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Venice Mayor Justifies High Prices for Tourists!

Masked revellers pose in front of gondolas in Venice Stefano Rellandini/Reuters
Masked revellers pose in front of gondolas in Venice Stefano Rellandini/Reuters
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Venice Mayor Justifies High Prices for Tourists!

Masked revellers pose in front of gondolas in Venice Stefano Rellandini/Reuters
Masked revellers pose in front of gondolas in Venice Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

"Welcome tourists, but of course they have to spend," said the Mayor of Venice, in response to visitor complaints about the city's restaurants, which are exploiting their ignorance of Italian language and forcing them to pay huge sums.

The complaint started with a British tourist who paid 526 euros for a lunch he had with his parents in a restaurant near St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco). He sent a letter of complaint to the mayor, however, it returned to him.

For their part, a Japanese couple complained from being forced to pay 120 euros for two crab pasta plates, and when they objected, the waiter told them that the price in the restaurant is determined by the weight of the dish. When the waiter got help from an Italian customer who speaks English, the bill was reduced by 40 percent.

Commenting on objections, the Mayor praised the waiters’ release of invoices, claiming that this highlights the commitment to the law in Venice. He saw that it is normal for tourists to pay for what they eat and to leave tips for the waiters who serve them. The Mayor added: "I am surprised by those who order and eat, and then complain because they don’t speak Italian when the check comes. Why don’t they learn some Italian words? It will not harm them."

On Twitter, the Mayor said: “Who will complain? At the airport in Vienna, I paid a full 11 euros for 4 espresso cups, with two sips each."

In another context, the mayor blamed tourists for not preserving the city’s beauty, referring to a video that was recently published featuring a group of tourists, all of them carrying their mobile phones, looking at screens, and ignoring the beautiful scenery, and the information provided by the guide who accompanied them while they were traveling in Venice. There were also videos of drunk tourists urinating in the water canals, and throwing dirt while shouting.

For its part, a group of the city’s residents and fans rush to express their discontent of the mayor’s response that does not represent them, accusing him of "selling Venice for a rifle", referring to a previous statement in which he threatened to shoot anyone running in the square of San Marco shouting "Allah Akbar".

He said: "I have already said that we will do so in 4 steps, Now 3 steps away."

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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)

For many people of a certain age, high school gym class began with reaching for their toes. Then, over the years, we were told it was better to stretch after exercise.

It turns out, both those things can be true, but the differing advice has created some confusion.

Stretching can help make you more flexible, improve range of motion in your joints — and feel good. David Behm, who researches human kinetics at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada, offers this advice on when to stretch and how to do it safely:

Warm up first

It’s almost always good to stretch, but it’s better if you warm up first, said Behm, author of "The Science and Physiology of Flexibility and Stretching." He recommends a light aerobic activity such as jogging, walking or cycling for five or 10 minutes.

Follow that with some static stretching, the traditional way of reaching and holding a position (think back to that gym class). You can then do activity-specific dynamic stretching, in which you warm up the muscles with repetitive movements like leg lifts.

Behm says one minute is "the magic number" for how long to do static stretching per muscle group without fatigue.

Expand your definition of 'stretching'

Should you always stretch before exercising? If it's traditional stretching, not necessarily.

The better question, Behm says, is, "Should people increase their range of motion? Should people have better flexibility? And that is yes, because it helps prevent injuries. It helps with health. But you don’t have to stretch to achieve that."

Resistance training, for instance, can be an effective form of stretching, he said. Doing a chest press increases range of motion in your deltoids and pecs, whether with barbells, dumbbells or machines, so there is no need to stretch beforehand. Just make sure to start with a small amount of weight to warm up and then add more to train.

"You probably don’t have to do extra stretching unless you’re a gymnast, a figure skater, or even a golfer who needs a great range of motion through that swing," Behm said.

Nor do you need to stretch first if you’re going for a leisurely run. Simply start with a slow jog to warm up and then increase the pace.

Don't do it if it hurts

After exercise, "light stretching is OK, as long as you don't reach a point where you're feeling pain," Behm said. Since your muscles will be warm by that point, overdoing it makes you more likely to injure yourself.

Foam rollers can help with muscle recovery and have been shown to increase range of motion as well as stretching.

Do some static stretching before sports

If you’re playing a sport, Behm said, static stretching beforehand helps reduce muscle and tendon injury.

"If you’re going to do an explosive movement, change of direction, agility, sprint, any of these explosive activities that involve your muscles and tendons," he said, "you’re going to be stronger if you do static stretching."

People can especially get in trouble when they go back to a sport they used to play, whether it's tennis, surfing or any sort of team activity.

Also, stretch both sides equally. Lacking flexibility on one side also can lead to injury.

Sounds simple. Why all the confusion? Different studies over the years have either encouraged or discouraged stretching before exercise. Behm says that partly because some studies didn't reflect real-life conditions, or were designed with elite athletes in mind, not regular people.

"If you’re Usain Bolt, it makes a difference," said Behm. Not so much for the rest of us.