Graceful Gondoliers

We spent the day, as true Venetian tourists, LOST for most of the day wandering aimlessly along canals and tiny cobblestone alleyways looking for St. Mark’s Cathedral and soothing our frustration with one gelato after another. We enjoyed the animated gondoliers, admiring their balance, flexibility and skill. David informed us that these gondoliers had to study in a university and that it was quite difficult to gain this position. We noticed that most of these dashing men in striped blue and red shirts were young and we wondered if there was an age for these men to retire. We loved listening to their song and watching them glide effortlessly through the romantic waterways of Venice. We imagined what it might have felt like to live in Venice during the sixteenth century, mask in hand, feathered wig on head on our way to a gala Venetian event.