Going to Venice and not taking a gondola ride is like going to Rome and not seeing the Coliseum or going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower.  Not only do you get to see Venice from a totally different perspective but you also get to see Venice as people who live there see it and live it.  People going back and forth, moving, dropping their furniture into the canal, almost tipping the boat and having a fight with a truly Italian flare.  This definitely was one of the great highlights of our visit to Venice and a nice distraction from thinking about what is happening to our unlocked car in a public parking garage.  Contrary to a  popular belief, gondola riders don’t sign as they navigates these long sleek boats through the narrow canals of  Venice, or as they eloquently explain it – one man, one job.