143 JACK AND ROSE IN VENICE

NEED A GREAT, EXPERIENCED ENGLISH TEACHER OR PERSONAL TUTOR? Contact Teacher Jack!

[Convenient New Feature: ARCHIVE of All Articles]

SELFIE-CRAZY TOURISTS FLIP VENICE GONDOLA

A gondola in Venice, Italy, capsized because tourists did not listen to warnings to sit down and stop taking selfies.

According to media reports, a group of tourists from China was taking selfies and moving around their gondola, when orders were given to sit down.

The gondolier was attempting to pole the small boat underneath a bridge, a tricky maneuver which requires passengers to be balanced and not to move around.

The gondolier, who had been trying to navigate his vessel under a bridge close to St Mark’s Square, also ended up in the canal, swimming in the filthy, murky water to rescue his passengers.

Those passengers had ignored his warnings. They had continued to take pictures and to stand up, resulting in the BOAT'S TIPPING OVER.

Tourists from the flipped gondola can be heard yelling "Oh, my God," in an online video of the incident.

The group was rescued from the water and taken to nearby La Fenice theater, where they were provided with "hospitality and warmth," according to the report.

Those now-unphotogenic tourists likely fell into very cold water, since the average temperature in Venice in the winter is 46º F (8º C).

No individuals were injured in the incident.

In 2020, gondola tours in Venice reduced their passenger capacity, with Gondoliers Association President Andrea Balbi blaming overweight tourists for the change.

"It is true that, compared to 10 or 15 years ago, tourists weigh a bit more," Balbi said. "Unlike in an elevator, where there is a message that says ‘only six people’ or ‘maximum weight,’ we do not have scales to weigh people, so we reduced the number of passengers."

The limit on gondolas which offer the classic tour of the city’s canals was reduced from six to five people, while on gondolas used to cross big canals, the number has decreased from 14 to 12.

The foolish craze of taking selfies at all costs, regardless of real and present danger, does not always end with just a dip in a cold, polluted Italian canal.

In 2022, an American tourist sustained injuries after he fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius while trying to retrieve his phone, which had slipped out of his hand during a selfie.

Common sense is not so common, anymore.

LEARNING TOOLS

Linggle Text-to-Speech Reader

English DictionARY

Chinese Dictionary

Quizlet Vocabulary

English questions about this article or about English in general?

Ask Teacher Jack at: asktjack1@gmail.com

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PAGES: