Siena: A Beautiful Community

Hello Blog People!

Last week, the school took us to Siena for our weekly trip. I wasn't expecting a lot, but came back with tons of knowledge about Siena and a real appreciation for the city and its culture. In all honesty, it was a week ago and some details may be fuzzy, but I took notes so I can share those with you. The trip was very interesting, and I cannot wait to tell you about it.

The first thing you should know about Siena is that it is still kind of a Medieval city but in the best way. The city is broken into 17 contradas, all named after animals, that are kind of like clans. A person's identity is based on what Contrada they are a part of. Every part of life focuses on 2 horse races called the Palio (PAH-lee-o) that happen in July and August. This is a big deal in the city, everything focuses around it. They even keep track of years based on who won the Palios that year. All of this is just a part of normal life. Most people have grown up in a contrada and life outside of it would be weird. We got to take a tour and learn a little bit more in-depth about the Contrada and the Palio on our tour.

We took a bus to Siena and walked to meet with Dario Castagno, a member of the Caterpillar Contrada and our tour guide for the day. He is a published and best-selling author who moved to Siena when he was an adult. He has been giving tours of Chianti for years, but now just gives the tour of Siena for us ACA students. I’m grateful that he still agrees to do this because I learned a lot.

We took into two different groups. One went for a tour of the headquarters of the caterpillar and the other got to tour the city for a few hours. I started in the tour group, and he showed us around. There are display rooms, a kitchen, a big dining room, and a GIANT yard in the back, we couldn’t see the end of it. All of this is owned by the Contrada. We also learned each contrada has its own church, chapel, fountain, patron saint, and meeting hall. In the summer, the contrada meets every night for a joint dinner, and everyone goes to their own contrada, even if they are married. The actual assignment of contradas at birth or when someone comes in is complicated, but what I took away was that they don’t mix. There is no personal discrimination between contradas; if someone dated or married someone from another contrada, that is perfectly alright. But as they were married or while they were dating, they would go to their own contradas for dinner. It is also possible for kids to go to different contradas than their parents, and that works out because they have a lot of activities for kids. Everyone, of all ages, helps out at the dinners.

We were given a tour of the meeting hall and taught about the culture in the Contrada, some of the history and gifts given to the Contrada, and pieces of its history. For most of the tour, we were taught the different aspects of the Palio, how it's run, the process for getting ready for the Palio, and how it impacts the community. We even watched a little video of the Palio, just to see the excitement that comes from this event. Overall, here are some of the facts I wrote down:

-Rivalries are common in all the contrabass. Just about every contrada has at least one rival, but they also have a couple allies. Usually, the contrada's neighbor is their rival. When the time comes around for the Palio, it is common to have fights break out from people in rival contradas. But there are some rules: no fighting longer than 5 minutes, no face punches, and most hits are on the top of the head. Once you fight, there's no animosity, and you just go about your day.

- When a contrada wins a Palio, they celebrate for 2 months. They take the flag that they won, made specifically for the Palio, of the Madonna, and it is kept in the contra's chapel for 2 months. There is a parade every night for those two months in celebration of the victory.

- The actual Palio takes place in the city center, which is covered in dirt to make it easier for the horses to race. There are only 10 spots, so not every contrada races every Palio. Everyone crams into the center to watch the race; everywhere is packed with people.

- Most of the race is built on luck. The contrabass competing, the horse the contradas get, and the actual race are all based on luck. Sometimes the obvious wins out, other times it's an upset.

- All the riders ride bareback, and it only matters which HORSE, not the rider, crosses the finish line first. Riderless horses have won the Palio before. The riders are brought in for the race, mostly from Sardinia. There is some strategy when it comes to the jockeys and how they perform on the day. If you have a good horse, then the jockey will try to win. But if you don't, you get your jockey to try to sabotage or make deals with the other jockeys. This is not illegal. They can even whip their opponents while racing, but NOT the horse.

- It costs millions of dollars to race in a Palio. It is not a financial benefit, but rather a loss, to win actually. But the tradition and the honor of winning carries it on to this day.

I still have a whole note in my Notes app with more details about the lives of the people in Siena. All together, it was fascinating to learn so much and to see a way of life that is similar and also different. Feel free to comment with any questions you have, and I can try to answer them.

Anyway, after our tour, we met up with the other half and we went to the city center. We were let loose for lunch, so a group of girls and I went to a pasta place. It was a cute family restaurant, and I got a Ravioli dish which was very good. Most of the other girls got pesto pasta, which I tried and also thought was delicious. After that, we got gelato and then met with our group again.

We did a quick little activity before breaking off again: a mini Palio. Melissa, or director of the trip, offered 15 euros to whoever won a race around the center. Just looking at the center made me want to run, so I took the opportunity. Only two other guys raced with me, and I obviously did not win. But I did strike a deal with the guys before we started, jockey style, and we all agreed to split the money. So I got 5 euros for running and it was kinda fun. (Thanks Josue!) At one point I ran through a group of older tourists who cheered me on as I ran, and that made me smile.

After that we were given tickets of a Cathedral in Siena. It also gave us passes to a museum and a few other buildings. We didn't get a lot of time to explore, but we did go to a panoramic view on top of a building and it was GORGEOUS! Pictures cannot describe the beauty you see when you look across the Tuscan hills and see all the little Italian buildings. It is breathtaking.

We stayed at the look out for a bit and had to rush back to the meeting spot around 4 (when we had to meet). When we got there, no one was there. A lot of people were running late, so Melissa took a big group of us who were ready to get hot chocolate. I got to play waitress for a little bit and it was fun. I kinda miss it. Here's one thing you should know. PSA: Hot chocolate in Europe is different from hot chocolate in America. It is not really a drink drink, but more of a not fully hardened pudding. If you order hot chocolate, (or cioccolato calda), do not expect something you can walk and sip. It's a little easier eating it with a spoon. And it's very rich. I split one with my friend Anna and it was enough for me.

We made our way back to the bus with the group and then we rode back to Villa. It was honestly a very good trip. I didn't know anything about Siena before we went, and I learned a lot. It was a beautiful city, with quite a bit to do. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm grateful we got to go through it as students and not as tourists. It helps me appreciate the individual cultures that make up the country of Italy.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about this trip. Pictures from the trip are below. Make sure to leave any questions or comments down below.

Ciao,

Ellie