"The whole country had such a festive air." Felix Mendelssohn said this about Italy. He was born in Germany and loved traveling. His travels inspired him to write beautiful music. From 1830 to 1831, he traveled through Italy. He wrote several pieces of music about it. One day, he saw gondolas on a canal in Venice. They were moving back and forth. Mendelssohn liked the peaceful scene. He wrote a piece about it for the piano. It is called "Venetian Gondola Song." It is a short piece in the collection Songs Without Words. Its beautiful piano melody takes you to the scene. It makes you feel like you're on a gondola in Venice. You can imagine the shadows on the water and the buildings by the canal. The tones are a little sad, and the rhythm is slow. They make you feel calm. Some people think "Venetian Gondola Song" is romantic. That is because Mendelssohn wrote it for a beautiful woman. Does it sound romantic to you?