As a little girl in Venice, Giorgia Boscolo was forever bugging her father to let her ride with him in his gondola. While her sisters played with dolls, she would beg him for a turn with the oar.

Now, the 23-year-old mother of two calmly took her place in one of Venice's storied gondolas and gently steered the sleek black boat straight into the annals of history.

(Continue reading in the L.A. Times)

(Photo: Venice gondolier, GNU free license)