CityState: Current l Edited by Jamie Coelho
Jamie Coelho and her
husband, Andre, meander
down the river in their
first gondola ride.
Gondola Glory
See downtown Providence from the water, social distancing style, in a Venetian gondola. By Jamie Coelho
Sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own city. I had
never embarked on a La Gondola ride along the Woonasquatucket
and Providence Rivers past the Riverwalk and through downtown,
but now with social distancing measures in place, it seemed like
the perfect activity to get out and do something safe and interesting
(and also romantic).
The gondolas are one of those things I took for granted in Providence
just because they have always been there. I’ve been to countless
WaterFires and assumed the gondolas were tied to the events,
when they actually run seven days a week, all day long until 10 p.m.
The tours board at Citizens Plaza and can combine historic lessons
about Providence with Italian singing and optional musician
upgrades (mandolin or guitar) or you can simply cruise on the
water in silence.
My husband and I took a forty-minute daytime ride along the
river cityscape with gondolier and La Gondola owner Matthew
“Marcello” Haynes. Haynes wore a mask, and we were the only
customers on the thirty-five-foot boat that was built in Venice and
shipped to America for Italian events in the 1970s. He steered the
boat more than six feet behind us while we soaked up the sights.
Homemade Italian wine biscuits are provided for a snack. You can
bring your own wine and beer (or non-alcoholic beverages) and a
picnic of crackers and cheese to enjoy in the gondola, too.
La Gondola began as a business in Providence in 1997, and
Haynes started rowing for the company the summer of his junior
year in college in 1999. Haynes bought the company from the
former owner after eight seasons and has owned it since 2007,
when he was trying to divide his time between rowing and teaching
high school science and physics. He eventually made the business
his full-time gig and is celebrating his twenty-second season with
La Gondola.
The gondola drifts along the river as the gondolier explains
historic details about Providence’s downtown. We learned how
the rivers were covered over from 1940 to 1984, and you can still
see the old foundation from what was once listed in the Guinness
Book of World Records as the widest bridge in the world. We went
underneath the foundations of the old bridge, where Haynes sang
romantic Venetian songs and the acoustics were incredible. While
not a trained singer, Haynes grew up singing choir in church. “I
have had a song in my head for as long as I can remember,” he
says. “Singing has been a part of my life for thirty-five years.”
Gondola trips are not cookie cutter. “If you want to be romantic
and cuddle up together and enjoy the sights and sounds of the
city, then we just shut up and row, breaking the silence only to
sing a few songs,” Haynes says. Gondoliers tend to go with the
flow and read the guests on board for what they want out of the
ride. We learned things about the city that we never knew and
even caught a spectacular view of Gaia’s “Still Here,” a colorful
full-scale mural orchestrated by the Avenue Concept on the side
of a building. Even if a trip to Venice, Italy, isn’t in the cards this
year, at least you can get a taste for the Italian life in downtown
Providence. Prices from $89 for two. gondolari.com
PHOTOGRAPHY (LEFT) COURTESY OF LA GONDOLA/JACK “GIUSEPPE” ZORNADO.
(RIGHT) ROBIN DEL SESTO GARCEAU.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020 17