VENICE 2017: The Gondolas and Gondoliers

There's just waaaaaaaay too much to show-n-tell about Venice (and Verona) without tackling it willy-nilly, if you don't mind, going with whatever strikes my fancy in the moment.

In this case, it's the gondolas and gondoliers.  Since we saw them every day in Venice, it makes sense to make a separate post of just them, to give them context.

First of all, our mode of transportation throughout the week was by vaporetto/waterbus.

At €60 each for 7 days, we could hop on-n-off at any time, anywhere.

That's when we saw most of the gondoliering in action...passing them while on the vaporettos.

We're talking about on the Grand Canal, of course.

It's 4 km long and can handle a lot of gondolas.

You'd expect certain landmarks, like the Piazza San Marco, being the gondola hubs.

The gondoliers thrive on tourist attention at such places.

It's hard to miss them.

But they're also at lesser-known stops...

lying in wait.

I suppose it's like taking care of one's car?

Except for when it rains and you have no customers.
But you still have to protect your asset!

The maneuvering comes with practice, of course.

Practice makes perfect?

Speaking of which, traffic can be a challenge, even if you're talking only about the gondolas.

But of course, the gondolas have to share the Grand Canal with everyone. 

On our walk of the Accademia area we just happened upon the squero/gondola boatyard,

next to the Church of San Trovaso, the only place where gondolas are now made and repaired.

In Venice's heyday, 16th century, there were 10,000 elegant gondolas plying its waters.

Today there are 350-ish, from a profession passed on from father to son.

And daughter?  We also happened upon this female gondolier,

one of two official female gondoliers in Venice now, she said.
To become a gondolier, you have to be licensed, passing theory and practice exams.
It's considered a high honor.

Someone asked us the other day if we did anything romantic while in Venice.

In a past life, I did, in fact, have a gondola ride...at night.

But Astrid and I had no inclination to treat ourselves.  Just call us cheap (at €80/30 min.)?

Or maybe it's just that we really did have more fun watching...instead of being watched!

[In case you want to know more about gondolas and gondoliers, you can read it here.]

MALTA: The Three Cities

If you remember back to my post on Valletta, Malta's capital city, you may recall that across the Grand Harbour from Valletta are the Three Cities that jut into the harbor facing Valletta.

But first, here we are again to get our bearings...from our Buggiba hotel to Valletta.

It was an hour's ride on the bus, stopping all along the way.

Now look at this closer-up map of the Valletta area.

There's Valletta, the big peninsula.  Across the harbor to the left are The Three Cities:

Kalkara, Vittoriosa and Senglea.
(The only city we did not visit was Kalkara, the least populated of the three.)

To get from here (Valletta) to there (The Three Cities), we started in Valletta's 

Upper Barrakka Gardens...rounded the corner...

 ...from which you get the beautiful vistas across the harbor to The Three Cities.

Pay attention to the Saluting Battery and all those cannons...fired every day at noon and 4 p.m.

We were not in Valletta to see a firing but we were in The Three Cities...later.

From the upper gardens we took the Barakka Lift down to the harbor.

It can transport up to 800 people per hour, in 2 cabins of 21 passengers each.

Completed in 2012, it replaces the old lift (from 1905-1973), 58 meters (190 feet) high.

Talk about saving a lot of time and effort!

Down at the harbor, we caught one of the ferries that crosses every 15 minutes

for €2.80 per person round-trip.  What a great service!

We could have taken one of the gondola boats, of course...but we didn't.

As soon as we got off the ferry in Vittoriosa and started walking, guess what!

They were renovating said gondola boats.

And a bit further, we found the St. Lawrence Church we had seen from the ferry.

It wasn't open when we were there, sadly....

...but the café around the corner was, where we stopped for our morning break.

Cisk beer (pronounced CHisk) is made in Malta.

Notice the "loitering" men again!

Of course, we walked around to see whatever we could see.

And before we knew it, we found a bridge to cross over to Senglea, the next city.

As you can see, there are harbors and boats everywhere.

AND more boat renovation...this time of regatta boats!

This gentleman was delighted to explain everything to Astrid about the races held each 8 September,

commemorating Malta's National Victory Day in 1565 and 1943.

Guess what!  That big race is TODAY, from 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

What a koinky-dink!

I know you think we eat all the time but it was time to eat our main meal of the day.

Notice the St Lawrence Church across the harbor from our café.

Like what we did in Valletta, we then walked up and down the streets,

almost able to stretch out our arms to touch the harbor on either side.

And speaking of churches, one was now open...

Our Lady of Safe Havens...aka Our Lady of Porto Salvo...

so, of course, we entered.  

It was Saturday, so it made sense to see some prepping.

Just a short walk away we were at the tip of the Senglea peninsula in the Gardjola Gardens.

And because it was almost 4 p.m., we waited and watched the firing of the cannons from Valletta.
In such times I am so thankful for my 1200-meter zoom lens!
(And, yes, that's moi inside that little tower, wearing my hat.)

By now we were on our way back to pick up our ferry for the return trip to Valletta,

and found this Nativity of the Virgin Mary Church open, built in the late 16th century.

Remember, there are 359 churches in Malta and Gozo, most of which are Roman Catholic.

Did I mention how the weather wreaks havoc on everything in Malta?

Yup.

But how can you not love the place!

Everywhere you go there is history and culture...and beauty, beauty, beauty.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

If I can get all my last ducks in a row, I have one more major post of our April's Malta trip:  GOZO.

I'll try to make it into ONE post, from the day's excursion we took there.

Wish me luck...before we leave for England on 23 September!