The gondoliers
Gondoliers in Venice appear to earn a top salary of €100,000. For that I’d expect some adherence to uniform standards. We saw several who clearly weren’t taking their status seriously, and wearing white trainers or baseball caps. If you’re going to pay them €80 for a brief trip out, it’s the least they can do to wear black shoes and a proper boating hat with a flowing ribbon.
Wandering around the maze of tiny canals, we see a beautiful scene, as a couple has hired a singer and a guitarist and are being serenaded from the back of their gondola. It sounds so beautiful echoing around the high walls that, as we watch them head down the canal, we begin running around the footpaths to try to head it off and meet up with it again. We stand watching breathless as the gondola passes and laugh along with the guitarist, who can barely contain himself as he spots us.
We might as well enjoy someone else’s entertainment.
More from Venice
Pigafetta and the Giant Clam Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer. He joined the expedition to find a western route to the Spice… read more
Octacles Why are they called tentacles when there are eight of them? Surely they ought to be called octacles? A fascinating… read more
Rettile ittiosauro There's an Ichthyosaur fossil displayed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. They evolved around 250 million years ago and… read more
It’s a carefully laid trap Each of these seats is a carefully laid trap. It's a system which has evolved to take €18 off each… read more
Tentacles As a child I never understood why people said an octopus had tentacles. Surely they're octacles? An octopus's tentacles are… read more
Trilobite con pista 'Trilobite con pista', it says. No, it's not an item on the Italian menu in the restaurant at lunch time,… read more
Scala Contarini del Bovolo Six floors, eighty steps, 28 metres and €9. That's the spiral staircase named after snails, 'del Bovolo', in Venice. The… read more
Fossil ferns and horsetails I'm astonished every time I see detail in fossils. Their age, the heat and the pressure they have been subjected… read more
The trophy room A visit to the natural history museum in Venice can be a bit of a shock for those unprepared for… read more