Friday the city was full of people arriving for the
palio. Insulated from the crowds and, to some extent, the city itself in our small classroom, we were still keenly aware of the fact that something had happened in the morning trial race. Those of you who were able to access the link to
Siena TV saw that two riders fell and the eight year old veteran horse,
Messi died due to injuries. English coverage can be found here:
Palio Horse Dies.
Messi was the horse that the
Contrada della Chiocciola (snail) was riding, and so they will not participate in the race. It is one of the oldest
Contrade of the city (dating back to the the second half of the 15th century).
The news of the horse's death was kept quiet, but affected me deeply. Adding to the tension was an unusual storm that swept through Siena just after lunch. Large hail stones and heavy drops of rain clacked on the clay tiles outside my window with such force that I had to draw the shutters. The streets and
piazza flooded but, just as quickly the water drained away-the
piazza and most of the streets have a herringbone pattern that leads the water zigzagging along to the drains and culverts-a miraculous thing to see firsthand.
 |
| Two montonioli help prepare a feast |
The evening horse trials were cancelled-partly in response to the weather (the track was still wet) and partly, I think, due to the Messi's death. Each
Contrada had prepared an enormous outside feast to celebrate the upcoming race, honor the jockey and prominent members of the
contrada and just enjoy each other's company. We were able to get tickets to the dinner being held at the
Valdemontone (Ram)
contrada. Words will not be enough to convey this experience-I would need to activate all of your five senses to do so. So pour yourself a deep glass of wine, slice up some spicy sausage or kielbasa and gather around you people that you love and you will be sitting at the table with me.
 |
| Tables set out in the main street of Contrada Valdemontone |
No comments:
Post a Comment