Visit this page on Monday, April 19 to listen with RealAudio. Dear Rudy, I've spent and entire day learning to drive a gondola in Venice and all I have to show for it is a burning blister on my thumb, algae stains coating my pants, and a mouthful of Venetian canal water, which is probably melting the lining of my stomach. As I learned from Luca, a forty-something gondolier, learning to drive a gondola on the Grand Canal is like learning to ride a bike on the Long Island Expressway.
Most gondoliers learn from their fathers or uncles, then inherit their boats.
But Luca agreed to try his patience on me. You see, the oar rests in a wooden arm that protrudes from the rear right of the gondola. You can't lift the oar out of the water. Instead, you push forward, then feather it back underwater. And unlike in a canoe, you can't paddle on the other side to compensate for a turn.