I have my second midterm tomorrow, so I am going to post pictures from my trip today and tell a little about what is going on with the Palio and then I have to be a responsible student!
Right now I am listening to the people of the Giraffe Contrada singing some of their songs. I don't think they have a whole ton, or else just a few favorites, because they keep repeating. They are pretty good singers though, so it has been a nice background to my studying!
Today was the official start of the Palio festivities. Today the horses were selected and then divided among the ten racing contrade by lot. The starting position was also determined. All day, there have been drums filling every part of the city, singing, people walking in groups from their contrade wearing their banners. Every person receives a banner when they are a child. You are baptized into the church, and also into the contrada you are born in (each contrada has a fountain and has their own sort of baptism. At least some do). Everyone is given their own banner when they are "baptized" into the contrada, and this is the banner they wear to the Palio. For this reason it is not good for people outside the contrada to wear the banners even if they support the contrada. Everyone was wearing their banners today, adults and children, and you can tell some of the banners have seen many more Palios than others!
We weren't able to watch the selection of the horses because we had class today and a field trip that had us leaving Siena at exactly the time the horses were chosen. I was a bit disappointed about this. We were able to watch the recap this evening with Flora and Gianfranco, though, and I did get to see the Piazza del Campo for long enough to get a feel for the event and to take some pictures. I plan to go to the trial run tomorrow evening and/or Friday morning and evening as well, so I will still get to see some of the Prove (trials).
The crowd and the places where the chosen horses will stand for the selection in front of the Palazzo Pubblico, Piazza del Campo
The trip to San Gimignano, even if poorly timed, was very fun and very worthwhile. We went for our art history class, and so were able to see the church in San Gimignano (it's been hard for me to pronounce because there are so many syllables, it's Gee-me-ya-no, roughly) and their palazzo pubblico with the guidance of our art history professor. The entire interior of the church is covered in Frescoes depicting the old and new testament. We were not allowed to take pictures, sorry! You can probably google it if you are interested. Surprisingly, the older frescoes were of the new testament and looked newer as far as style goes even though they were older (sorry for all the old and new). This was because they were painted before the black plague struck Siena in 1348.
We climbed the tower of San Gimignano's public building and were able to see for miles.
I will post more pictures and share more stories tomorrow. Right now I have to be responsible for my midterm tomorrow.
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