Ciao!
This is an
interesting post because I finally get to talk about the party in the contrada where I actually live! I only found out a
couple of weeks ago that I live right on top of Contrada del Drago’s Società so
I’m pretty much in the middle of it all and I was happy to just look out of my
kitchen window into the festivities.
On the
Saturday I was tired from the night before but I was efficient enough to get up
and make some pancakes for breakfast (they’ve become my addiction lately) and
then went to Conad to grab some extra things and did some cleaning before
hitting the gym. It was really empty as it was Saturday lunch time and I had a
great workout. I have now downloaded Spotify (I still don’t understand why it
took me so long to do it) and have some new music to keep me motivated in the
gym when it’s so hot outside I’m physically melting woop-woop.
As I walked
to the gym I noticed they were setting up all the food stalls and games along
my road, Via del Paradiso, for the contrada dinner later that night so it was
pretty cool to see the whole process. I spent a big part of the day just
looking out of my window! So after having a shower (and literally having to
unscrew and put the shower doors together again from scratch because they had
popped off their rails), I did some cooking and laundry before heading out for
a walk. I knew the battesimo dei
contradaioli was that afternoon so I walked to Piazza Matteoli and it was
so busy! They were christening the new members by the statue in the courtyard
so a lot of people were around but I managed to snap a few pics. I then decided
to walk down towards San Domenico and I discovered a secluded garden which is
usually closed off – the views are absolutely amazing! On my way back home I
bumped into the next door neighbour who actually told me that the capo of the contrada lives in our
building and that the most important members dine in the courtyard while the
rest of the people “come noi due” eat in the street – so cliquey. I spent the
rest of the day planning the week and writing on the blog before getting ready
to go out. It was amazing when the party started as the road got super busy and
there were people singing and it was great! Megan and Vero came over and we had
a cheeky photo session and a couple of drinks before heading to Chiocciola for
the party in the garden. Ody joined us again and we had a tonne of fun dancing.
I preferred the music from the previous night but this one was just as fun. We
then decided to hit Al Cambio – typical Saturday- and were so energized we kind
of tried to convince Tsubasa to keep the party going in his house but it was a
failed attempt so it was pizza slice for my tummy and time to go to bed as the
sun was coming out.
On the
Sunday I got woken up by the drums of my contrada downstairs but I slept
through it and then had breakfast, did some cleaning and showered. I was super
tired from lack of sleep, but I attempted to film my ‘In The Heights’ audition
(and failed because my voice was not collaborating) and then did some studying
until 6ish, when I met Megan in the Piazza for the Estrazione delle Contrade
for the Palio della Madonna di Provenzano. The roads were packed with
contradaioli singing their hymns and the Piazza kept getting busier and busier
by the minute. We scored a spot near Nannini’s from which we could see the
Palazzo Pubblico where they were going to pull out the flags. There are 17
contradas in Siena but only 10 can run each race so what they do is they
alternate six and draw the other 4 by luck. The atmosphere was buzzing and
there was also the Drago parade at the same time with the flags being waved
around the whole piazza because of the celebrations of Santa Caterina. It was
amazing to see the reaction of the crowd when, after the three trumpeters
finished their call, they brought each chosen flag out of the window to join
the others. People would cheer and boo and shout and scream and sing. It was
insane and I loved the feeling in the air. In the end, the contradas running in
the July Palio this year are Pantera, Onda, Leocorno, Torre, Civetta, Selva,
Aquila, Tartuca, Giraffa and Bruco, in this order. That’s three rivalries which
will make the atmosphere even more incredible. Sadly Drago didn’t come out but
that means they will definitely run in July next year (guess I’ll have to come
back, huh?)… After the Estrazione finished the Drago parade did a tour around
the Piazza so Megan and I made our way to the front line to snap some pics. It
is a crazy tradition- those flags look hard to handle and the clothing they
wear is so interesting. There were boys of all ages, from as little as 6
handing out brochures to older members, through to old contradaioli with drums,
all male though (sexist, much?). However, I think the tradition is so unique
I’m glad I’ve been here to experience it! After the drums and flags came the
cohort of newly baptised contradaioli followed by the rest of the members of
the contrada, singing their inno. It
was absolutely great!
Once the
parade was done Megan went home and I decided to sit on the Piazza and chill
for a bit until the mass dispersed. I got back home around half eight and had a
relaxing night in.
On Monday I
was adamant to be productive so I got up at half nine and got ready to go to
the ESN office to buy the tickets for the Secret Party on the Friday and then
went to the Library to do some studying. There was no Internet which meant no
distractions but also I couldn’t look up any doubts I had… I did manage to go
through quite a bit of content before heading back home for lunch before my
cinema class (boring as per). I treated myself to some ricciarelli on my way
home (it was a whopping 30 degrees outside and I was literally melting) and
then I read some coursework before going to Power Pump and spending the rest of
the evening reading my French book, ‘Joyeaux Noël’ by Carrion. I managed to
finish it this week and I really enjoyed it –easy read in an attempt to keep up
my French.
On Tuesday
morning Megan was hosting an English breakfast lunch at hers so I went there a
little bit earlier to help her cook as I hadn’t been able to do the groceries
with them. We were a lovely group –
Vero, Megan, Ody, Tsubasa and an Italo-Swiss girl names Natalie who I hadn’t
met before. It was an amazing breakfast – I was starving but it was worth the
wait. We teamed our efforts and everybody helped and we had a long chat about
travelling and living abroad and Swiss chocolate. I really like the little
group, I believe because we have different backgrounds and have all lived
abroad before. We seem to have similar interests and get along really well.
Next date? Paella at mine.
I left them
at around 2 to go to Sala Rossa to study for a couple hours and I fortunately
managed to get some work done because this week has been kind of useless in
terms of advancing with actual revision (which is why I plan on only studying
this coming week and partying in the weekend). I left Sala Rossa at around five
and did some cooking and planning before showering and getting ready to go to
the Piazza del Campus meeting at 8pm. It was quite long but PdC have organized
a book crossing event for next week which should be good and I have an article
about the ESN due to be published which I guess will be my second and sadly
last contribution to the student newspaper as they are soon stopping for the
summer. Once the meeting was finished I went back home for dinner and got ready
to join Megan, Tsubasa and Ody and go to Club23 on the Piazza. I’d never been
there before but it was their closing night so better late than never. It was
pretty empty for it being midnight though and I wasn’t digging the music so I
decided to call it a day and go home.
On
Wednesday morning I made pancakes for breakfast (do you see a pattern here?)
and went over to Carta Zucchero which is that book shop café which was closing
down and they had a sale of books for 1 euro or less so I decided to go get a
couple books for myself and for the book crossing event. I then went to Conad
and decided to record my audition for ‘In The Heights’. To be fair, I hate how
I sing but oh well if you don’t try you are definitely not getting a part
anyway. I’d love to be ensemble but will know next week at some point I guess.
After lunch I did some work and reading before going to Power Pump. It was such
a good workout but it killed me. Between the heat and the reps, I think I’m
going to pass out each time lol Then it was shower time and I was meeting Megs
to go to the aperitivo at Conad but because it looked like all they were
bringing out was pizza we decided to try out an actual restaurant. We went to
l’Antica Trattoria l’Aquila and the food was really good – don’t be deceived by
its touristy appearance! I got spaghetti carbonara with zucchini and a side of
roasted veggies and Megs finally got round to eating her lasagna, also with a
side of veggies. The food was amazing, the weather was lovely so we sat outside
and we were so full by the end! We then went to Megs’ to get ready and drink
some tea before hitting the Piazza with Ody and Vero. We went to Al Cambio and
had a tonne of fun dancing despite the place being quite empty for a Wednesday.
I swear, that place is not amazing but the music is bomb. I’m going to miss it
when we leave!
Thursday
was the 1st of June. Where has time gone? I only have about two
weeks before I finish my exams and then I will be enjoying the sweet, sweet
life of Italian vacations until I go back home. Sadly a lot of people are
leaving quite soon but Megan is staying around and Jess will be in Florence so
I have travel buddies yay! On Thursday I woke up early but was quite tired so I
wasn’t as efficient as I was planning to be… I replied to some emails and sent
in the audition as well as having lunch before going to cinema class. It was
boring as usual but at least we only have one more week to go! I definitely
need to start studying for it though because my test is on the 15th…
After class I went to Conad to pick up some lemonade and went to Jess’. Megan
and Vero came not long after and we had Pimm’s and pineapple in the balcony
while sun tanning and catching up. It was absolutely lovely! It was funny
because Vero took a picture of me which I think embodies my Erasmus experience:
Siena rooftops, sunbathing while trying not to melt or burn and drink in hand.
Can’t complain, can I? After that I came back home and studied for a bit before
dinner. Vero and I were going to go to Drago that night but we decided to pass
because we were already planning on going out Friday and Saturday anyway. It turned
out well because I got some sleep and actually managed to go to Drago anyway
because I had mixed up the day for Giraffa (it’s next week not yesterday!).
The 2nd
of June is public holiday in Italy as they celebrate the Republic Day. I
intended on going jogging in the morning but decided to sleep and instead I
studied and did my laundry and sorted out my wardrobe. I have a lot of clothes
I can’t actually wear anymore because it’s way too hot… After lunch I went to
the Piazza to meet with Dario and interview him for my article for Piazza del
Campus. It was insanely hot and I managed to score a spot in the only square of
shade available at 3pm. He was really nice and we spoke for like a quarter of
an hour which took me ages to transcribe but I’ve more or less finished the
article now which is perfetto. After
dinner I got ready and met up with Vero in the Piazza to drink. It was super
busy! I reckon because it was public holiday but I swear there were so many
people! We chatted and sipped our trusty rosé before going to Gramsci to take
the bus to the Secret Party. They’d only announced the location a couple of
hours earlier and – believe me – it was such a fun night! The first bus was
full so we had to wait for the next one. We were chatting to Sergio whilst
trying to sneak through the crowd and also saw Ivo, Fredericke and the rest of
the big international Erasmus group. We were so pumped for the party! I had an
absolute blast and it was definitely worth going. The location was outdoors and
even through it wasn’t particularly full, the crowd was big enough – a great
mix of friendly faces and unknown people. A lot of drinks were drunk, a lot of
great songs were danced, a lot of drama happened and I had an amazing night. It
is definitely up there with the best nights out in Siena. We didn’t want to
leave, but we couldn’t miss our bus back. And then we were hungry but all the
places were closed so we ended up wandering around 4:30am Siena, empty as you
would expect, and trying to unwind before going home. We saw the sunrise before
going to bed. What a ball of a night.
On Saturday
I was hungover so I was completely wiped out for the day; definitely not ideal
with exams looming in the near future. I drank a lot of water and had some food
so I eventually felt better. I didn’t do much: clean, cook, download some new
gym music… I attempted to write the blog post but decided taking a nap would be
more worthwhile. After dinner I got ready and went to Emilia’s as Ellie and Sam
from Bath were in Siena visiting so I wanted to come round to say hi. I stayed
there for a bit before going to the Piazza to join Vero and Ody before heading
to Drago. The contrada was absolutely packed and we barely recognized anybody.
The music was not really our taste and the gardens are strangely structured in
tiers so it is hard to get around. We danced for a bit before making the executive
decision to head to Al Cambio where we knew we’d dig the music for sure. It was
quite empty when we arrived which was to be expected as the contrada party
hadn’t finished but we danced anyway and it eventually filled up. We had fun
dancing; Antonia was there and so were Andrea and another Spanish girl, the
girl from Nicaragua and Elena the Greek girl. We saw Tsubasa and Pomodorino boy
and all the usual faces at Al Cambio on a Saturday. After that Vero and I were
starving so we got our good old Lievito Madre pizza slice to enjoy on the
Piazza del Campo before heading home.
This
morning I slept in and was woken up by the Giraffa drums of their parade going
down my street. I plan on getting some work done so I’ve been writing up this
post (so much has happened in a single week!) and I’m staying home and doing
some studying this afternoon. I want to go to bed early to catch up on sleep!
Next week I
think I’ll potentially go to Florence to visit the Museo dell’Accademia and
maybe the Duomo and I will spend most of my time studying which won’t make for
a particularly thrilling post but I will soon be free of exams! There is the
book crossing event too and Connie is coming to Siena on Saturday so we’ll
definitely be going out. The plan is consistent study throughout the week in
order to have fun over the weekend! Let’s see if I stick to it!
A presto!
Zoe
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