Gondolas of Venice
"Venice was built to be seen from the canals" - Venice tour guide
After paying 80 euros, and taking a 30 minute gondola ride, I can agree with the statement above. Venice is a magical place, but becomes even more of a fairy tale when you can see it form the maze of waterways.
Gondolas began to be used popularly among the wealthy classes around the 14th century. The gondola is very narrow, allowing it to weave between all the canals and it has a flat bottom, allowing control and movement even in very shallow waters.
These chic, black, ornately deocarated boats are worth 30,000-50,000 euros. They are completely handmade and put together with about 200 separate pieces made of several different types of wood.
Our gondolier, F.Z., was a fourth generation gondolier, working at his craft for over 30 years. This was his personal boat, but he said that he works through a company, as many others do. He said that you have to go a type of gondolier school for 2 years and then do another 4 years of training before you become an official gondolier. I had no idea that the process was so grueling, but after hearing F.Z. and taking that ride, I can see that not just anyone can navigate these waters.
F.Z. also gave us a quick tour while he rowed us around, telling us some stories about the Casanova house, telling us more about the history of Venice, and showing us the building dedicated to Marco Polo. He also told us about how seasonal his work was, recognizing that the month of July is his busiest time.
From the gondola it was also very easy to see how the city is very slowly eroding, as the stone and brick have worn dow. I can only imagine what this place will look like in ten years, and how much the rising sea level will affect this city's livelihood.
Overall, the gondola is a trademark of Venice, that is so enchanting, I would recommend it to anyone going to Venice. It was quite fun to imagine that it was some hundreds of years ago and I, a rich person, would get to casually ride around on these.
It was definitely a memorable experience, one that you can think about during your own study abroad at UCLA IEO.