Give Pleasure a chance...you might enjoy it.

Oh my.  The obedient altar boy in my gloomy subconscious doesn't like this idea.  Pleasure was the slippery slope to eternal suffering. Pleasure was the hot stove burner you needed to avoid if you knew what was good for you.  Pleasure was for sinners.  You don't want to go there...do you?  Well...maybe... just this one time.  I can atone tomorrow.  Right now, that double bacon cheeseburger seems so difficult to walk away from!  I'll be better tomorrow.  I promise.

After more than a week of cold rainy weather here in Lucca, the sky finally turned into the cloudless deep blue that people have come to expect in Tuscany.  This was a sign from God (or maybe Satan) that I needed to indulge myself.  Put away the bicycle chains for the day and wallow in the glorious sunshine.  But how to best enjoy the day?

The answer felt obvious.  Go to Pisa and walk around the Campo dei Miracoli (field of miracles) which is the Italian description for the large complex containing the leaning tower, the cathedral, the baptistry, the cemetery, and a wonderful museum which displays many of the priceless frescoes which were created there at the site.  It's my favorite place on the planet because it's easy to get to and and so overwhelming to the senses.  

.       The Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa.  The Tower is just a bonus.

Since I was by myself, I had the luxury of taking my time to learn a little bit about the site.  One new discovery jumped out from the museum.  I had never realized that this complex was run by the Dominican monks for several hundred years.  Well...so what you should be asking.  Well, the whole place makes a lot more sense when you understand who the Dominicans were and what role they played in Mideaval Italy.  The Dominicans were the self appointed guardians of religious "orthodoxy".  When the Pope needed help keeping wayward sinners in line, he could always depend on the Dominicans to " convince" those evil strays to keep their lustful behaviors in check.  The Dominicans weren't going to permit greed, pleasure, self indulgence, and other sinful pursuits get out of hand. They were the Papal Taliban and they were handsomely rewarded for their "piety".  The Italian language even makes a delightful pun about the name  " Dominican".  They were "God's dogs"... Domini(God) +  "cani"(dogs).  The Dominicans, over the centuries, developed very effective techniques for " persuasion " .  A few minutes on the rack or on a water board could work wonders on a sinner's bad behavior.  It also helped boost contributions to fund the lavish cathedrals, baptistries, paintings, sculptures, and yes gleaming (leaning) white marble towers, that have survived long enough for me to enjoy.  

The fabulous frescoes on the walls of the cemetery building have been slowly restored over the past few decades but it doesn't take much imagination to appreciate what a stunning place this must have been 800 years ago.  Even after being bombed during WWII, the complex is still jaw dropping.  Some of the frescoes on the walls of the cemetery allow a spectacular chance to revisit what the average person must have felt when they experienced these graphic stories of life and death, heaven and hell, and things impossible to imagine in their daily lives.

       Here we have a clear picture of what happens if Satan wins

As I left the Campo dei Miracoli and headed out to catch the train back to Lucca, I couldn't help but smile at the hundreds of people out on the lawns with their dogs and their soccer balls, just taking enormous pleasure in the sunshine and warmth of the moment. Didn't they get the memo?  What if they get too carried away in their hedonism?  Have they no guilt?  Obviously NOT.

These are the people that I want to be around.  God help us if the Dominicans find us.

That's. My story.  And I'm stickin' to it.

Cheers.