Regata Storica through the lens of Nereo Zane - 6 Even the Black Boats Join in

As much as Venice is known for her gondolas, during Regata Storica most people focus their attention on the parade boats and the spectacular races that follow.

But there are gondolas among the boats.

We saw some earlier in the post from September 24th. They were racing gondolas, dressed up in disguise, but they were gondolas.

And in a future post you'll see some great shots thaat Nereo took of the races in both the gondola category and the gondolino category.

But what about the standard livery gondolas?

The beautiful black shiny boats we all know and love.

Some can be seen skirting along the route with passengers, some are afloat with friends and families of the gondoliers, still others are side-tied along with the rest of the boats that form a tremendous "raft" down both sides of the Canalazzo, and then there are a chosen few which are actually in the procession.

Here are two great Zane photos: Here are two gondolas in what we might just refer to as "full parade dress".

Here's a gondola da traghetto with four rowers.

Notice that the gondoliers are all in white overshirts and are wearing sashes.

Most gondoliers take themselves seriously (some probably take themselves too seriously), but on a day like this, they pull out all the stops, and understandably so.