It is one of the most romantic visions we all have of Italy: to spend an evening in Venice with the love of your life, perhaps being serenaded in a gondola.
The trouble is, the songs that your gondolier will sing – a pleasure for which you may pay up to €200 – are unlikely to be Venetian, reports the Telegraph.
Instead, your gondolier is likely to sing “O Sole Mio” which is, of course, a Neapolitan song or other songs from the South. Giovanni Capurro’s “O Sole Mio” lyrics have long been substituted, in British minds, by the “Just One Cornetto” lines of a television advert.
In this video: a man singing "Just One Cornetto" in a Gondola in Venice:
In this video: "O' Sole mio" performed by Beniamino Gigli:
Now Northern League politicians, led by Venetian Councillor Alberto Mazzonetto, have criticised the gondoliers for turning Venice into a “cultural Disneyland”.
Mr Mazzonetto points out that some of the songs they sing, such as the Dean Martin hit, “That’s Amore”, are not even Italian. Mr Mazzonetto has called upon the Ente Gondola, the city’s powerful Gondola Authority, to regulate the gondoliers’ repertoire.
Musicians from the South are having their say, however, pointing out that “O Sole Mio” is internationally famous and symbolises the whole of Italy to everyone.
Have you ever been serenaded in a gondola?
