Pigeons

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Since I'm here in Venice for nearly four months "homeschooling" my kids, I've been scouring websites, using search terms like "Venice with kids" and "children in Venice" and they all say pretty much the same thing: go to Piazza San Marco and have your kids feed the pigeons. That didn't interest me. How many minutes was that good for? Besides, I have some partially formulated ideas about birds carrying disease and had just heard a story (from a reputable source) about a Chinese girl cooking and eating a pigeon from San Marco and falling seriously ill. I had also just found out that feeding the pigeons was illegal in Venice--something about protecting the monuments from bird poop (and tourists?). My fears about disease were then compounded by visions of my children (and me) being scolded, fined, or snatched up by a patriotic poliziotto. But my son Gabriel likes chasing pigeons, and had high hopes of catching one. He decided, after careful observation, that we did indeed need to go to the Piazza (named "pigeon land" by the kids) and that the best way to catch pigeons would be to feed them.
So we gathered up some bread crumbs and set off for San Marco. Ari, my oldest, had immediate luck. Animals and babies have always loved him; the pigeons flocked to him immediately. Gabriel had no such luck. He had, apparently, developed a reputation among the birds. He was discouraged. We decided to try again the next day.
Back we went. Gabriel sat in the middle of the piazza like Jane Goodall of the aviary set, crumbs in hand, and waited. He was finally rewarded. A pigeon landed on him and he caught it; he was surprised to find that it was soft and fluffy and fragile. He let it go. Wide-eyed, he sat down to do it all over again. And again. As for me, I doled out the hand sanitizer and scanned for uniforms.
The kids were clearly thrilled by the birds flocking to them, landing on their arms, their shoulders, their heads. They tried different approaches: standing, arms outstretched; heads tilted down; both arms out while sitting. They competed to get the most pigeons, and exhorted me to take pictures. At one point, Ari was covered with six birds. And Gabriel, too, had more than he could handle. There were so many that soon they began to land on me, though I held no food. Suzanne Pleshette flashed before my eyes; I fled the scene for a perch further off. The kids stayed, content, enthralled, for nearly two hours.
When the crumbs were finally depleted, we departed for Casa Artom, me spilling hand sanitizer all over the children. They couldn't stop talking about it, and wanted to do it all over again the next day. Gabriel's experience felt, to him, nothing short of transcendent. As we walked off the Piazza, he inhaled deeply, and declared, "I will never chase another pigeon."

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Photos

Ari in San Marco
Ari's friend. This pigeon stayed on his shoulder for a very long time.

Comments

[Tina Om]

Beautiful story. Funny you mentioned your fears about birds & diseases. When I showed Eric these pics of the boys & the pigeons( pre-blog), he said, "You would never let the kids do that." Is it b/c I don't even let my children play with found feathers on the beach? I too have some weird, unsubstantiated fears about birds. Funny. I wonder where we get that? I'm so glad my future in-laws are having a great time in Italy. The whole family is enjoying the pics, and the mom is thoroughly enjoying the blog. Keep having a blast.