So Italy is a bit too far away – don’t worry.  You can still get the traditional Italian experience of a Venetian gondola ride right here in Las Vegas.

There are even private gondolas available for sixty dollars that allow you to traverse the Venice-inspired waterways with just you and a friend.  As elegant and romantic as a true Venetian gondola ride, this has become one of the many required stops on any trip to Vegas.

The gondola rides are offered solely, as you would expect, at The Venetian.  But the interconnectedness of the city makes visiting a simple jaunt, whether from nearby hotels such as Treasure Island and The Mirage, or a mere cab or tram ride down the strip.  Everyone is invited to take in the passion and wonder that has been transplanted from Italy and left to remain here, just steps from the casino floor.

If you want to ride in the gondolas at The Venetian in Las Vegas, you can choose between indoor and outdoor rides.  The indoor ride is the more popular, whisking you through the mall that is attached to the hotel, decorated with facades, bridges and other monuments that resemble the green canals of Venice.

Called the Grand Canal, the lilting voices of the gondoliers carry throughout the mall, many of whom were trained in Italy by the masters.  Gondolas at the Venetian Las Vegas are just about everywhere – it’s definitely the main selling point of the famous hotel.  Source: Destination 360

For once the hyperbole actually applies. A summit elevation of 11,053 feet and hefty 3,100-foot vertical drop are just some Mammoth Mountain stats that don’t need any embroidering by Bay Area marketing whiz kids.

South of Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain ski resort is served by 28 lifts numbered in the order they were built, giving a nod to in-the-know locals who are able to think in creative, non-linear ways.

The uninitiated need only to remember that the Panoramic Gondola will take you all the way to the very top, from where you should tack right to the Upper Bowl and a series of plunging drops fanning into a wider bowl. If you make it that far, you’ll have some time to catch your breath and reconsider your recklessness.

Mammoth’s signature siren-of-the-steeps is Hangman’s Hollow, a chute bordered by snarling rocks that leaves room for only one perfect turn—or one mistake. It’s not just the elevator-shaft steepness, too; it’s the mandatory air required to get into it in the first place.

Even the local wackos won’t try Hangman’s unless there’s a foot or more of new snow, guaranteeing a pillowy landing.  Story by: Alistair Wearmouth

Venice Italy, is an amazing city. When most people think of Venice, they think of gondola rides.

The city of Venice is actually a series of six islands at the edge of the Adriatic Sea. The “streets” of Venice are actually waterways for boat traffic.

Every year, the city’s water levels rise. The muggy summer air cooks the canals and scrapes the paint and enamel from the city’s finest pieces of art. Faithful to its origins, everything in Venice seems to be in peril.

The gondola is the primary mode of transportation throughout the canals, not to mention the enduring symbol of tourism in Venice.

Though speedboats have become increasingly more commonplace nowadays, they have not been able to drown out the traditional songs of the traditional gondoliers, with most of these ballads reciting tales of true love or the magnificent history of Venice Italy itself.

And a storied history it is. Like Genoa, Venice used its expansive waterways to develop into a powerful city, a hub for trade and commercial exploits, until it dominated a large portion of the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and hundreds of vital trade routes.

Venice thrived for centuries, becoming a center of the arts that made all others pale in comparison. Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto and Longhi all called Venice home at some point. Many of their fine works live on in the numerous art galleries and museums dispersed throughout the city’s maze of canals.

Take a gondola ride down the famous Grand Canal and it will lead you to Ca’ Rezzonico and Ca’ d’Oro, the former famous for its ornate ballrooms and aristocratic balconies, the latter for providing shelter for the great works of Titian, Mantegna and Carpaccio.

The exact origination of the gondola is unclear, but some history is available. Back in the year 1094, a boat called a gondola was mentioned in a letter from a Venetian Rupublic official. In the 1490’s, Gondolas appear in Italian paintings by Carpaccio and Bellini. Interestingly, the method of rowing that is depicted, is the same used by gondoliers today.

What most people don’t factor into their dream of a gondola ride in Venice are the crowds of people peering down at you from the city’s many bridges – which tends to ruin the whole intimate and romantic experience. But heck, this is romantic Venice. Go for it!