![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EgMnHiVBrL1K9c-kI11xbQNzgnZJcdIb21huXn2B_NWvvknMKcMOY-jVPPxW1ZTtEzKIhZBLQg8Slko029MTqVc6vhHn9pzZAgKqQN6qytXJf4KNZmcJ4JWZOKohAfODigUyjz_2ERI/s400/Terminator+Sandolo+-+Dorsoduro+centerline.jpg)
One night I was grabbing a late dinner in Venezia's Campo Santo Stefano with a gondolier, and we were discussing all things gondola. I mentioned a certain sandolo and the guy who rowed it, I'd seen the guy operating out of another campo just down the way, and when I described the man and his boat, my friend said "Oh that's "The Terminator".
Wow, now there's a nickname.
An explanation followed about how this guy was always on duty.
He didn't eat, he didn't sleep.
His work ethic was unstoppable. I watched for him whenever I was out.
He had great locations. I noticed him working a few different spots regularly. With a sandolo you can park your boat in places that are too small for a gondola. The maneuverability also allows for turnarounds in tighter spots.
One day I spotted "The Terminator" at a little canal-side eatery . By then I recognized his boat first and knew he was there. As I lingered to snap a few pictures, some locals walked by and chatted with him as old friends do.
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Gondolas abound in Venice, but the passenger sandolo is a bit of a rare sighting.
She has a beauty of her own; an understated elegance which comes from a more practical approach.
And while most of them have a solid work ethic,
Only one that I know of has earned the name:
"The Terminator".
1 comment:
I passed through that canal last Sunday during a trip in Venice on a sandolo with some friends of GSVVM and the Terminator was there ...
Nereo
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