Visiting Siena

We took care of a few things around the house before we headed on into Siena. Bill went to town to get a haircut, something neither of us have had the nerve to do here in Europe as of yet. His haircut turned out just fine. I’m not sure if I’m ready yet….

We caught an 11 o’clock train that got us into Siena by 11:30. Train is so much simpler than car, and I think a lot less expensive as well. Roundtrip train tickets for both of us from Certaldo to Siena cost us 11,60 total. I honestly don’t think you could buy gas and pay for parking that cheap.

The Piazza de Campo is ready to go for the big race. They actually put dirt down around the outside of the Campo on which the horses run the race. Then the racetrack is barricaded on both sides, and bleachers are set on the outside. You have to buy tickets to sit in the bleachers, and those tickets were sold out long ago. But anyone can stand in the center of the Campo to watch the race. And literally thousands of people do just that. For the July 2008 race, Bill and I will be two of those people.

Our hope was to see some race practices, and some of the festivities that go on the day before the race. We didn’t have much luck, though the Contradas have their flags hanging festively. We saw the tables being set up for the huge dinners that the people of each Contrada have for “their own” the night before the race. And we heard singing coming from the backs and upstairs of restaurants in the various Contradas. We saw Contrada flags flying on the buildings around Siena. We saw little else, however.

Today will be a long day. One of the more interesting activities today is the blessing of the horses. Each Contrada has a church. Siena is divided into 17 districts, or Contradas, 10 of which have horses that run the Palio, 7 previously qualified and 3 chosen through a lottery. The Contradas participating in this July’s race will bring their horse into their church, and the priest, as part of the Mass, will bless the horse in some sort of ancient ceremony. Other activities include parades, singing, and flag throwing. Then, at 7:45 p.m., they have the BIG RACE. Three laps around the track.

Because we thought it would be more fun to actually be cheering on a horse, last night Bill and I looked at all of the Contradas participating in today’s Palio. For the record, the participants are the Contradas of the unicorn, the forest, the panther, the giraffe, the porcupine, the elephant (with a tower on its back), the eagle, the ram, the caterpillar, and the shell. After giving it a great deal of thought, considering things such as the color of the scarfs and flag we will buy, we decided on the cheer for the elephant, or Torre Contrada. We liked the red, white, and blue colors. And as loyal Republicans, the elephant had a nice look about it.