Monday, September 1

Our walk today was at Blea Tarn.  

Afterwards we went for a boat ride in Coniston on the steam powered yatch Gondola. The Gondola was first launched in 1859 with a design inspired by a boat called a Burchiello as depicted in a painting by the Italian painter Canaletto. These boats were basically large wooden barges with elegantly furnished cabins used to carry wealthy passengers in Venice, Italy from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The Gondola operated until 1936 and was later converted into a houseboat in 1946. It was bought in the 1970s by the National Trust and completely rebuilt. Relaunched in 1980, it has been carrying passengers on Coniston Water (as the lake here is called) each year from March to October.  


Note: The Gondola was also used as a model for a houseboat in the 1930 children's adventure novel Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom - a favorite of Melissa's.

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