Happy new year . . . from a city that likes to get in early

Worshippers don medieval costumes in Pisa’s cathedral this week during a celebration for New Year’s day, welcoming 2013 nine months before the rest of the world. The Tuscan city, once a mighty maritime republic which aimed to rival Rome, has revived a tradition dating back centuries, when Pisa had its own calendar which began nine months before Christmas to mark the miraculous conception of Jesus.