Nicholson Rowing Skiff
Italy: gondola races on Lake Garda
They stand upright in their skiffs, four in a row and resplendent in bright colours, before falling on to their oars with an almighty heave at every stroke.
It was our wine waiter who explained their presence. They were taking part in a regatta of Venetian gondoliering that is held every Saturday evening from late June to the final on August 13 in a different town around Lake Garda in Italy , with the historical final held in Venice on September 4.
The gondoliers hail from towns around the 32-mile-long lake. They come from Gargnano, in the north, where the lake narrows into a gorge that cuts into the Dolomite mountains, the sheer faces of their peaks dropping to the rippling azure water far below. They come from Bardolino in the east, where you can walk from one fishing village to the next, stopping at sandy beaches to take a dip in the clear water. And they come from Sirmione in the south, circumnavigating its 13th-century castle and Roman ruins.
We were not short of time to chat with our sommelier as our choice of wine had been particularly easy. There are so many deliciously light local reds that go perfectly with north Italian cuisine – unlike the tannin-heavy new world varieties that weigh down supermarket shelves back home – that we were simply working our way around the vineyards that surround the lake.
After we had eaten a leisurely main course of veal and freshly caught fish, complemented by a valpolicella, our sommelier returned to offer us an account of why gondoliers traditionally row standing up. Legend has it that in Venice in the 13th century, the gondoliers needed to see over the mist, and would row with one hand only as they would be holding a fishing rod in the other to catch supper.
Although today's competitors use both hands, the competition, too, owes much to dexterity and technique, with the first and third oarsmen plunging their blades furiously into the water at every corner to swing the boat around. So tight are the turns that last year one rower broke his oar when his team careered around a bend. A regular interloper is the team from nearby Lake Iseo, whose lynch pin is an incredibly fit 65 year-old. The islands of the small lake are only accessible by boat, so that keeps them fit, apparently.
Nicholson Rowing Skiff - News
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