News

A bar in Venice that is renowned for hosting famous visitors in the past is helping out its modern American patrons with 20% discounts.

Harry's Bar near the famous St Mark's Square was a popular watering hole with Orson Welles, Truman Capote and, most famously, Ernest Hemingway.

Now, it is offering discounts to its American visitors owing to the current weakness of the dollar against the euro and the economic problems that US citizens have been grappling with recently.

A sign outside the classy bar and restaurant reads: 'Harry's Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20% discount on all the items of the menu during the short term of their recovery.'

Arrigo Cipriani, the proprietor of Harry's Bar, told the Associated Press that no passport is required to prove nationality, adding: 'All we need to hear is their accent.'

Mr Cipriani said that the offer hasn't yet heralded a large increase in American tourists, but those that have visited have been 'very happy'.

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