Yesterday, daughter Kate and I were riding the waterbus from S Marco to the Zattere where we were to snarf some ice cream from Nico's. It was a lovely day and the Giudecca Canal was void of traffic. But I spotted in the distance a lonely rower. As we got closer, Kate took a photo using her mobile phone. More commentary below the picture.
The lonely rower, wearing his rower's kit, is bravely powering his passage across a dangerous body of water known for its strong currents, its waves, and especially for its ocean liners which use it to ferry hundreds of thousands of tourists into and from Venice. Some of those ships are 30 stories tall and 3 football fields long. We can see these behemoths from our altana and we need to look up at the passengers on deck.
Of course, rowing is the participation sport in Venice. Rowing clubs, regattas, races, festivals, men, women, children, old, young. Tutti.
The elderly gentleman shown in the pic has a single oar as he smoothly rows home to Giudecca. Rowers in Venice stand in the boat, just the same as gondoliers, and they row on only one side of the boat...it's the natures of the stroke and of the boat's design that produce straight ahead movement.
As for me, I'll take the waterbus, thanks anyway.
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