but here we're going beyond normal. This is Illy Caffè's choice. The Venetians' consequent choice will be to desert that bar and stay home. Not exactly what the industry is hoping for as it reopens.