OK, taking a gondola, that’s one of the things that I’ve never tried. Many tourists do, and perhaps it is not such a bad idea at all. Going by boat, that’s what traffic in Venice always meant and that’s what the houses are built for.
Venetian houses and palaces, warehouses and stores, they all had their main entrance at the water side.
That’s where important guests arrived, that’s how goods were delivered. Thus, as much cliché as it is, taking a gondola may well be the most correct way to experience this city of marvels.
The Song of the Day is “Corso Delle Gondole” from the 1987 Rondò Veneziano album “Misteriosa Venezia”. Hear it on YouTube.