Venice and the river Po, a virtual cruise

Il defino gentile?
The gentle dolphin (s)?

Or am I way off the mark?

Ciao tutti! Another Veneziaphile here (don't know if that's even a word) loving all the stories, links and recommendations.

I think Venice is probably the ultimate place to make your own precious memories, it's so easy to get lost in it's staggering beauty, so easy to trigger the imagination into thinking of times past and capture times present.

Our first trip there was on our honeymoon in '71. As, hand in hand, we strolled the arcades around St Mark's at dusk, the orchestra outside Florian's was playing the haunting theme from the Godfather and a white haired old couple, also hand in hand and looking still very much in love, crossed the piazza in front of us. We looked and pledged to become that old couple but sadly life didn't work out like that.

Another less poignant memory is lying on the beach and hearing the megaphones of the little tourist criusers advertising boat tours of the Venetian islands..."Murano, Burano, Torcello with fish, bread and wine for EVERYone". Of course, it became a family saying - in a rolling Italian accent - whenever there was food in the offing even on a grey day in England.

See you on board!

MissAdventure

Il defino gentile?
The gentle dolphin (s)?

Or am I way off the mark?

I think it could be either or both of The gentle dolphin and The kind dolphin, I am not totally certain.

Il delfino gentile,

That was lovely, Nannee49

You've a flair for creating an image.

In the first video, as we walk towards the exit of the piazza

LINK > www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrvaZusWypI&t=410

there is a large sign advertising an exhibition.

The exhibition has a website, still available.

LINK > www.printingrevolution.eu/virtual-exhibition-printing-revolution/

I found this one.

LINK > The Dispersal of the Library of San Giorgio Maggiore of Venice (4 minutes 14 seconds)

LINK > Venice Gondola Tour - Canal Grande and small canals at dawn (32 minutes 56 seconds)

Oh that's great, with the sound of the water lapping.

Oh that gondola tour brings back memories! The very best way to see Venice.

Do they actually sing as you go along?

Not on the video a few posts back.

However,

LINK > Gondola ride with accordian and singer performing "Volare." (3 minutes 27 seconds)

Some do MissAdventure but, as with all things, that costs more! Ours sang O Solè Mio. Naturally!

What fun!
Is it romantic?

Can anybody find one where the man actually using the oar is singing without any music provided please?

youtu.be/TCrsWf2x5cA

Wow! What a voice!

Depends who you're on the gondola with MissAdventure! We went in early summer but, in high summer, the canals get rather smelly to be honest which is a damper on any romanticism.

I've had a look StarDreamer but the only videos that I can find are similar to the one's that you've found.

Ah, I see.
So, does the water level change with the seasons/tides, do you know?

Questo è bello, grazie MissAdventure

Grazie, MissAdventure.

In the long quiet gondola ride video I got the idea of there being a tall thin rod on the front of the gondola. I wondered if that is a safety measure, in that if the rod touches the bridge then the water level is too high for the gondolier to go under the bridge safely.

Sounds plausible StarDreamer, when the high tides come in they're pretty deep and fast I think. I don't know if the vaporettos still run at those times.

I can remember walking up and down the bridges and hearing a wonderful operatic voice when a gondola floated beneath us with an opera singer treating us to his wonderful voice. Magical.

Like a cat's whiskers, perhaps?