The Palio di Siena is one of the biggest events of the year in Italy. It is held twice during the year, once on July 2nd and the final race is held August 16th. This is a major event to Italians and tourists (such as myself). They take 10 horses and race them around a track built in the Piazza. They race around the track 3 times, which in the end takes about 1 minute. Each horse and rider wears clothing that is from the region that they represent for the race. This has been going on for hundreds of years now and more tradition than anything. From what I understand there is no prize won, just bragging rights I guess.So I was at the train station at 9:15 thinking I was going to catch the 9:40 only to find that I had just missed the previous one and the next wasn't running until 11:15. you would think that even though it was a Sunday and they have fewer trains that they would make a few extra runs because of the race but I guess not. So I got to the train early enough that I was able to get a seat. Many people weren't as lucky and had to either stand or sit in the aisle ways for the 1 1/2 hour trip.
I arrived in Siena at 12:45ish, grabbed a map and a bus ticket and tried to find my way to the bus stop. Ended up getting a little lost, which actually turned out great because I forgot some things at home that I needed and I stumbled across a grocery store. Ok, so for a side note... Since my sunburn incident I have been loading up with sunscreen and have bought 2 bottles since the incident (which means I had 3 in total). Do you think I remembered to pack one for the day? Nope! so I had to buy a 4th bottle of sunscreen. On a happy note though, I now have a 30 and a 50 in a lotion and a 20 and a 25 in a spray so I am set for anything that can happen now. ;)
Found the bus stop by about 1:30 only to be told by some people waiting that they were going straight to the races as they close the entrance at 4 (even though the race didn't start until 7). So I just followed everyone straight to the Piazza. I was there by about 2pm and had a seat on a bench. I thought I was laughing because there were about 4-5thousand people already standing in the center of the race track and I couldn't figure out why my seat wasn't taken yet. Well about 20min later I got kicked out. They were reserved. I also figured out that those seats (just wooden benches) were going for 300euros a seat! lol can you imagine?!? Who would pay for that?
So I new I was going to be locked in the center along with everyone else so I figured I should run to the washroom before I get locked in (there was nothing available in the center). Found a bathroom and had to pay 1 euro to use it. This is the second time now that I have had to pay to pee. Gotta love Europe. They know how to make money. They charge 2-3euros for a bottle of water and then charge you to pee afterwards. :) On the way towards the center though I came across 5 bulls that were just standing in the walk way with guys holding on them like these guys were walking dogs. I actually was a little scared because I had to walk about 2 feet from them and they were huge! I think WAY bigger than our bulls back home. However, no one else was scared as little kids and adults were petting them, it was quite a sight.Found a spot in the center and ended up next to a couple about my age. He was from Italy and she was living here now teaching English. It was so great to meet them. I stood next to them for about 2 hours and then they closed the gates and the parade started. It was a little after 4 by this point. It was very very hot out and the center had about 5-6 thousand people by this point. There was still lots of room and I still had a fairly decent view of a chunk of the track. Everyone kept saying that the area we were standing was actually a really good spot as you had a great view at race time. So there we stood.
Then all of a sudden the parade finished (a little after 5) and they opened up the gate again. However instead of opening up all of the gates (probably 20 around the whole center) they opened up just one... right in front of us. So for the next hour and half or so I had about 15 thousand people walk by me. Everyone was disgustingly sweaty and I could tell... trust me. When you get that many people in that small of spot there is nowhere for you to go but closer to the one beside you. As well, because I was on the edge of the walking path everyone was being very pushy and I actually got pushed around quite a bit. Luckily though everyone behind held me up as I couldn't move my feet so when I was pushed back the people behind had to push me back straight. It was a little ridiculous. I saw about 3 fights break out which I still wonder why. I mean really, there was nowhere for anywhere to go and everyone was pushing everyone, what good is fighting going to do.
So there I was, gates finally closed up at about 5 to 7, and at least 20,000 people crammed in like sardines. My feet, you can only image were throbbing in pain at this point. I occasionally tilted my head up to the sky to try and get just a smidgen of fresh air. It was so smelly and sweaty in there. Shudder..... They finally brought the horses out and had to line them up properly for the race to actually start. At about 7:30 they had the first false start. 7:50 came the second and by about 8:15 was the third. Just as the third false start was announced over 20,000 people started booing and screaming (what I can imagine was not good things) in Italian. Finally at 8:30 the race started which I think actually lasted less than a minute in the end. I held up my camera (because I hadn't been able to see the track for about 3 hours at that point) and tried to randomly take some pictures. You can actually see the picture below that I managed to get during the race. The one above is just one I took of the crown as we were waiting out the false starts.
So needless to say, I didn't actually see the race. I stood in what can only be called an Italian mosh pit with 20,000 sweaty, stinky, drunk people for over 6 hours and never actually seen any of the actual race. I had many many old men feel me up along the way and there was absolutely nothing I could about it because my feet were stuck in one spot and my arms were up by my face, so that was a extra added bonus. ;) As soon as the race was done, they opened the gate and grabbed onto Andy's (the girl I met) arm and we ran out of there as fast as we could. They offered to drive me to the train station so that I wouldn't miss my train as the last one back to Florence was at 9:15pm and it was about a 45min walk from the piazza to the station.I managed to find one of the last available seats on the train and thought I was home free. Well again, I shouldn't be so lucky. Beside me sat a girl (I'm guessing about 16) and her boyfriend sat across from her. Well for the first 45min to an hour of the train ride, they groped each other across the seats so that was great. Then, for the last 30min or so I got to hear and see them making out. It was a real treat. :{ I kept my Ipod on and turned up the music as loud as I could and tried to have a cat nap or two just to avoid these two. Got home and the first thing I did before anything else was take a shower. It was well needed.
So all in all it was a very interesting day filled with many firsts again. I never actually seen anything of Siena and now feel I need to go back as I have been told it is a very nice city to see. Would I ever go and see this race again? Not if my life depended on it. lol Am I glad I went? Hell ya! lol Sounds strange I know but it was an experience I will never in my life forget.
Temp high: still high 30's
Gelato: n/a
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