Different Strokes
Venice has had a bad rap for fleecing tourists along well trodden trails, so Matt Baker takes an alternative tour with the city’s only female gondolier, and finds she’s doing her best to reverse this trend.

As the first woman in over a thousand years to manoeuvre her slipper-shaped craft through the canals of this Italian lagoon city, Alexandra Hai understands only too well how daunting Venice can be for the first time visitor. It’s rare that a gondolier agrees to give a tourist an insight into a Venice that’s largely hidden from public consumption. But, according to Hai, the Venice that the Venetians cherish is just as beautiful as the city’s prized historical sites, and less likely to sting your wallet. “When I arrived I quickly discovered that there are two prices,” she recalls. “One for tourists and one for Venetians.”

For those taking in the charms of La Serenissima for the first time, visiting the Piazza San Marco bordered by the triple-domed Basilica, the Campanile (bell tower) or the nearby Rialto Bridge, getting fleeced is frequently unavoidable. Here, tourists will regularly fork out €10 for a coffee, €15 for a Bellini and invariably have to suffer overpriced and very average food and wine. But in a city that’s visited by 13 to 14 million tourists every year and only has 65,000 permanent residents, is it still possible to find an authentic and vibrant Venetian culture?

“It’s difficult,” says Hai, “because Venice is such a commercial city and it can seem like a museum that’s full of history and no life at times. But this is changing. Venice is no longer an old man’s club and is opening up. It used to be that everything was closed at 10 o’clock here but now there are new restaurants, some really good nightlife and a sense of liberation.”

Away from the calli and campielli (alleys and squares) of the city’s main tourist belt lies another city largely unobserved by visitors. As Hai eases open the throttle of her motorboat and heads to the south of Venice, throwing up a trail of spume in our wake, my tour of the real Venice begins. Our first stop is the island of Giudecca.

Only a short gondola ride away from San Marco, Giudecca, like Cannaregio, is predominantly working class and home to many Venetians: boat builders, fishermen, artists and musicians.
To see the wonder of Venice in all its panoramic glory, Hai advises visitors to take to the fondamenta (quay) at sunset and marvel at the gothic beauty of the Doge’s Palace from there. Wander further past a sprawl of modest Venetian houses into the south side and you’re suddenly about as far away from the crowds of the Rialto Bridge as you can get.

Among the many boatyards here you’ll see a steady stream of locals heading up a fire escape staircase into a trattoria on the first floor of a warehouse. Mistrà always has a lively ambience and a broad clientele that includes shipwrights, musicians and even Jacques Chirac, who comes for the exquisite food when he’s in town.

It was here that Hai was encouraged by other gondoliers and boat builders to become the city’s first female gondolier, and she makes no secret of her love for Giudecca’s bohemian spirit and tight-knit community. But back out on the lagoon there are plenty of other islands that she insists we visit.

Over on Burano, where fishermen have lived since the seventh century, the bright-coloured houses, lacemakers’ shops and the seafood on offer gives us a unique snapshot of a timeless, tranquil Venice. If you’re in search of other-worldly bliss, then take the 20-minute boat ride from Burano to the island of San Francesco del Deserto.

Legend has it that this was where St Francis first stopped in Europe on his journey back from the Holy Land in 1220. The story goes that he planted his stick here, it grew into a vine and birds flocked round to sing to him. Today the island is a haven of peace, inhabited by a small community of Franciscan monks and sheltered by thousands of Cyprus trees.

But these days even Venetians tire of the quiet life, as for the first time in years they have a nightlife they can justifiably be proud of. Back in the Piazza San Marco, locals neatly sidestep tourists and head for Centrale, an old cinema in a 16th-century building that’s been converted into a futuristic bar and restaurant.

A symbol of the new Venice that’s springing up everywhere, the throng of young Venetians nursing their late night grappas to the sounds of Italian rap represents a Venice that is being forced by the times to change. It can be seen everywhere from the Bacaro Lounge at Salizzada San Moise to Orange in Dorsoduro and Club Malvasia Vecchia, situated behind La Fenice opera house and open till 4am.

“Venice is changing, that’s for sure,” smiles Hai. “For too long Venetians have been sitting on their history. They’re lazy and they expect people to turn up at their cafés and restaurants, receive bad service, be ripped off and go home happy. Tourists are wising up and the city has to change.”

No one illustrates that change more so than Hai. Most of Venice’s 425 all-male gondoliers don’t want her joining their ranks. Though the police, she says, have been very supportive, “because they’re sick of fining gondoliers for ripping off tourists and they know I do things differently.”

Having recently launched her own business, Hai is making a break from the clichéd stripe-shirted image of the modern gondolier to return to what she calls the “classy 18th-century uniform” of jacket and tie.

She also intends to introduce the rigorous standards of yesteryear to a trade that’s become increasingly jaded. “I won’t rip people off and I won’t make 10-minute journeys last 35 minutes like people do today,” she stresses. “The gondoliers have become lazy because they have such a monopoly. They need some competition to improve standards.”

Over in north-west Venice in Cannaregio, in the beautiful 16th-century gardens of Palazzo Abadessa, Hai sips a prosecco and reflects that there’s more to her city than history: “Venice is still a city you can fall in love with, and as a gondolier I feel I have a duty to share that beauty with tourists. There’s the Venice that the Venetians love and that to me is where the city’s soul is.”

A gondolier recommends…
FOOD
Trattoria alla Madonna—Calle della Madonna San Polo 594 (Tel: +39 041 522 3824) in Rialto is a popular haunt for many of the city’s gondoliers and serves reasonably priced, good quality Venetian fare.
Alternatively, try Cantine del Vino Già Schiavi at Dorsoduro 992, which has been open for over 100 years and serves traditional tapas meals and excellent wine. A very popular meeting place for Venetians. Mistrà—Giudecca 212, fondamenta Ponte Lungo (Tel: +39 041 522 0743) is Giudecca’s gourmet secret, while the best ice cream in Venice is at Gelateria Nico on Le Zattere.

HOTELS
Palazzo Abadessa—Cannaregio 411 (Tel: +39 041 241 3784, www.abadessa.com) is an elegant 16th-century palazzo.
Art Déco—Calle delle Botteghe 2966, St Mark’s (Tel: +39 041 277 0558, www.locandaartdeco.com) is stylish, close to the city’s main attractions and good value.

MARKETS
Via Garibaldi—In the Castello district this lively food market is open every weekday morning and is a great place to see real Venetians go about their business. Rialto—From 5am fresh fruit, fish and vegetables are sold daily—it’s been a trading centre for almost a millennium.

NIGHTSPOTS
Paradiso Perduto—Fondamenta della Misericordia, Cannaregio 2540 (Tel: +39 041 720 581). A bohemian hangout for young Venetians. Open till 2am.
Cantina Iguana—Fondamenta della Misericordia, Cannaregio 2515 (Tel: +39 041 713 561). A late-night Mexican cantina with a selection of tequilas and mezcals.