Sea Organs

A choir-friend of mine, who happens to be a very avid world traveller, is presently touring eastern Europe, and he periodically sends his friends back in the States updates on his adventures. (He really ought to have a blog! It's excellent reading.) There was something in his latest email that I thought was especially interesting, so I figured my blog readers would find it interesting, too.

Quote:

One feature most cities developed in the 19th century and continued to modify is the riva, or coastal promenade. The one at Zadar is similar to others in that it is a long, sweeping walkway along the sea with palm trees and benches, particularly employed by locals and tourists for strolling and greeting on warm evenings. Zadar recently added something unique that brings people out at all hours: a sea organ. What’s that, you ask? It is actually a series of organ-type pipes under the concrete walkway laid at such angles so that the shifting water of the sea creates air pressure to make them sound. They worked it out so that no matter what the tide level is or what the wave or winds are, some pipes will be sounding and others will be silent. Like an auditory kaleidoscope, it is always doing something but never the exact same twice. I found it very interesting and rather hypnotic. It almost makes the inanimate sea come alive.

Isn't that fascinating?