Get Your Row on in Venice
Venice is opening its normally protected waterways to the public this Sunday for the 34th annual Vogalonga rowing event. The "Long Row" began in the 70s as a peaceful protest--"the revenge of oars over engines"--and now thousands of boating clubs, rowers and tourists come to experience the colorful spring regatta.
If you're keen to participate, the rules are rather uncharacteristically pretty lax. You'll need a row boat of any weight and size, some oars and at least one rower. The deadline for entrants is this Thursday so we suggest you quickly round up a few friends, hire a dinghy and submit your €15 entry fee. (Considering gondaliers are charging tourists upwards of €80 for a 30 minute float down the Grand Canal, the enrollment cost for Vogalonga is cheap!)
According to Wikipedia, some have even tried swimming the 19 mile route, but can hardly recommend it without at least some inflatable swimmies. If you haven't got your sea legs, take a front, uh, row seat near the Cannaragio Canal. It's a less touristy area and a perfect spot to watch the thousands of boats enter Venice.
Post-click, check out a groovy Vogalonga video montage with moody elevator music.
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