Venice Sightseeing - get those damn pigeons away from me!

The fish butcher and his cleaver... gross.
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Since we had been living in Venice for a month, but hadn't done the "tourist" thing yet, we decided to devote an entire day to seeing the sights.

We got up early on a Saturday and started our day at the Rialto bridge - right near our apartment, and a must-see for any visitor to Venice.

We crossed the bridge and stopped at the farmers market - with every color of pasta, great looking produce, and more pashminas then we knew what to do with.

Just up ahead was the fish market, "mercado al pesce" (which, thank goodness, we couldn't smell from our apartment).  The market was really just a giant open warehouse filled with tables and tables of every seafood imaginable.

Abbey, enjoying gelato in St. Mark's - with the beautiful basilica behind her!
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It was pretty disgusting.

To top it all off, there was a man hacking away with a giant cleaver at a fish that was literally the size of Jen.  We stayed for a second to take some pictures, but the fear of flying fish guts drove us away.

From there, we walked to St. Mark's square, the most famous site in Venice.  We took some back alleys and paths to get there, stopping to see some of the beautiful architecture along the way.

We got to St. Mark's - and, of course, stopped for gelato (after all, it was noon and we hadn't had our daily fix yet).

God loves a girl with covered shoulders.
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The centerpiece of the square is the beautiful St. Mark's Basilica, the most famous church in Venice.  Nicknamed the "church of gold," this church is an incredibly ornate example of Byzantine architecture.

We waited in line to get in to the church, but realized as we neared the entrance that we both looked like hussies (at least, in the eyes of the Catholic church).  Unfortunately, God doesn't like shoulders (and least not in his cathedrals) and ours were both exposed.

Luckily, they provide small orange cheesecloth to cover up with for a dollar.

The beautiful view of Venice from the top of the bell tower
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So, wrapped in paper shawls, we finally entered the church.

It was absolutely beautiful, and much larger than it looks from the outside on the square.  We tagged along with a family's private tour guide for minute, but were bored (and consumed with guilt) so we wandered off on our own.

It cost an additional two euros to see the alter - which we were going to skip, but the funny man taking the coins said we really shouldn't miss it.

Lucky for us, we were the last ones of the day that got to see it - he closed the entrance right after us (sketchy??).

Our bellinis that broke the bank... Rachel Ray would be so disappointed in us.
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It was the best two euros we spent that day - mounted on the alter, only visible to those standing at the nave of the church, was the "Pala d'Oro," a thick gold plated and jewel encrusted alterpiece.  It illustrates the story of Saint Mark, and was worth millions of dollars - the gems alone (diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and every other previous stone) were worth an astronomical sum.

We were both very jealous.

Next, we went to the Campanile - the bell tower of St. Mark's.  Built in the 1500's, the tower actually collapsed in 1902 (though no one was hurt).  It was rebuilt as an exact replica (though with some reinforcements to prevent future collapses - thank goodness).

She may look happy, but inside Abbey was crying.
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We were thrilled to see an elevator (since every other bell tower in Europe seems to only have 87 flights of steep, narrow stairs), and rode it to the top.

The view was incredible.

Not only could we see all of Venice, with the winding canals - but also the entire lagoon, with its outlying islands.

From there, we walked along the waterfront, past the many gondaliers, to the famous Harry's Bar - home of the peach bellini (our favorite).

Jen was not a big fan of the pigeons.
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Harry's, a venice establishment since the 1930's, used to be a favorite of Ernest Hemingway -- and is now a favorite of ours.

We both ordered the 14 euro (28 dollar!!) bellini - and rationalized it by promising not to eat for the rest of the day.

And man, was it worth it.

First of all, the bartender was the most gorgeous man in the world -- Abbey of course took pictures of him as he made our drinks.

And, the bellinis themselves were incredible - the perfect blend prosecco and white peach juice.

It was a perfect and refreshing afternoon snack (though it cost as much as a steak dinner).

From there, we headed back to St. Mark's Square... we had been avoiding the Venice tourist tradition all day, and the time had come.

It was time for...

PIGEONS!

St. Mark's square is home to about 1,000 pigeons -- and 3 little Italian men who sell pigeon feed to the crazy tourists.

Tradition requires that you feed the birds (insert Mary Poppin's song here), and let them crawl all over you.

Abbey went first.  And, it was gross.  The little pecking beaks and clawed feet of these rats with wings made her want to vomit.  But, pictures were needed, so she tried to be brave.

Jen, on the other hand, chickened out (pun intended?)

Every time the birds would come near her (as was expected, she was holding the food in her hand), she would scream and run away from them.

It was, in all honestly, the highlight of Abbey's day.

Jen was disheartened to see 5 year olds able to "be one with the birds" - but refused to believe they were brave, and instead insisted it was the fault of bad parental supervision.

We were going to stay out and sightsee some more -- but, we really needed to wash our hands after the run in with the birds (slash scrub every inch of our possibly-rabid bodies).

Plus, after all that sightseeing, we were exhausted!  And, everyone knows how much we love naps.