Maybe I should start at the beginning. I'm spending this Labor Day in Indy with Meredith, her husband Ben, her dad Ken and her dad's friend Sophia. We started the evening by heading to downtown Indy, which is quite a happening place on the weekends. Meredith works down there, so she knew where all the cool places are. Including a small grassy area with a giant head sticking out of the ground. If you know Meredith and I, you know we couldn't resist a few pics with it.
See?
We were digging for gold. ;-)
I have absolutely no idea what these boxes were for.
I'm the GOOD one!! ;-)
We eventually made our way down to Canal Street to where the gondola rides started. I'm not exactly sure how long the canal is, but it flows underneath streets and has lots of shops, museums and hotels on it's "banks". We got a 20 minute ride down the canal and back, along with 4 or 5 Italian songs. Giovanni, the guy taking our money, didn't look particularly excited to be working on a warm Saturday evening. I also don't think his name was really Giovanni. ;-) The gondolier's name was Liona and she was a lot more friendly. The five of us rode along with three other people, which was fine. There was plenty of room. Our seats had nice cushions and comfy pillows, so we could just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Liona did warn us not to rock the boat, but if we did fall out, all we had to do was stand up. The canal was less than 4 feet deep. Good to know. Although, it did have life jackets, just in case things got a little crazy.
A shot of the canal from street level.
The mighty ship...
Random hot guy running by the canal...:) (What?! I couldn't resist.)
Our gondolier, Liona
Meredith, Ben & I (with Giovanni in the background)
A view of the canal from the gondola.
Awwww...newlyweds. :)
The whole crew.
I'm not sure how fast I thought this thing would go, but obviously, it went along at a snail's pace. I suppose it's nice if you want a romantic ride at dusk. Instead, I got a ride mostly in full sun with my friend, her dad and some random kids. lol We didn't really go all that far, due to the slow pace and the time constraints, but it was interesting. Liona sang pretty well, although her voice didn't really carry. I was in the middle of the boat and I could barely hear her. After the first song, we weren't sure at first if she was finished, or just pausing for effect. It took us a few moments before we realized we should clap. That first song was Come to the Sea (I don't remember the Italian title) and is customarily the first song sang on a gondola ride. The next few songs she didn't translate or give an explanation to. The final song is the most requested, and probably the most recognized: "O Sole Mio". Again, I have no idea if that's spelled correctly. Here's a short video of her singing part of it:
The ride ended pretty quickly, but now I can say I went on a gondola ride, and I didn't even have to stamp a passport. Who knew Indy was so culturally advanced?! ;-)
Thanks to Mere, Ben, Ken & Sophia for being good sports and going with me!
2 comments:
My one and only gondola ride was in Venice - unfortunately it was the one at the Venetian hotel in Vegas. Though Vegas is fun and exciting in it's own right, I'm sure it's much better in Italy!
I went on the same gondola ride as Ang, right before we went up in the Eiffel Tower. That was our wedding night, so we talk about going to Italy for our 10th anniversary. And I definitly agree that Vegas is exciting in it's own right but Italy would be so awesome...
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