Bringing the Baby

photos and video by Nereo Zane

Each year the GSVVM rowing club in Mestre has a traditional row into town.
The members all dress in Christmas-related costumes.
Most in Santa gear, but some others in more regionally recognized outfits.

 Three rowers pause fir a photo at the club 

before launching their boat for the row.

On a cold December day, just before the traditional 

procession, let's all take a group photo!

After a fun group excursion, all the boats end up in a canal in the 
city of Mestre, where families have all converged to see all of the Santas 
(the Italian name for Santa, by the way, is "Babbo Natale").

The jam-packed canal is a sea of orange and blue boats...

...populated by a lot of folks in red and white.

Getting the boats tied up is a fun challenge.

Treats are tossed to the children who have come to see the spectacle.

While the procession, the pageantry, and the tossing of treats are all important aspects of this tradition, the main purpose of the whole thing is to bring a symbolic baby Jesus to the nativity scene, to be placed in the manger.

Thanks to Nereo Zane for these images and video clips.

Merry Christmas, my friends.
Merry Christmas and Buon Natale.

So Many Santas!

photo by Nereo Zane

Santa in San Diego!

This gem of a photo comes to us from the folks 
at The Gondola Company in Coronado, California.

Full disclosure, that's Sean on the back (because the real Santa 
doesn't row voga-alla-Veneta with such perfect form).

Sean tells me that while the photo was taken in December, 
it was a hot day, with temperatures in the eighties.  
He was sweaty and uncomfortable.

But it's all about getting that perfect shot,
and THIS really IS a perfect shot.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus in Texas

Santa Claus and Mrs. Clause made an appearance 
at the Gondola Adventures servizio in Irving, Texas this week.  

There wasn't a lot of snow to be found, 
so they swapped out their sled for a Santa-sized gondola. 

I once heard a local say that they have four seasons in Texas: 
Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas.

This was A fun family event, put on by the Irving Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Children got to climb aboard the boat and have the pictures taken with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Boat Parade Snaps

The Christmas Boat Parade in Newport Beach was great this year.
The boats in the procession were terrific, 
the weather was practically perfect, 
and everyone on the water had a wonderful time.

Here are a few snaps I took while rowing.

Paul rows alongside the parade.

This one was a huge favorite. That's a hot air balloon burner up front. 

There was another at the top of the "volcano".

 Two gondolas casting two silhouettes.

 

Another gondola silhouette.

Classic saiboat entry.

These guys impress me every year.

Choo-choo train theme - complete with a chase boat 

that displayed a railroad crossing sign and bar.
The train sound effects on this one were awesome, 

and those trees all changed color independently.

Christmas Cheer from Boston

I received this photo from Joe Gibbons in Boston:

Hello Greg and the Gondola blog.

The girls are fast asleep in the tents, no chimney for Santa.

But we left them with a little holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas to all our gondola friends  

                                    -Joe and Steve

Santas - Lots of 'em!

 

My dear friend Nereo Zane sent these fun photos with the following message:
Last Sunday twelve Santas rowed toward Murano on a caorlina and a batea. After a visit to S.Donato church we sliced and ate a couple of panettoni and drunk some white sparkling wine kindly hosted by the owner of "Al Canton", a bar just on the corner of Fondamenta San Lorenzo, that allowed us to use a small table.
Here are two photos taken by GSVVM member Daniela Costantini.

 

 Big thanks to Nereo and the amici at GSVVM.

I wish I could have rowed that caorlina with you.

 

Merry Christmas to all, from the Gondola Blog.

Parade from the Air

photo by Jakob Easton

On his way home to Alaska to spend Christmas with family,
my gondolier Jakob snapped this from the window of a plane
taking off from John Wayne airport in Orange County.

He writes:
I got to see the boat parade as I flew out!!

He'd been on a gondola with passengers just 24 hours earlier,
watching the parade cruise by, but this was a whole different view of it.

I've seen this angle of the harbor many times, but rarely at night,
and never with the boat parade going on. 
What a fantastic treat.

Two Clips

video by Steve Elkins

 

Last night we saw a pair of snapshots from gondolier Steve Elkins,

who, along with some other gondoliers in Newport,

went out with passengers to see our famous boat parade.

Tonight, he grabbed a couple video clips from the back of his gondola.

Here they are:

Blue Christmas

photos by Steve Elkins

 

Just a couple snaps from the back of the Lucia in

Newport Harbor this evening.

 

The above shot was taken at dock, prior to boarding,

while the one below was taken out on the harbor as the famous

Christmas boat parade began to cruise by.

 

We have a nice collection of blue lights for our gondolas,

as you can see here.

Twilight on the 25th

The phone rang,

the cruise was booked,

I changed into my stripes,

and was out the door.

 

 

It didn't matter that it was December 25th.

 

When you own the business and someone wants to book a cruise,

you take the cruise if nobody else can.

 

Really, there are worse ways to spend time.

It was a brilliant evening on the water in Newport.

 

 

Lots of lights on homes and boats,

and gorgeous color changes on the horizon.

My passengers and I definitely had a merry Christmas.

 

 

Buon Natale!

photo by Nereo Zane

On this serene Christmas Eve, I wish you
and those closest to you - the very best. 

A warm Buon Natale to you from the Gondola Blog.

Tiny but Mighty...and BITEY!

Watching the Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade,
you begin to notice the variety of different boats that pass by.

Some are bigger than others.
Some are louder than others.
Some are brighter than others.

Quite often, the most impressive entries are all three:
bigger, louder, and brighter,
but there are a few exceptions.

One of my favorites each year is what we call the "Shark Boat".
This one's tiny, but mighty.

It's a small Zodiac-style inflatable with an outboard motor.
The pilot generally flanks a larger well-decorated yacht.
Pound-for pound, this boat may have more lights per square foot
than any other boat in the procession.

Ah, but it's the design that I'm a fan of:
it's a shark, wearing a Santa hat, and the lower jaw of the mouth
has a chomping motion as the boat bounces by.

Here's a video clip from tonight:

I've never actually seen the "Shark Boat" affect a bite on another boat.
I'm not even sure if it can bite, but then I'm not about to get close enough to find out.

Boat Parade on a Saturday Night

Out on the water again tonight, I had a family from out of town to see the Christmas Boat parade, and as usual, it did not disappoint anyone.

 

We saw some great lighting displays on homes as well.

Sometimes the parade seems to actually light up the sky above.

 

 The parade is a wonder of light, water, sound

and motion - especially for kids.

 And yes, some parade entries are brighter than others.

 

The Christmas Boat Parade happens for five nights - this year it's the 17th through the 21st of December.  Saturday night is often one of the biggest nights. We'll see if tomorrow can trump tonight.

Sea Dragon

videos by Elisa Mohr

Here in Newport Beach, the Christmas Boat Parade is upon us once again. 
At the last minute we had some friends in the area who hadn't seen the
parade from a gondola and we felt the need to remedy that, so off we went
in two gondolas.  Simon jumped aboard to row the second boat, and ended
up filling the foreground of some pretty decent photos and video clips.

Here's the first parade boat passing by:

 

 

Spend enough time on a gondola, and you will

be serenaded with a bad version of this song:

After watching the whole parade spin through the turning basin
in front of our docks, we ducked under the Lido bridge to catch it again. 
It's a neat trick: go under a bridge, and get a second helping of parade. 

 

During our second viewing, we got a closer look at the

boat that wowed us earlier: the "Sea Dragon".

 

 

Each year someone comes up with a clever way to incorporate a hot-air-

balloon burner into their design.  Here's the Sea Dragon in action:

 

Christmas Lights and Shooting Stars

Out on the water tonight, my passengers and I enjoyed a well-lit shoreline,
with so many homes decorated.  Alas, I didn't think to snap any photos of them, so you'll have to settle for this shot of the new Winery restaurant.

We'd expected to see lots of lights on the homes, as well as on passing yachts. We hoped we'd see some stars overhead as well, but we were not expecting to see some of those stars go shooting by.

As it turned out there was a meteor shower this evening.
I saw at least a dozen in an hour, just out of the corner of my eye.
My passengers were on their honeymoon, so lots of wishes were made as the stars went shooting by.

Blue Light Special

 
For most folks, "deck the halls with boughs of holly" is the norm,
but for some of us gondoliers, it's:
"deck the bows with battery-powered Christmas lights".
Oh sure, it may not have the same poetic ring to it, but it sure looks good.

I just got finished carefully wrapping the perimeter of one of my motorized gondolas in a radiant blue.
 

 

Throughout the years I've settled for whatever I could find at the store.

That's code for:

I procrastinated until the last minute and went with the only options left.

 

This year the Newport fleet will all be decked out in special blue lights.

I had my wife order a case of them

(when she's involved, things tend to be more organized).

 

 
Of course, in Newport Harbor, there are an estimated 10,000 boats.
Most of them are painted white, and have all manner of decorative lights
draped from stem to stern.

Next week everyone who can, will be out on a boat in Newport to see the famous Christmas Boat Parade.

What that means to me as a gondolier is that there will be thousands of people driving boats, who won't be looking for me.  They'll be too busy watching the parade and on a black boat in the dark, they'll have a tough time even seeing me.  So these fancy blue lights aren't just for decoration...they're a survival tool.

So this year we're decking our bows (and the rest of the hulls too)
with these special blue lights, both to be seen, and to be stylish.

Origami

Christmas greetings from our friend Uwe Kunze (aka "Carlo") in northern Germany:

Hello Greg,
I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
My daughter has given to me this wonderful Japanese Origami artwork.
She knows what I´m dreaming of.
We still have to wait 5 more months to be back on the water day and night with The Black Magic....
In January I´m in Venice and meeting some old friends from G.S.V.V.M.
- Carlo

Merry Christmas, Carlo.
Stay warm and enjoy Venezia in January.

Club Photo for Christmas

photo courtesy Nereo Zane and GSVVM

Nereo Zane sent this one in just now.
Here's a nice group of rowers from the GSVVM posing in front of a club caorlina, and wishing us all a hearty "Buon Natale!"

Grazie Nereo, and Merry Christmas to you too, caro amico.

Santa in Coronado

On his way around the world on Christmas Eve, Santa (aka Babbo Natale)
made a short stop in Coronado, California to do what only truly exeptional individuals do: row a gondola.

photo shamelessly stolen from the facebook page of The Gondola Company