A gondola was a kind of boat, often found in the canals of Venice, and on the planet of the same name. (PROSE: The Coming of the Terraphiles [+]Michael Moorcock, BBC New Series Adventures (BBC Books, 2010).)
On Earth, the gondola was closely associated with the city of Venice. River Song referred to a ride on a gondola in Venice as something which came to mind when thinking of a trip to Northern Italy. (PROSE: The Ruby's Curse [+]Error: Code 2 - no data stored in variables, cache or SMW.)