On my way to back to Cinque Terre, I decided to make a pit stop in Pisa. Rick says it’s worth seeing, but not worth staying. I’ve got a whole day to travel about two hours, so it makes for a perfect little filler for my day.
When I arrive in Pisa, I check my bags and decide to walk through town to reach the Field of Miracles (where the town’s meager four sites are all held). I stroll through the streets and note that it looks pretty much exactly like Florence. There are even a few intersections that make me do a double take and I have to remind myself I’m not in Florence.
I follow Rick Steves’ guided tour through town and enjoy a local fresh fruit and veggie market (where I picked up a pear both for the calories and the romanticism) as well as a historic view of the “old town” and a small, quaint, often overlooked church near the city center. Soon I arrive at
the Field of Miracles and, as promised, it is a conglomerate of tourists and the junk people try to sell them. I see the Duomo first and am again impressed with the elaborate
art that decorates the interior; they sure take that responsibility seriously. This time pictures are allowed, but I’m not particularly inspired. I snap a few anyway, because I know if I don’t I’ll regret it, and am soon ready for the Baptistry. At first glance, the Baptistry is comparatively dull. It’s one room with an enormous dome capping the top – but there is a serious lack of frescos or paintings of any sort on the walls. There is an elaborate pulpit carved from stone, similar to the one I had just scrutinized at the Duomo, only a bit simpler to understand, as well
as a baptismal font. The echo in there is incredible – Rick said it lasts for 10 seconds. So even though there are only a few people in the Baptistry, it feels crowded with all the scuffling noise. I soon notice that I can climb a flight of stairs and get a bird’s eye view (see? I told you I’d climb more stairs!) After I’ve done a few laps, I decide to take a seat and see what Rick actually has to say about this joint. I read the info a little more clearly and am surprised to see that at every half hour a guard sings in the dome to demonstrate how acoustically perfect it is. He says that by singing three notes, a person can actually sing a chord by him/herself, creating eerie harmonies. Now that is something I’d like to hear! Unfortunately, I must have just missed it, as it’s about 10 after the hour (of course). So I find a spot to hole up for 20 minutes and wait it out. What else have I got to do?
Sure enough, 20 minutes later I’m rewarded with 5 minutes of some of the most incredible accapella singing I’ve ever heard. About half way through, an Asian couple near me starts “whispering” to one another and I try to give them the look of death to get them to shut up, but they don’t see me. A-nnoying! It then occurs to me that I have video on my camera and I could be recording this incredible phenomenon for all of you to hear for yourselves. But of course the minute I hit record, the final echo dies out. D’oh! Well, it’s the thought that counts, right? Just take my word for it – if you’re ever in the neighborhood, you should really check it out. It was definitely worth the 20-minute wait.
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