Day 3 Race Day
Big day today – Race Day – that’s why we are here; but how to plan the day? We know we have to be at the Grand Hotel at 4pm for a City Tour and to be shown our seats on the Balcony Casata.
Morning Walk
We also had to complete the tour of the Duomo complex, we had only seen three of the five sights on out ticket. The Baptistry and the Crypt were to be seen today.
Arriving, as usual, we relaxed and waited. The door opened dead on 10am and we entered a large room, all walls heavily frescoed and in the centre was an impressive Baptismal Font. Taking many pics from all angles, I had a few problems with camera settings yesterday and wanted to make amends today.
Moving on to the Crypt (quote from wikipedia – “Also at this level under the Duomo is a crypt excavated beginning in 1999, which contains relics of Siena’s key patron saints and frescoes from the 12th and 13th centuries. A small glass-covered opening in the floor of the left transept peers down into it. This view is about four feet deep you would see it if we had 3D!
Up the steps and into another door where we had the ticket marked for the last time we entered another cool space – temp and sights.
It is hard to believe that the frescoes have survived, if they did, without being restored in 1999, for Centuries.
Leaving the cool of the Crypt it was coffee time. Find a place to sit down, we did a few streets down the hill and did the Italian thing – pay first and then sit down outside to watch the crowds. This Cafe was opposite a place we marked on the map because it was a spice store. Doreen had informed me that the last of the spices bought in Italy in 2014 had just been finished before we left.
Afternoon at the Race
So the big time had arrived – we were going to see what we had paid for – a seat at the Race. Well not quite! The setup was simple for the Palio Festival; three days of qualifying for the Contradas that had a place in the Race and then the Race on the fourth day. Today is the final qualifier. The time when all the bugs are worked out between the horse and jockey. But don’t tell the crowd that, it is just as big and exuberant as the real thing on Race Day.
We had paid for a spot on a balcony at one of the apartments that overlook the Square. Part of the price was a trip to one of the Contrada Museums. Each Contrada has its own Church and Museum. The Museum holds relics dating back a couple of hundred years that celebrate the successes of the jockeys and horses in that time. This Museum was the Contrada of the “Goose”. AS I have explained before in our travels there are two types of tour guides – those who will not explain all and those who do. We had a guide today
that wanted to talk, unfortunately with a strong accent, so understanding was tough. But she did a competent job and we understood all of the details – many details of the Contrada of the “Goose” and its place in the Palio.
The Museum, attached to the Church was an interesting place as it was as old as the hills – the Etruscan Hills that is. Some of the rooms in the Museum had been built from Etruscan caves/tombs.
The tour then proceeded back to the Palio area where we were shown the address of the apartment/balcony. Arriving early we then hung around in the crowds and ran the gauntlet with the incoming horses and their supporters. Feeling abit hungry a panini was purchased from a local shop – the crustiest panini ever. I would hope that the bread had been fresh that morning but had soon hardened into the consistency of a brick – the salami was very good though!
But back to the event. On the balcony we could see the complete Square and the antics of the crowd. The middle of the Square – which was a free viewing area – was not completely packed but it will be tomorrow. The bleachers were lined with supporters and the kids from the Contradas were in the VIP seats.
The whole experience took about 45 minutes as the track had to be cleared of people and then the VIPs had to walk to their seats and the Carabieneri Horse Troop had a ceremonial charge to open the entry of the horses and jockeys. The major part of qualifying is the practising of the Start. Horses line up behind a rope and jockey for position. This takes time and sometimes prolongs the start by as much as 45 minutes. Today was a good start. Nobody really pushed themselves and there was little interaction between the jockeys – the nastiness/competitiveness will come tomorrow.
So in two minutes we had seen what we came for – the Race and its pageantry. Tomorrow we will watch the real thing somewhere sucking back drinks.
Rushing out out of the balcony we had a restaurant to catch. Reservations have to be made in this week for most places. We had spotted where we would eat earlier in the day it was just a a matter of getting there before anybody else with reservations – we had none. Mission accomplished we ate well, met a couple from America and enjoyed the rest of the evening.