Venice 2 - The Gondolas

There are various ways of getting around Venice. The preferred option, well the one that predominately did was walking! Everything is well sign posted even if correct spelling is optional, you can generally work it out. The reason that I preferred to walk is that, amazing as this sounds, it was actually quicker for me than taking any of the water transports. Below is the Rialto Bridge. This is one of 4 bridges that span "The Grand Canal". The Grand Canal is the main entry to Venice and it was here that all the "famous" people lived during the relevant eras. The palaces on the grand canal still retain the names of the persons who built them. For Example there is the Ca' Figuera which means the House of the Figuera Family (ca' being short for casa). Even though Napoleon lived briefly in one of the palaces on the Grand Canal they all still to this day retain the original owners name. So, to transport. Above is the Rialto Bridge under which you can see the Vaporetto station (one for each direction of travel) and the Vaporetto's themselves. They are actual rust buckets but they are functional and the drivers are awesome in that it takes them 10 seconds to dock the boat so that you don't have to have a gangplank and can walk straight on. Something it could take a water taxi 5 attempts to get right and then still have to load up a gangplank. I didn't get a picture of a water taxi but they are all really low and you pretty much have to crawl to a seat. The reason they are so low is so that they can fit under all the bridges which span the various little canals. There are 184 islands (or there abouts) that make up Venice and there are 277 bridges. I think I walked over 260 of them!!
This is the view from the top of the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge is the only bridge on which shops are located. There are 24 shops. 12 down each side. You can see a typical Gondola in the middle of the water.

All the gondolas just sit and wait for the inevitable tourist to come on board. I didn't actually do the Gondola because, in all honesty, I was petrified about getting in and out of it. The Gondolas, however, are surprisingly stable. They way tonnes! The metal located on the bow of the Gondolas weighs about 100 kgs itself and it works to counter balance the movement of the Gondolier at the stern of the Gondola. In the afternoon you can do a Gondola Serenade where 2 musicians will also be on the Gondola with you. One a singer and the other either an accordian player (what is the definition of a gentleman? A man who can play the piano accordian and doesnt hehehehe) or a guitarist. They, of course, sing the cliched songs such as "o so lo mio" and "that's amore" but it's all in good fun.
Above is peak hour in Venice!! HAHA it was so funny, they were all backed up waiting to get through and it was just before sunset and there was this HUGE queue of japanese tourists waiting to get on board and I am sure they all expected to be under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset. Yeah! Good luck!

Speaking of the Bridge of Sighs, I found out why it is called that. Apparantly it was the last thing that prisoners saw before they were executed and therefore they would see their loved ones and families sitting on it and sigh. Sad huh?

Above is the Traghetto. This is a gondola that is manned by 2 gondoliers. One at the front and one at the back. It serves just to move people from one side of the grand canal to the other. As I said there are only 4 bridges that span the grand canal so they are a way in between. Traditionally on the traghetto you have to stand for the crossing which I only saw a few people doing. Also the traghetto holds about 15 people (if all standing) and actual Venetians get priority. So, if there are 20 waiting for the crossing and 12 of them are Venetians, regardless of where they are in the queue they get to go first. That crossing only costs 50 euro cents. (about 80 Australian cents).

According to the tour guide on the Grand Canal Tour, Venice only has a population of about 60,000 and 1 in 2 families have their own private water transport. That could include gondoliers or power boats. The speed limits are very strict and heavily monitored and police in their boats use lidar guns to track the speed of boats! I thought that was funny. The speed limit within in the canals is only about 3 mph because any faster and it affects the very unstable foundations of the buildings with the violent wash created.