What it’s like to be a gondolier in Venice - SilverKris

"An instructor, Elena Almansi, teaches the traditional voga alla Veneta—standing and rowing gondolier‑style with a single long oar—using a stable, shrimp‑tailed batellina so beginners can learn safely. She learned the technique at age six after a dramatic initiation in the lagoon and now breaks the skill into simple drills: a natural walking stance, a rocking motion, and the ‘twist‑drop‑forward’ stroke. Lessons progress to stern‑rowing with the heavier 3.5m wooden oar set into a walnut‑carved back oarlock, and are designed to build confidence quickly as students glide past elegant palazzi and experience the exhilaration of commanding the boat from the sloping tail." - SilverKris