Facepalm!

photo by Kalev Pallares

Gondolier Hunter Mitchell is a funny guy.
He's an excellent rower, and an even better singer.
But he's also got a talent for humor on the back of a gondola.

Previously I posted "Photo-Bomb Win!"
Here's another winner.
I'm calling it "Facepalm!"
In this case the passengers were cropped out, 
but this was taken during a cruise.

Just the Photo - A View from the Office

Beginning a Memory

As I mentioned in a previous post,
We are in the business of creating "Perfect Moments".
Those moments become treasured memories,
and they all start when the gondola leaves the dock.
Tonight I took this photo of Kyle as he headed out with happy passengers, as their memory-making was just beginning.

Petrichor

I first caught a whiff of it as I was crossing from one side of the Newport Boulevard bridge to the other. 
Somewhere between dodging cars and trying not to trip over the median, 
I smelled it: the aroma that emerges as soon as raindrops hit dry ground.

It's called "petrichor" - a combination of two Greek words.
Petra means "stone", 
ichor is the fluid that flows through the veins of the gods.

I know this simply because I love the smell so much that I had to look it up.
Of course I was thrilled to discover that it had a cool name like "petrichor".
Turns out that while it may be rooted in Greek language and mythology, 
it was actually coined in 1964 by two Australians.

The Australians have given us many great things:
Hugh Jackman, the Bee Gees, Kylie Minogue, 
the Mad Max films, Vegemite (ok, maybe not Vegemite), 
but I'm throwing petrichor on the list now.
You read it here first.

So, where was I?
Oh yes, I was dodging traffic on the bridge.

Why was I up there?
To take some snaps of gondolas here in Newport on an evening where the clouds were beginning to look increasingly, shall we say...unfriendly.
A few raindrops had come down - enough for the above mentioned aroma to present itself - but it didn't really rain for another thirty minutes.

From up on the bridge I watched Mike Olsen heading home 
and Evan Kliewer rowing in my direction. 

 Mike heads home.

 

Evan begins his cruise.

gondolier greeting on the water.

After scampering across six lanes of traffic, I was rewarded with a nice down-shot of Evan's gondola as he emerged from under the bridge.

 Mmmm. Looks like a dinner-cruise.

 There are so many great angles to appreciate a gondola from.

This is one of my personal favorites.

Rowing off into the canals in the west end of Newport,

under increasingly darkened skies.

Flotilla

Simon, Jonah, and I had the pleasure of rowing a three-boat-flotilla this evening with a great group of passengers.

 

 Look at us.

We could sell ice cream in those outfits!

 Out on the water, I snapped a shot as Kyle cruised through our group.

 Here's a close-up of Simon and Jonah alongside each other.

We rowed as a group for a half-hour and then turned around to head home.

With the breeze at our back, we brought the gondolas rail-to-rail.

Each of us rowed with one foot on another boat, 

and we glided along - rafted together.

After an hour of rowing in tight formation, 

we dropped our passengers off at a restaurant and headed into dock.

 Simon's silhouette.

Jonah bringing it home.

I love rowing flotillas.

We get to entertain a group of people, 

take turns singing,

and it's so fun to raft-up with all the neighbors looking and waving.

Can't wait to do it again.

 

The Torch is Passed in Ft. Lauderdale

Several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Martha Beachem in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
She's been running cruises there at Las Olas Gondola for some time now.
The other day she shared the news with me that she has now taken over as owner of the boat and the whole servizio.
Here's a press release:

The torch has been passed at Las Olas Gondola in Fort Lauderdale to longtime Florida Operations Manager Martha Beachem. In July 2018 the contract was finalized and signed for Gondolier Martha to take over as owner/operator of the business after the purchase from Mike Novack. She will maintain the excellent quality of your gondola experience as always and looks forward to continued success on the One and Only Venetian Gondola in the "Venice of America"!

There's no place anywhere quite like the waterway there in Las Olas,
and not surprisingly - there's no other gondola quite like 
the one they operate there. 
She's uniquely suited to face the challenges there, and do it in style.
 

Big congrats to you, Martha.
I couldn't think of a better gondolier to pilot that boat and carry the torch!

Brass Lady with a Beautiful Flag

photo by Isabella Mohr

There's more to a gondola than just the hull.
There are so many details.
One of my favorites is the "canon" - a brass ornament on the bow.
This one resembles an angel carrying a flag.
It was created by my friends at Fonditore Valese in Venice.

Sunset Musings

I sometimes wonder: 
if we lived on a planet where the sky was always in sunset mode...
would we even care? 
Would those colors bore us?

I suppose if every bird looked like a peacock, 
they'd all just be "birds", right?
If rainbows were on every horizon, would they be as unremarkable too?

But these things, and so many more, ARE remarkable.
Whether or not it has to do with their rarity is a question to muse over.

I like to contemplate such things...

from the back of my gondola...

while watching a sunset like this one.

Sunset Dripping from Steel

The stainless steel ferro blade of a gondola eclipses the setting sun, 
with the solar reflections appearing to drip down from the iconic bow-piece.