Sandolo Sighting

 

Wandering around Venice, you never know what you'll see

as you turn corners and cross bridges. 

At one point I stepped onto a small bridge overlooking a canal

and noticed this sandolo cruising my way. 

 

Like their gondola cousins, sandoli are traditionally rowed by one person,

with one oar, off the right side at the back of the boat.

 

Because they are shorter and have a lower clearance

(there's no ferro up front or raised tail in the back),

sandoli are uniquely suited to exploring the tight canals of La Serenissima,

and can even go places that most gondoliers won't take their boats.

 

Looking down the centerline of the boat,

we see a bit of that familiar Venetian asymmetry.

 

And like the iconic gondolas, many passenger sandoli are not only

painted black, but have nearly all of the same types of trim and decoration.

 

Arm-pieces with brass cavalla, ropes with pom-poms,

floorboards painted on a theme color with scallops between the frames,

this sandolo even has a scimier

(that decoration that rests at the top of the backrest of the seat).

I love the gondola.
She is an amazing boat.
And I love being in Venice where I am seemingly surrounded by them.

But now and then you see one of these unique little gems and you realize
that there are many other amazing boats in Venice.

The Best Looking Gelato Stand in Venezia

 

I passed this amazing gelato stand in front of the Hotel Danieli
and I had to stop for a moment to admire the ferro.

I hope he does a tidy business, because he's probably still paying off that amazing stand.

 

Shakespeare in Gondola

images courtesy Maurizio Ulliana

Special thanks to my friend Felix at Row Venice
for making me aware of this event.
Just one more reason I wish I were in the Veneto.

Here's the text as it was posted by Felix Schoeber at Row Venice:
400 years since the bard of Avon has passed away, and what a better way to commemorate him but to sit in a gondola and listen to his verses?
And what a better location than a palace in that Venetian countryside that has been the background for so many of William Shakespeares plays?
Saturday 23 marks the opening of the gondola rowing season at Villa Contarini in Piazzola sul Brenta, with poetry readings from Shakespeares Venetian plays and gondola rides on the lake.
After that, a gondolier will be waiting for you every weekend for that taste of the Venetian sweet life.

Here's a video reporting from TG Padova:

 
For information, get in touch with Maurizio Ulliana : 3487077807
email: traditionalvenetianboats@gmail.com

You can also find a Facebook event online with more details and photos.

Elbow Trim

Here's a clever way of protecting the "elbow of your forcola from brick, concrete, granite, and all of the other surfaces in Venezia that can serve as a cheese grater to that expensive and important piece of rowing hardware.

Oh, sure, you could say "just don't grind against the wall",
but we don't live in a perfect world.

Ferro Handles

 

Venice and her surrounding region are known for many produced items:

Glass from Murano,

lace from Burano,

and of course, boats from several places in and around the lagoon.

 

Another craft that has always been present is metalwork.

Brass is a big one - it's the chosen metal for cavalli,

and you'll often see ornate doorknobs in every neighborhood that were cast just a short distance from the doors they are fastened to.

Aluminum and steel are also alive and well

(they're usually used for the ferro blade at the front of the gondola).

 

During a recent visit to Las Vegas,

I couldn't resist giving The Venetian a quick visit. 

Entering the casino, I noticed that they'd given the doors

brass handles...in a familiar design.

 

Not only are the door handles designed to resemble the ferro

(the gondola's stem piece), but they finished off the piece with

what looks like the tail decoration. 

 

 

I can't imagine what the unit cost was on these door handles.

When you decide to build a Las Vegas casino,

and you design it around a theme, you don't go halfway.

Somewhere out there, there's someone who's got

"brass ferro door handles for The Venetian" on their resume. 

 

 

Just the photo - Sunshine on the Canalazzo

City Barge - Open Day!

images courtesy Richard Bailey and Nadia Lear / Oxford City Barge

Preparations are under way right now across the pond.

The folks at City Barge are gearing up for "Open Day!"

I was alerted to this by a Facebook post by Row Venice.

Row Venice / Felix and Oxford City Barge / Nadia Lear wrote:

Friends in Oxford and London!
This Saturday, April 16, from 10 AM till 4PM Oxford City Barge will have its grand Open Day!

Displays of Venetian rowing on gondolas, gondolinos,
sandolos and mascaretas! Stand up and sit down rowing!
Short trips on the Isis! Refreshments!

If you always fancied getting your hands on a Venetian oar,
meet the afficionados of Venetian rowing:
it's just a short walk north from Donnington bridge to their club house! See directions in the flyer below.

Oxford City Barge is the UK´s only and biggest Venetian rowing club, founded in 1992 at the Rose & Crown public house in Oxford,
and counting on none less than four sandolos one gondolino for their regular Saturday morning outings.
Thanks to its members it can also assemble a much larger flotilla of at least one gondola and an all-wood balotina,
the latter used mostly for parades!

Yet the distinctive mark of Oxford City Barge are its outings:
from row-to-the-pub trips that may easily last a whole day,
to day trips, or even week-long trips that explore the English canals, lakes and waterways; last but not least,
the yearly outings to Venice to keep in touch with friends and food in Venice and the origins of Venetian rowing.

For more info, see their event page!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1549363588695276/

Thanks to Row Venice for spreading the word.

And best of luck to the good folks at City Barge.

On the Other Side of the Bridge

 

After the foot-plant from my "Off The Wall!" post,

The gondoliers beneath my apartment window had to take the corner close

so they could make it "Under The Bridge", ducking as they navigated the

right-hand turn.

 

Here we see a few of them emerging from under that archway and completing the turn.

 

Something interesting to take note of on this point of the canal,

is the set of white stone brackets on either side. 

I would imagine these are used to hold bulkhead pieces - which slide into

the two slots, thus allowing for the canal workers to drain and clean this

section of the waterway.

 

Not only do these gondoliers have to perform amazing maneuvers,

rowing their long boats through seemingly impossible tight turns,

but they do it all while on full display with tourists watching

(see the group of them on the bridge above). 

 

 That scaffolding on the far wall created a challenge of it's own,

as the gondolas emerged from the bridge, and came out of the turn,

they would drift a bit to port, but their gondoliers managed to keep on course.

  

And of course all this happens, all day, every day.
And each gondolier knows that there's another boat right behind his own.

Just another day at the office
for a bunch of guys (and a few ladies) with one of the best jobs in the world.

Under The Bridge

 

In yesterday's post "Off The Wall!",

we looked at a collection of photos of gondoliers performing a familiar

foot-plant just beneath my window in Venezia.

 

The reason they were all doing this was to maneuver their gondolas

through a tight turn with a small bridge running diagonal over the corner.

 

Here's the next part of the maneuver.

This is the "toe-plant" guy.

 

You might remember this gentleman from the previous post.

The next photo shows why the gondoliers take this turn so seriously.

 

 Fitting a thirty-six foot boat through this tight turn

requires the gondolier to hug the inside corner close.

 

Very close.

 

Oh, and then there's the whole ducking-under part.

 

Mister Mohawk plants...

 

hugs the corner...

 

and pulls off the turn like a pro.

 No doubt, he's done it countless times.