People of Pisa

On the way back home to Rome from the Cinque Terre with my friend Erica who is visiting, we made a long afternoon stop in Pisa yesterday.  Most people follow Mr. Rick Steves' advice and take the bus from the train station to Campo dei Miracoli (Piazza del Duomo) and only see one piece of a rather large city.  Erika and I ventured out beyond the crazy crowds beneath the leaning bell tower (with the help of Trip Advisor) and saw a modern mural by American artist Keith Haring, and walked through what seemed to be mostly locals milling about after work on Friday evening.  It really is worth it to get out of the tourist zone and this trip was no exception.

But even so, the Piazza del Duomo which houses the Baptistry (they think the architects meant for it to be used as a musical instrument - apparently it echoes so long you can sing a chord by yourself!), the Duomo, the bell tower (the main attraction), the largest, cleanest, greenest lawn I've seen in Italy, and the cemetery were pretty amazing because we read quite a bit about each building and their history.  Mr. Steves makes an interesting point: this piazza is chiefly important because of its long-standing history, and because it is the Pisan life from birth to death.  Pretty interesting!  The architecture (1000-1300 or so) is Pisan Romanesque which draws from influences all over the world, most notably Gothic and Islamic art.  Marbled designs, sharp edges, light color, beautiful mosaics, and much attention to detail were all a wonderful sight to see.  It turns out all the buildings are sinking (in different directions), and that the "leaning tower" most known by the world was built in three different centuries.  I enjoyed Pisa much more than I thought I would and next time I will definitely go inside the baptistry and cathedral.  Timing and blistering heat kept us from staying and exploring the inside this time.

Of course, the best moments were watching droves of tourists acting like total fools to get their "Pisa pic" with the tower - pretty soon, I shifted my attention to the acts of idiocy in the name of tourism instead of the sights to be seen.

I call this collection "The People of Pisa:"

Unfortunately missed: a girl backing up with her butt to the tower, and another girl doing some weird dance/erotic move up against it.  Not quick enough on the trigger, but I'll never forget them.

Of course, just to be a hypocrite...

Let's FINISH this!

Seriously!  Go to Pisa and stay a while.