"The gondolier is a picturesque rascal for all he wears no satin harness, no plumed bonnet, no silken tights. His attitude is stately; he is lithe and supple; all his movements are full of grace. When his long canoe, and his fine figure, towering from its high perch on the stern, are cut against the evening sky, they make a picture that is very novel and striking to a foreign eye." Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869... Gondoliers are a Venetian icon of their own, and together with the Venetian Masks, they remind us of that magical and glamorous lifestyle. Existing in Venice since the 11th century, ( being first mentioned by name in 1094 ), there is however still a lot of mystery around the gondoliers’ world. It is a world where few locals, let alone foreigners, are a part of. It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century, but there are only around four hundred in active service today, with virtually all of them used for hire by tourists.