ROME Les ugg, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- An Italian man rowed his gondola from Venice to Rome to raise money for African children and youngsters with rare diseases. The efforts of professional gondolier Vittorio Orlo earned the Venetian man an audience with Pope Benedict XVI Moncler mens, Italy's ANSA news agency reported Friday. Vatican sources called his feat extraordinary and said it was an example of rare courage for the best of causes. While flat-bottomed gondolas are perfect for navigating the canals of Venice experts told ANSA they aren't appropriate for sailing the open seas. Orlo set off Sept. 2 and proceeded along the Adriatic coast from Venice before crossing Italy on a network of canals and rivers to the source of the Tiber River on the border between Tuscany and Lazio. "From then on it was increasingly plain sailing as the river grew to give me an easy passage mbt schuhe g��nstig," Orlo told ANSA. Funds raised by his 17-day journey will go toward helping children in Togo as well as funding research at a Venice hospital that specializes in rare pediatric diseases.