There is not a car anywhere in Venice. Not one - quite strange when you are used to the U.S.A.
Everything is delivered by boat or barge, and hauled by hand through the narrow streets.
Here is a picture of the fire engine "flying by" on the canale grande.
Some handyman on his boat.
The local delivery truck:
Want to renovate, everything must come by boat and carried by hand - bring your wallet :)
The original form of transportation around town - the gondola. There are 425 gondoleri plus another 150 who help out during sick or off days. Being a gondoleri used to be passed from father to son, nowadays everyone has to go to school to become one - they take 13 candidates a year - quite an exclusive club :) In the 15th century it was decreed that all gondolas are to be black - apparently the arms race in prettying up the gondolas had become out of hand - so they all have to be black now (take that Henry Ford :))
The gondola is still a popular attraction with tourist and some are used to cross the canale grande as a ferry service. Real Venitians stand while riding the gondola, not this sitting down stuff the tourist do. The ride can become quite bumpy if the fire brigade flies by in their boat - thankfully the siren on the boat gives the gondoleri enough time to stear the boat into the wave to lessen the bouncing around and prevent the seated tourist from going overboard.
Enjoy.
I was cracking up while I read all this. Brings back fond memories and even a learned a few things I didn't know about gondola hx. -KB
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