There is nothing more touristy than a gondola ride in Venice. Additionally, they’re expensive and can induce some serious sea sickness.
I decided I needed to ride in one. Although your average Venecian does not float around on a gondola, most of them do have boats. Since I did not have a boat stashed in my luggage, the only way to get up close and personal with the canals like a local was by gondola. Thankfully, the expense was cut for me since we had 6 people in our boat (the maximum mandated by city officials), which brought the cost down to about 12 euros a person for our 45 minute ride.
Was it worth it? It was definitely fun, because I had a great group of girls with me. We also had great stories to tell later, about our gondolier Andrea. Not only did he refuse to sing to us, but he kept shouting at us about why all Italians except him hate Americans. We tried to ignore him after a while, but he kept saying, “Look at me!” and continuing to rant. It was not what I expected, but remembering it definitely makes me smile.
wow, you're mniakg me jealous! =) hehe I really need to earn lots of money so for my next trip or maybe in 2011… EUROPE will be my next stop! =) awww Thanks for sharing!