Is anyone else afraid of pigeons? I don't know why but they just seem dirty to me. I'm sure they have bird lice or something equally itchy. Or maybe it has something to do with me watching the film The Birds at a very young and impressionable age. Whatever the reason, I don't like pigeons.

St Mark's square in Venice is crawling with pigeons. You can pay a man for some seed to feed to the birds. While we were in Venice we saw lots of people doing just that. Feeding seed to the birds. The prospect of free food made the pigeons awfully excited. They'd fly up around the person with the seed and land on their arms or on the person's head. Like the people in the photo below. They are engulfed by pigeons.

Ugh! I can't imagine paying for that privilege. While we were there I even made Andrew walk in front of me to clear a pathway through the pigeons. I'm sure there would have been girly screams and shrieks if a pigeon landed on me. My skin is crawling now just thinking of it. *shudder*.

In Venice, the pigeons in St Mark's square are a tourist attraction. In Trafalgar Square in London a concerted effort was made to rid the square of pigeons. (Not kill them, just make them go somewhere else.) There are "Don't feed the pigeons" signs everywhere. At 11am everyday a trained falcon circles Nelson's column and the square to scare away any persistent pigeons. (Is this a scent or sight thing I wonder?) I think Trafalgar Square is a much nicer place without the pigeons.

Andrew and I travelled to Venice in March 2007 to celebrate our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. More photos (slideshow) from the trip can be seen on Flickr.

Ahhh, Venice... Last weekend Andrew and I spent three idyllic days in Venice. Whenever we mentioned the name of the city, we would prefix it with a sigh... ahhh Venice. Yes, Venice really is that beautiful.

We spent our mini-break exploring the city. We wandered the back streets, we visited a few of Venice's many churches, we admired the glittering mosaics in St Mark's Basilica, we sipped a $12 coffee while enjoying the sunshine in Piazza San Marco, we indulged in a scoop of gelato every day and we paused on every bridge we crossed to admire the view.

We were sad to say goodbye to Venice. It is such a wonderful city with a unique and interesting character. Although, the weather alone would have been enough of an enticement to stay... and maybe the gelato *G*.