The Silent Gondoliers

After our walking tour, we popped down a side-street in an out-of-the way area and had a late, lovely, authentic italian meal. (We started with a nice melon prosciutto appetizer. I had a yummy cheese gnocchi and D had a mushroom ham calzone. Washed down with a little local white wine, delicious.) We were alone in the restaurant; the peace and quiet was nice. The difference of the day before we entered the restaurant and after lunch was startling. The clouds had cleared and the sky showed this gorgeous blue and the sun bathed the scenery of Venice in gold. Glorious.


I snapped pictures everywhere we went because there wasn't an unattractive site/sight. One of the things that impressed me the most was how clean the streets were. We visited basically in the heart of tourist season, and in the afternoon the streets were jam-packed with people, people who were eating, drinking, smoking and generally creating trash. Yet we saw very little rubbish on the streets. In fact, the only garbage we saw was around the trash cans early (at sunrise) on Sunday morning as we were making our way back to airport and the trash men hadn't come by yet.


I kept taking pictures of gondolas because they were just everywhere. They have gondolas that are functional (not all kitted out) and ornate ones - the more ornate the more likely that tourists are paying for it. Local Venetians do actually use gondolas, but they only use them as the traghetti, which is a taxi service across a canal where there isn't a bridge. These are really very cheap (about $1) and only last a few minutes, but for those interested in not paying the gondola price but get a gondola experience, this is a good way to do it. (I had this in my back pocket in case we needed or wanted it. This was definitely in my desired price range, but we both liked the idea of being sung to...so we splurged for the tourist version.)


It seems like all tours and groups meet in Piazza San Marco. Our gondola ride was just to the east of it, but I wanted to go through and take a picture of the 2 columns that face the Grand Canal and border the square. Our guide had told us earlier that this was where executions took place during roman times. People were strung up between these two columns. Not a nice history, but I can see how it would be a good visual deterrent and reminder of the rule of law.


This is where the Grand Canal and San Marco's Canal meet, hence a much bigger waterway. The wind had picked up throughout the day (which was great in keeping the temperature down and keeping us comfortable) but it did make negotiating the boats much more difficult. We watched them try and dock the boat, as well as maneuver it into the wind; these guys have real talent, and strength.


We had about 30 minutes or so to kill before our ride, and instead of trying to find something fun/interesting to see, D suggested that we just grab a drink at the hotel right next to the gondola stand, especially since they had a bar with a terrace right on the water.


As you might think, the hotel was a nice, expensive hotel - which was reflected in the drink prices - but the service was phenomenal and the view couldn't be beaten. We enjoyed watching the boats go by, ships of every size, from small water taxis to larger ferry taxis, gondolas and the occasional water "lorry" (British English for truck) moving food - we even saw a cruise ship leaving its berth down a bit from us - crazy! I tried the local red here, also very nice. (Good munchies provided as well.)


And then the time was finally upon us. We queued up with all the other tourists with their Viator scheduled trips. They had several gondolas lined up for us and there were 6 passengers per boat. It turned out, however, that the musicians came on our boat, so there was just one other couple with us, and we lucked out and got the prime seats. The great thing about having another couple on the boat with us was there was someone there to take your picture for you.


The musicians were 2 older gentlemen (in their 60's I would say) where one played the accordion and the other sang. The accordion player did come in occasionally to add harmony, which was nice. They sang well known opera arias including Santa Lucia, which we just ate up. Santa Lucia is a traditional Neapolitan song. The lyrics of Santa Lucia celebrate the picturesque waterfront district, Borgo Santa Lucia, in the Bay of Naples, in the invitation of a boatman to take a turn in his boat, the better to enjoy the cool of the evening. (Which couldn't have described our evening any better!)


The light was perfect, soft but warm, which made the scenery pop, especially when juxtapose to the brilliant blue sky. The building in the pic above was ornate and seemingly perfect. In this one you can see the gondola driver in the boat next to us as I capture the color and style of a building as we glided by. (Notice the shape of the windows, this is the Byzantine style - an Asian style popular throughout Venice. This was the style of our hotel too - so unique and pretty.)


We turned off the grand canal and made a loop around using the smaller, more sheltered canals. This was helpful regarding the rough water (our gondolier didn't know a lot of English, but he knew enough to warn us not to move around much AT ALL, otherwise we would wind up in the water because of the delicacy of the weight distribution - he had dictated where we sat from the beginning. We listened and obeyed.) The remarkable thing was, however, that with Venice sinking, and the bridges spanning the canals going with it, the amount of space that the gondola has to make it under the bridge has disappeared. We all had to work with the driver to tip the boat to ensure that the ends of the boat didn't hit the bridge. Exciting and precarious.


The ride was so wonderful. We couldn't stop grinning the entire time. We loved the music, the ride, the other gondolas out with us, all the people waving and taking pictures (like I had been doing earlier in the day) including cooks and waiters from the restaurants we passed! It was better than I had thought it would be and even better than I had hoped it would be. Taking a gondola ride may be touristy but where else can you do it? The city and the gondoliers know the value of tourism and make the experience lovely, memorable, enchanting, and romantic. With views like this, why not experience them in an equally memorable, fabulous way?


As we "floated" (very cloud 9 like) back to the hotel we had to go through San Marco. This is when we discovered the aqua alta, on a small scale. It wasn't even high tide yet, but the square was a foot under water in places. Apparently San Marco is the lowest spot in Venice and the flooding is virtually a daily occurrence. The water seeps up through the stones - which is what I found so interesting. We had seen this in other places on a much smaller scale, and our guide had told us a bit about it earlier in the day, but it was fascinating to see it in action. We quickly routed around the square, not wanting to have to wade through it, and not wanting to see how high it really gets.

We had such a good visit. I don't know if it was that I had low (or no) expectations that helped make it so wonderful, or if it just really is that wonderful, but I think this trip has been one of the highlights of our time abroad (if not THE highlight).

[For those curious, the title of this blog is named after a book by William Goldman of S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride fame. It is a story much in the same line as The Princess Bride, a fabulous, quasi-fairy tale like story with interesting and different characters that capture one's imagination. I had found the book at a thrift store and D and I had read it months ago. I am sure that reading that book had impacted our desire to take the gondola and think of Luigi as we did, the main character. I recommend it. It is great for adults and children alike.]