Venice offers an alternative experience to the traditional gondola ride: learning how to row a Venetian boat, providing a unique perspective of the city. Photo / 123rf
There’s a better way to see Venice than pounding the tourist-heavy pavements, and it involves a lesson in becoming a gondolier, writes Dianne Bortoletto
Forget sitting in an expensive gondola as a bored-looking man in a striped T-shirt takes you to all the same places everyone else goes. You don’t have to be that awkward tourist. There’s a better way to see Venice from the water and you’ll see a side of Venice that not many others have experienced. Learn to be a gondolier.
Venice can be magical and on the “back streets”, the quiet neighbourhood canals, it’s guaranteed.
Gliding silently on a rare traditional craft called a batela coda di gambero, or the shrimp-tailed batela, the only sounds are soft splashes of water and the voice of our guide Anna, who is coaching my 16-year-old niece to make a figure of eight with her oar.
We’re on board a Row Venice cicchetti experience, a three-hour guided lesson on how to “voga” or row standing up and facing forward, the traditional Venetian way. The cicchetti - snacks that Venetians enjoy with an aperitivo – come later.
The batela has two oars, one at the back that is used to steer since there is no keel, and one in the middle.
“Lean gently with your body weight, not pushing with your muscles,” Anna instructs from the back of the boat. “Like a beautiful dance, a rhythm, use your whole body,” she swoons. It’s poetry in motion.
My niece, who for the past two weeks has been trying to enjoy museums, art, and architecture, giggles. “This is fun, and actually not that hard,” she says with triumph after just two minutes of rowing.
Then Anna says more urgently, “Ocio! Ocio!” [pronounced och-o], which is dialect for “watch out!”
My niece follows Anna’s command to pull her oar up close to the boat, making space for a motorboat pass.
As the drum of the motorboat fades, serenity is restored. The canals of the Cannaregio neighbourhood are exactly how I like them, devoid of tourists. In fact, the only foreigners we hear during our time with Anna is from another passing Row Venice boat. The neighbourhood buildings have the same charm as those closer to the Grand Canal, but are a little worn, like a pair of designer shoes in need of a good polish.
Row Venice operates four of the seven replica batele in existence today. Over the past 75 years, the batele have been slowly replaced by motorised boats but founder of Row Venice, Australian Jane Caporal, is keeping them alive.
The batela is a traditional work boat made by master craftsmen.
Jane explains that the batela is just the right size for teaching rowing.
“It’s not asymmetrical like a gondola and it’s a bit smaller, like a Honda Civic which is perfect for learning how to drive,” Jane says.
“You get the same sensation as a gondola by standing, facing forward and rowing, but it’s easier to use and more stable.”
British-born and raised in Perth, Jane came to Venice on maternity leave while her husband completed a thesis. That was 34 years ago.
Jane founded not-for-profit Row Venice about 15 years ago. It’s predominantly a sporting association and run entirely by women, with proceeds from tourist activities going towards supporting women’s rowing in Venice.
“I love the fact that other people can try traditional Venetian rowing and feel part of the city,” Jane says.
She says that besides tourists, local men and women as well as Italians from surrounding areas book an experience with Row Venice, because it allows them to experience Venice differently, in a traditional way.
“The other thing I’m proud of is being able to help 25 women and students earn some extra money while also raising awareness of the tradition and the sport,” Jane says.
“As women, we had no opportunities to be gondoliers, and less opportunities in the sport of rowing, so we concentrate on sponsoring women and working with women. Row Venice is the biggest sponsor of women’s Venetian rowing racing.”
Our instructor Anna is also a big supporter of women’s rowing, because it’s been a way of life since the lagoon city was founded in the 5th century.
Venice is a group of 118 islands connected by 391 bridges that cross 177 canals.
“For centuries there were no bridges in Venice, only boats – and boats were like our version of horses,” Anna says.
“We Venetians have lived on the water, travelled on the water for hundreds of years - the joy of Venice is to move along the canals, our streets are the water.”
Now retired after a 38-year career as a middle school teacher, Anna speaks fantastic English and her passion for Venice and its canals is evident in every sentence.
“I started to row 12 years ago with Row Venice - I wanted to show the men that women can row – for many years women weren’t able to join rowing clubs and I thought this is not right,” Venetian-born Anna says.
“Row Venice was a very interesting opportunity for me – I’m still like a teacher, a Venetian teacher and I volunteer to connect my life with different international students who are very motivated to listen and learn.
“When you choose to have a lesson with Row Venice, you have a different experience than you do on a gondola.
“In our boats, you can enjoy the panorama of the city, enjoy the ambience, and when you row, you connect with the city, you breathe it in. It’s a very rich experience.”
Watching the smile on my teen niece’s face, I’d have to agree. She’s the happiest she’s been in two weeks since we landed in Italy. My father is from nearby Treviso, making my niece one-quarter Venetian. Standing steadily with an oar in hand, she’s taken to the voga like a Venetian to water.
We continue gently gliding along the canals, and turn into one that’s lined with local bácari, or bars.
Anna again shouts, “Ocio, ocio!” as my niece ducks down to pass under a low bridge. Emerging out the other side, we’re met with stares and smiles from pedestrians, perhaps in awe of what we are doing, or maybe they’re just drawn to our happy faces.
Locals call out to Anna with a friendly wave and as they banter in dialect, she laughs and waves back. This is the side of Venice I’d been searching for, a far cry from the maddening crowds of St Mark’s Square. With the locals.
On board Row Venice, smiling at my happy niece, giggling each time we had to slide down to pass under a low bridge, and waving at locals who were enjoying an apertivo as they watched us glide by, I fall in love with Venice.
The sky begins to glow in shades of orange, yellow and pink with the setting sun. Away from the busy canals of jostling gondoliers and scurrying tourists, this part of Venice feels so serene and it’s completely captivating. Venice’s beauty is undeniable.
As if it couldn’t get any better, Anna declares that it’s time for a cicchetti.
Standing at the back of the batela, using her oar to steer, Anna instructs my niece to lift her oar while she simultaneously slides the boat to parallel park alongside the embankment. Anna deftly steps up from the boat onto the pavement with the energy of someone half her age and ties up the boat. Anna is 69.
Within a minute, a cheerful waitress from the adjacent bàcaro approaches to take our drink order. I opt for the recommended local white wine. She soon returns to our boat and passes me a platter of cicchetti, a mix of crostini topped with ingredients such as bàcala mantecato (cooked cod whipped with olive oil), speck and radicchio and anchovy with verdure. Anna tells us that everything served is organic from a nearby farm on the mainland.
The boat bobs gently while we enjoy our wine and a bite to eat. The sky turns inky blue and the street lamps flicker on. There’s a murmur of Venetians socialising as they enjoy an aperitivo from the tables just metres from our boat.
My niece then steps up to the pavement to accompany Anna into the gelateria and returns with our favourite flavours. Life couldn’t have been more perfect in that moment.
I was so happy to be on the other side of the city, far away from the gondola stations and the queues of tourists waiting to pay €80 ($140) for the same 30-minute experience that everyone has. Not only did we have a private tour with the delightful Anna rowing through the real-living city section of Venice, but we were helping to fund women’s sports.
Row Venice operates daily, visit rowvenice.org. For more things to see and do in Italy, visit italia.it/en
When there's nothing as far as the eye can see, you may appreciate the company.