Aly in Italy: Palio di Siena

On Monday, we left for Siena at noon. Once again, I was doing an excursion through the program bus2alps. We went to Siena for a special event. It's called the Palio di Siena. Basically, it's a horse race in which different contrade (districts) compete against each other. There are 17 districts in Siena and two horse races per year: July 2nd and August 16th. The two races represent two different flags and titles. For the race we saw, 8 of these districts were competing and the other 9 will compete in August. The rivalry in Siena is intense. Even though only a few streets mark the territory of one district, it's extreme. The people in Siena have a lot of pride in their district. They typically marry within their district (which gets a little sketch I assume). Siena is absolutely beautiful, but what really made this day was the event for sure. I thought that watching a soccer game with local people would give me a true picture of local people. But, the soccer game was nothing compared to this horse race. My words can't even live up to the excitement. Pictures thousands of people in the center of a piazza squished together for hours in the hot son. Old people. Teens. Babies. All are together for this yearly event. Everyone must gather in the center of the piazza by 4 o'clock because that is when the gates will close. At 5, a parade begins. All locals seem to be involved in this parade. They wear costumes from the time period when this race began. They hold flags of their district. They sing. The parade lasts for two hours. Then, the horses come out. Jockeys ride bare back. The jockeys and the horse were picked outside of Siena so that if harm came to a horse or Jockey, the rivalry wouldn't get too heated. All of a sudden, the entire piazza goes silent. Even the people hanging out of their windows and standing on balconies are suddenly hushed. A booming voice calls out the lineup of the horses. The horses can't keep still. They're overwhelmed by the number of people. For some reason, one horse won't take its place. I look around for some sort of answer, and a guy tells me that the horse won't line up because the jockey doesn't like his place in the lineup. We wait. Then, the horse does a false start and the horses must order themselves again. This can take hours. All horses must be lined up perfectly. All of a sudden, the horses sprint past me. I guess the race started! The race is three laps and last a minute and half. This is Siena's version of "running with the bulls" in Spain or the Kentucky Derby. One of the jockeys falls off his horse and is thrown into the crowd... the horse is still running. Supposedly, as long as the horse has his hat on, he can potentially win the race altogether. It's not about the jockey, really. It's about the horse. Even though none of my friends and I really know what is going on, we are screaming our heads off. We're cheering for whatever horse we like the best. One of my tour guides with bus2alps studied in Siena for a year in the Giraffe district. So, most of us were cheering for that district. The Wave district ends up winning. Immediately, an old nonna and nonno (old people, grandparents) are shoving their way past me. Mothers are hugging their babies while crying. Babies are crying. Young boys are crying. Everyone is crying and hugging each other out of joy... everyone who won, that is. Everyone who lost is depressed and angry, arms crossed over their crest. They're shouting words (probably cussing) the wave district out. Everyone is running out and jumping over the fence. My friend Joey and this guy we just met named Shaq jump the fence and are practically stampeded by all the hysterical people. We lose them. I'm left with Madison, Emily, Livia, and Vince. We don't really know what to do from here. We're so absorbed in the action. We can't take our eyes off the local people who are weeping with joy. It had been 27 years since the Wave district last won. No wonder they are so happy.
The winning district has a huge party all night. Everyone is served free champagne. We go to the district and continue to watch everything. The winning party moves from church to church singing songs while crying and hugging each other. The smell of food in the district is beyond what my senses can handle. It smells so good, I want to just take a bath in whatever they are making. We find a small tabacchi shop and get some sandwiches and then gelato. I can peach and strawberry gelato which was so refreshing after a long hot day.
It was definitely an experience to remember. One of the best days of my life. Such a culture shock. We were thrown into the middle of it. I thought I would have felt uncomfortable and awkward. But, I just went with it.
We saw the Duomo as well. It was beautiful. The black and white marble were very unique. Something i'd never seen before. I took lots of pictures! So Dad will be happy hopefully.

- oh one last thing. If any of you all have seen the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, I heard there is a scene in the movie that takes place at the Palio di Siena. James Bond is chasing some guy through the piazza during the horse race and goes underground into some tunnel. Anyway, I just thought that was cool :)