Gondola rides are one of the staple experiences for tourists visiting Venice, Italy. However, for one group over the weekend, the typically charming tradition turned out to be a bit of a mess.
According to reports from CNN and The Guardian, the tourists from China flipped over while they stood to take selfies Sunday. They ended up in chilly waters of the Rio de la Verona, per an Instagram account cited by The Guardian that shared a video of the incident.
“Passengers, once brought to safety, find hospitality, and especially a warm place, at the tailor of the La Fenice theater,” an opera house, said the caption.
For hundreds of years, gondolas have been a popular way to get around Venice’s canals, according to Rick Steve’s Europe.
“Although the aristocracy preferred horses to boats through the early Middle Ages, beginning in the 14th century, when horses were outlawed from the streets of Venice, the noble class embraced gondolas as a respectable form of transportation,” the outlet explained. “The boats became the way to get around the lagoon’s islands. To navigate over the countless shifting sandbars, the boats were flat (no keel or rudder) and the captains stood up to see. During the Age of Decadence, wannabe Casanovas would enjoy trysts in gondolas. Part of the gondolier’s professional code was to never reveal what happened under the canopy of his little love boat.”
Per the CNN report, the association recently limited the number of riders on gondolas from six to five. Now the maximum weight per rider is capped at 230 pounds. There are 430 licensed gondoliers in Venice who work in shifts – only one is a woman. Fathers often pass the trade on to their sons, the report explained.
CNN reported that the incident occurred as a gondolier was attempting to maneuver under a low bridge in an area near St. Mark’s Square. None of the five tourists from China were injured in the incident. However, one did lose their cell phone.
“There was no damage to the gondola but its upholstered chairs and blankets were thrown into the canal, a spokesman for the city’s gondola association told CNN Thursday,” the outlet said. That spokesman confirmed that he told the tourists not to move or stand up to take selfies as they navigated under the bridge. Due to a language barrier, they did not comply with the request.
This is far from the fist time in recent memory that tourists have wreaked havoc in Italy.
Last summer, Audacy reported on a 23-year-old Maryland man who was rescued after he fell into the crater of Mt. Vesuvius while trying to take a selfie and American tourists who damaged the Spanish Steps in Rome. This summer, there was another report of a tourist who caused a scene when she walked into the Trevi Fountain to fill up her water bottle.
“Badly behaved tourists have been an issue in recent years, with notable episodes including a man who dived into the canal from a three-story building and others fined for swimming in the water,” said CNN of tourists causing trouble in Venice. It also said that chemicals were dumped in the water this spring, creating a mysterious green blob and mis-coloring the canal water, though it is unknown if tourists were the culprit.
CNN said Venice plans to institute an entrance fee for day trippers to the city to reduce over-tourism. Last month, Audacy reported on a study that concluded selfie-related injuries and deaths at tourists spots should be considered a public health problem.