Gondola
The Gondola was a type of a small boat, that was used as a way of traversing Venice and Romagna's waterways. It was designed with a longer left-hand side, which allowed gondoliers to row it without changing the side the oar rested.
In Assassin's Creed 2, Ezio can use the Gondola to get to distant locations across the water faster (although if swimming fast the difference is barely visible). Also, when Ezio has to save Caterina Sforza from a small island in Forli he uses the gondola to get to her and then transport her across. Also, if Ezio wants to use a gondola he can swim up to a person using one and that person, out of fear, will jump and drown in the water, but the player won't lose synchronization when the civilian dies. They can also be used in any city outisde the city of Florence that has water surrounding it or near it. Because of this, Tuscany and Monteriggioni are the only places in Assassin's Creed II that dont have gondalas, because they don't have any seas, rivers or lakes.
