Wednesday,
June 27,
Women Gondoliers in
The
ANNOTICO Report
ANSA
Two women keen to
break into one of
One of the female
candidates who joined the 127 male ones was German-born Alexandra Hai, who has fought a 10-year battle for the right to steer
a gondola around the lagoon city
The other was
Alessandra Taddei, a local woman who belongs to a
Venetian rowing club.
Neither woman wanted to share with reporters their impressions after the first
day of the week-long trials, which will decide who gets the 40 places on the gondoliering course.
"I don
She has taken the
gondoliers
She has accused
the 425-strong association of Venetian gondoliers of deliberately keeping her
out because of her sex. The association refutes this claim fiercely, saying she
simply isn
Hai, 40, recently won a small
victory when a court upheld her right to ferry hotel guests about in a gondola
even though she has no licence. She is employed by a
Venetian hotel to offer precisely this service.
But Hai evidently wants more than this and is looking to
certify her credentials as an able gondolier in any way possible.
The new course being run by the gondoliers
Students must
learn how to steer the banana-shaped boats from the back and the front. They
also have to take English courses, study sailing law and demonstrate perfect
knowledge of
Roberto Luppi, the president of the gondoliers
"Up until
now the gondolier
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