Venice - Italy - page 272

More Than a Striped Shirt & Straw Hat
Venice has some 400 gondoliers, and advertisements for new ones are
posted every 3 years. For those Venetians who don't inherit a gondolier
license, there's a 6-year training period, followed by a rigorous examina-
tion. If you haven't inherited the badge, and you've gotten through the
training and examination period, you'll need to buy a license from an
existing gondolier, which will cost around € 250,000; fortunately, getting
a loan from a local bank is easy—financiers know that gondoliers easily
make enough cash to pay back the loan. If you don't manage to get a
license, you can always work as a substitute, filling in for a principal gon-
dolier and earning a percentage of his income. Venetians will tell you that
a gondolier earns around € 2,000 per day.

Although some of the busier stops are patrolled by ticket inspectors, passen-
gers are seldom checked once aboard. The fine for being caught traveling without
a valid ticket is € 23; I must admit to once traveling with an expired ticket, and
my sense of impending doom seriously undercut my ability to enjoy the ride. You
should get your ticket before boarding, and ensure that it is validated at one of the
time-stamp machines at the stops. If you happen to get on board without a ticket
(a few stops don't have ticket booths), ask the conductor for one immediately.
The cheapest gondola ride you'll get in Venice is aboard a traghetto, a ferry
that transports passengers across the Grand Canal between two fixed points; you'll
pay a mere .40 for the short trip, but at least you'll be able to say you tried a

gondola if the real thing is too expensive—and you'll cut down on a considerable
amount of walking and getting lost trying to find one of the three bridges across
the Canal (although there's another in the planning).
Should you, the visitor, ever hire a gondola? If romance is what you're after,
throw budgetary caution to the wind and cough up for this enchanting experi-
ence. Technically, there are fixed prices in place, but most gondoliers will make at
least some attempt to “take you for a ride” when negotiating the price; it's a good
idea to know how much you're meant to be paying (the current rate is

€

62 per
50 min., with a € 15 surcharge after 8pm and before 8am), but even this union
barometer may not protect you from a rip-off. Bear in mind that you're paying for
up to six passengers, so it may be worth sharing your fare with fellow hotel guests
(although it's worth getting to know them before you hop on a gondola with just
anyone).
ACCOMMODATIONS, BOTH STANDARD & NOT
Finding the right lodging in Venice can be daunting, despite the fact that in some
popular areas there are dozens of hotels. The problem is that in a city this small,
space comes at a premium. A budget that might afford you a degree of luxury else-
where will get you a simple room in Venice; and we're talking about scraping your
knees between the bed and the door!

€