Today, at the GA, a Venetian gondolier met with the Pope – but it’s more than just a photo op:

The 143-mile pilgrimage by water, sponsored by the Patriarchate of Venice and the M. Baschirotto foundation, was undertaken to raise awareness and support for research on rare diseases, with the specific aim of helping children in Togo.
A small group of patients and their relatives accompanied the gondolier to the public audience Wednesday and received the pope’s blessing.
Orio, who is 66, rowed from Venice along the Adriatic coast to Ancona, where the gondola continued its voyage by truck. It was put back in the water near Rome, where it traveled down the Tiber. Too big to be brought into the Vatican, the huge black row boat with its trademark gilded decorations, was left on the outskirts of St. Peter’s Square for the audience.
Orio is not new to such feats. Now retired, he devotes his time to using his skills for charitable causes. Several years ago, he rowed across the English Channel.
But the mustachioed gondolier, who was accompanied to the Vatican by Venice Patriarch Cardinal Angelo Scola, lost some of his brio when he met face to face with Benedict.
“I was overwhelmed with emotion,” Orio said, admitting that in the excitement he kissed both the pope’s hands instead of just kissing the pope’s ring, as Vatican protocol suggests.

Incidentally, many more nice shots of the GA – better than the news feed at Yahoo – here at Catholic Press Photo.
Of course, if you want lots and lots of photos, go to the Vatican’s own site – but it is kind of a chore to get through and the full-size photos have  a watermark, understandably, right across the middle.
More on the journey at the (yes) Gondola Blog.