Physical Labor

Shortly before my stay in Venice ended, I met a gondoliero. The gondoliero had been navigating the Venetian lagoons for roughly fifty years. When I was readying to depart for the States, he treated me to a gratis ride up and down the city's canals. Because he was not "on duty," the gondoliero did not wear the classic uniform of a striped shirt and straw hat during that ride.

Venice, Italy, June 1984. This seventy-year old knew what he was doing.

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Venice, Italy, June 1984. The afternoon spent with the gondoliero was lovely.