Rocking gondola!
I’ve always loved the idea of Venice. Leave it to the Italians to come up with an idea as mad as building on water and expecting it not to sink (even with out the Acqua alta, high water that floods the lower levels of streets).
The gondola has an equally mad appearance. It has a style of its own and makes for great photographs, but practically isn’t its selling point. I mean, the picture above has wonderful rustic colors and conjures up a great image of Venice, but would you step into that leaning gondola?
Cheers
At the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss…
Would I, Could I make the plunge,
Into Venetian water’s imagined grunge?
I might do it on a dare;
A swim cap cover on my hair
I might do it with a wager;
Hefty, bold, with payoff major
But, I would not, could not take that chance,
Unless a full moon promised naughty romance.
HEY, Nigel! What’s up with the floating versus flying? Are you, by chance, in Venice? If yes, why didn’t you let me stowaway in your luggage?
Taking my so-not-Dr-Seuss-self skedaddling to pester someone else now. Cheers, indeed!
Hey, Gloria, I think Dr. Seuss is probably safe.
But I think he’d have got a grin out of the “naughty romance” bit!
Cheers
Awesome Gloria! – the Seusster would be impressed, I’m sure.
Sad to say I’m not cruising Venice in a gondola … or even anywhere near Venice. The weather is good in FW though 🙂
Cheers!
Please elaborate on the “naughty romance” part.
Believe the question is, Nigel, would I, could I, step off that point and into that crumbling, awesome, beautiful, ancient, about-to-collapse building?
Silly Gloria. Can she not tell the Parisienne sidewalk cafe is merely a snapshot of my fantasy vacation on the Holodeck of the Enterprise? Cross the title and Poof! I’m in Venice. (You were very kind to oblige me space on your site to holiday, Nigel. Thank you.)
LOL! That’s a good point, it is hard to say which is the more dangerous. Glad you liked the holiday … because I’m going on a bit of a places I’d would like to go kick at the moment.
BTW, if you’ve got the Enterprise in tow and room for one more, I wouldn’t mind a trip to Rome 🙂
Cheers!
I’ve never been to Venice, but I have been to Las Vegas. At the Venetian, there are gondola rides, and I swear I’m doing that next time I go. It looked fun! But I don’t remember any tilting. I may need to check my boat before I get in.
Hi Julie.
Vegas is probably a lot safer place to ride in a gondola. It’s when you get out of the gondola that things get a bit more dodgy!
Cheers :L)
I would definitely step into that gondola and here’s why – the Venetians are masterful at maneuvering those things and wouldn’t dare let it toss a passenger into the murky water. Also, I adore Venice, and when I was there I very much wanted to go on a gondola ride, but it was far too spendy. Instead of the 80 Euros for a ride on one of those, I paid 50 cents to ride on a traghetto – a gondola used to zig zag across the Grand Canal, you know, for those times you just need to get to the other side and don’t want to walk a bazillion winding blocks (if you can call them that in Venice) to get to the nearest bridge. It was a short ride, certainly. But at least I got to sit in one.
Hi Tami.
Yeah, I guess after hundreds of years paddling about in those things they’ve pretty much mastered the art! Eighty Euros! Wow. I’m sure they’re really convent for going in a straight line from A to B, but sounds kind of expensive 🙂 Glad you got to ride in one though!
Cheers
Hi Nigel –
I’ve stepped into much more dangerous-looking craft than that gondola. And I bet the water in Venice isn’t nearly as cold as up here in Canada. I’d go for it! 🙂
P.S. I like your new look!
Hi Diane.
So I take it from your comment you tested the waters up there recently? Care to tell?
I used to surf around England in a wet suit and that was %#@$^&&!!! cold, I can’t imagine Canada at this (or probably any) time of the year!
CHeers!
PS. I still look the same. My website’s change a bit though! (sorry, I’m a sucker for being the s.a)
LOL! Y’know, I thought as I hit “Submit” that I was probably setting myself up… 😉
Yes, there’s nothing quite like canoeing on a glacier-fed lake to motivate a person to stay in the boat. But if you were in the Atlantic Ocean with a wet suit, you have my respect. I bobbed around for about 20 minutes in the Atlantic in a dry suit one winter – the water temperature was around 3 degrees, and getting a wave in the face was instant brain-freeze pain. I can’t imagine doing it in a wet suit. Brrrr.
P.S. You look maaaahhhvelous!
For that “I feel pretty safe on this ship” feeling I prefer an Arleigh Burke destroyer or a Ticonderoga cruiser but I suppose that in those narrower waters a gondola makes some sense.
Certainly an Arleigh Burke would lean a little less. It’d also have no problem nudging those pesky little boats aside when it came time to finding a space at the dock!
Cheers!