Sienese Sorpresa
July 14, 2015
Siena is always a surprise. It was a complete surprise the first time I came here in 2009 with excavation friends, who decided on a whim to spend a weekend here, having very little idea of what there was to do and see. Since we had no expectations everything we discovered was wonderful and unexpected. It was fantastic.
Every time I visit something is going on. Especially in the summer when the city is constantly gearing up for or celebrating the victor of the Palio, the 90 second horse race in il Campo, the main piazza. This weekend has been no different. We arrived to find a huge celebration in the evening for the Palio winner, the Contrada del Torre, or something like that, whose mascot is the elephant. Glitter and confetti littered the main drag, so we knew we were on the heels of some massive celebration. Upon closing in on the Campo we began to hear the party in full force. It had taken over the Campo. There were various groups in different costumes and themes: sumo wrestlers, reggae, their traditional Renaissance gear, and several others that have already escaped me. Music blasted from each themed station, which didn't allow any of the sound to be heard clearly unless you were in the midst of the dancers. We watched in awe from the Campo at the insanity/glory that is Siena. Most of the partiers had scarves of the elephant contrada, so I figured it was a party for the Palio winner, which our waiter later confirmed.
Our stomachs decided it was time to stop watching and start eating, so we meandered over to Spada Forte, home of the tortellacci (giant tortellini - yum! And maybe not actually the "home," but the only place I've ever seen them), and sat down for a feast and a show. The party raged on as they showed a video in the piazza of a sort of highlight reel of the Palio. People cheered as the elephant contrada rider won at the end, energetic music blaring the whole time. As we devoured our meat and cheese platter appetizer the video eventually stopped and the party slowly dispersed. The insanity and unexpected nature of the evening felt right.
The next day was the biking day, which was equally as wonderful, but that night we continued to hear the beating of drums in the distance. A sign that there was a contrada party going on somewhere for who knows how long into the night. These seem to be a fairly normal occurrence in the summers, as I have often seen small parades of men dressed in their contrada's Renaissance garb marching down the streets with drums and other instruments. But sadly we did not find the source of the drums.
The next night, our last in Siena, we sat down to dinner at a restaurant we had scoped out the night before called Il Vinaio on Via di Camollia, near the Porta Camollia. It looked quaint and was packed with locals. Sold. When we sat down there was a group of five men in the corner who looked like there were going to be there for a while. Course after course and wine carafe after wine carafe appeared on their table. They soon broke out into song, and what's even more surprising is that they were really good! They harmonized as though they had been singing these songs since they were little, which was probably the reality of the situation. They sang what I'm assuming were folk songs, some clearly about their native city, Siena. They continued to sing as they ate and we ate and watched in awe (btw the food was insanely good, too, and incredibly cheap). More and more men sat down next to them to sing and harmonize as the night went on. From what I could translate, some songs were about their city, whereas others were definitely of the dirty-old-man variety. Something about a single bed and "giddidy giddidy gianke." I'll have to ask about that one... Or maybe it's best that I don't...
They continued to sing as we cleared our plates and sipped our wine. People were standing outside the restaurant just to listen. I avoided taking a video with my phone until one of the waiters began to take a video with his. I figured it wasn't rude/awkward after that. After about two and a half hours of listening we decided we had better give up our table (it seemed that there were people waiting) so we could let others enjoy the food and the impromptu show. It's nights and surprises like these that keep me coming back to Siena and continually realizing what a special place it is.
