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# 70 • OCTOBER 19 , 2015
Gran Caffè Quadri embodies the memory of centuries lived in the twilight
of the Republic of Venice, and the birth of the modern age, and the secrets
of the people who sat in its halls. After
Stendhal, Lord Byron, Alexandre Dumas,
Wagner, Marcel Proust, even today, the
Gran Caffè Quadri is a favorite of actors
and directors attending the Venice Film
Festival, including Woody Allen.
Harry's Bar
Guglielmo Marconi, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and Peggy Guggenheim, all
spent time.
Caffè La Calcina and Other Historic Spots
Moving to the southern limit of the city,
in the ancient neighborhood called Le
Zattere, we find the Caffé La Calcina,
another important spot that was a bohemian meeting place for artists and writers in the early 1900s such as Rainer
Maria Rilke. The place is now a bar and
restaurant called La Piscina, in memory
of the bathhouse with a pool that used
to be there.
In the Lido area, finally, is Lion's Bar, designed in 1925 to offer to visitors and tourists a shining example of Art Deco friezes with its wrought iron, stained glass,
and floral decorations typical of that era.
More recent, but equally fascinating, is
the story of Harry's Bar, opened in 1931
and declared a national monument in
2001 by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Built from an old warehouse close
to Piazza San Marco, Harry's Bar owes
its name and existence to the American
student Harry Pickering. This is not strictly a coffee bar, but inside intellectuals,
artists, writers such as Arturo Toscanini,
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