The Umbrellas of Siena

The Umbrellas were out in force yesterday. It was a big day for Siena, called the Estrazione delle Contrade,  when the ten Contrade which will compete in this long-awated Palio of the 2nd of July were decided upon by the drawing of lots, separating the lucky ones from the seven that will not run this time. 

After about ten days of nothing but blue skies with temperatures creeping up towards the mid-thirties, the skies decided to open up. But nothing could dampen the spirits of Siena's inhabitants- and the excitement on the Campo had reached fever pitch by  19.00 when the windows opened on the Palazzo Pubblico and four trumpeters became visible,  sounding a fanfare which announced that the drawing of lots had been accomplished. The first Contrada Flag was now put up on the facade- It was DRAGO which caused a mighty roar to go up from that section of the crowd; a new fanfare followed  and the next flag went up until the last flag, that of the TORRE made the ten complete. 

A great evening for Siena of course, and I took part in the excitement in the company of Carol and Antonella, in whose jolly company I  managed to forget my sorrows all evening.

And what are those sorrows? Well, we have not been able to start the project yet...although I have spent interesting and creative times with Paolo, putting the last touches to the project - it is fun to watch the drawings take shape on the screen in his studio- we are ready to go! BUT alas, we have had to deal with the other people in my building who called an emergency meeting and were very worried and upset and in fact quite aggressive towards Paolo, our engineer and me- even though we have done everything by the book. They demanded new drawings and new reassurances that the work will be done according to the rules etc- which is of course no problem, but it slowed down everything yet again. 

 However, the one thing that is causing me great frustration and worry and which gives me no wish to write anything here is the fact that the all-important document from the UK government called the S1,  has not arrived although it was sent from England on the 11th of April. The arrival of this document will unleash a series of  essential events:  it  will enable me to be registered with the Italian Health Service; this  will  give me the right to register as an Italian resident which will in turn enable us to present the renovation project to the Commune,  the Town Council. 

Nothing can be done until this blasted paper arrives. I cry every afternoon when I get back from School and there is nothing in the letter box. Tomorrow I shall have to ring them again- that is a process which takes about an hour of waiting before they pick up. Even when and if this finally arrives, it will then take us at least another month before the project is given its go ahead by the Commune!

I guess it is clear why I don't feel in the mood to write here...

More Tuscan weekend delights

And it staarted with a Sagre del Fritto on Friday night- a sort of  hoe-down in a village close by when everyone gets together and cooks and eats- and then gets down to some dancing with the local band.  This was the village of one of Paolo's employees, and the  whole architecture studio - and family and friends- were invited to this great fry-up, where delicious food was enjoyed in great quantity. 

Below Paolo and daughter.

To try and mitigate some of these excesses, the Saturday was spent once more with my trekking pals, as we made another foray into the divine country around Siena- this time into what is called the Chianti Senese. 

 

Toscanizzimo!

It was a fun weekend. Well, I had expected the Friday night to be memorable, because that was the first time that I invited anyone to my new flat in 11 Casato di Sopra, but  only a few, because Paolo (my architect) thinks we are going to run into  problems with the condominio- i.e the other residents of the building concerning our intended work, and he wants me to be very, very well behaved. I did not see why I couldn't offer some friends an aperitivo in my own flat, so I went ahead. And above is my guest book , which had its first entries- I hope there will be many!

                                                      

 Carol took some inspired shots ofrom my balcony...and for the first time I saw what my view is like when the sun has set and darkness invades the city around me...

       

A few friends continued for a jolly wine flowing dinner at my present flat, Via Roma. On the Saturday I felt inclined to indulge in what my friend Cressida calls a 'robe day'...

I was rather brusquely awoken by the sounds of drums under my window again on Sunday morning, as the Valdimontone Contrada had seemingly not had enough parading last week, but were out in force again, and as usual decided to make the space just below my window the centre of their drumming and flag- throwing activities:

                                                 

Since I am always a happy spectator of these Senese events, I did not mind, and that was in fact lucky because soon they were joined by the whole of the Oca Contrada, whose turn it was to parade around town this Sunday:

Having enjoyed this interlude from  my window I went off to mass at the Cathedral, with every intention returning back to the flat and spending a useful and peaceful afternoon at home, engaging in some neglected domestic tasks like hoovering, dusting and doing the washing. That soon proved to be unfeasible, when I received an invitation from Antonella which was just too tempting: did I want to go to an Agriturismo place situated in a village called Panzano in Chianti for a wine and oil tasting? Well, who wouldn't? 

Beautiful scenery of course, with lovely Tuscan little eats to go with the Chianti Classico- I learned a new word- and these 'izzimo' superlatives always make me smile: it was all Toscanizzimo!

 

Sadness and Joy

The week began with the  sad news of the death of my dear friend John Wilkins who was a regular member of our little reading group in London during the last few years when we  read, every other week, the entire Divine Comedy. He was the distinguished journalist and editor of the Tablet, a highly respected Catholic weekly magazine for the two last decades of the last millenium. It was a privilege to know him and I will always miss his kindness, our conversations which were always such fun and so illuminating; I will miss the mischievous glint in his eye and remember  his laughter...

https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/15349/john-wilkins-former-tablet-editor-dies-aged-85

Spring has arrived, finally, after was has been described here as an unusually cold April, the last day of which I went hiking again with my Italian walking enthusiasts. This time into the splendid country of the Val di Farma.

It was quite a demanding walk of ca 15 k in steep terrain this time- but the reward was great  as we ended up soaking  in the hot springs of the Terme di Petriolo: 

And as if this was not already enough to create the perfect weekend, Sunday presented an opportunity to reconnect with my dormant equestrian self: my new friend, the American Carol- right below- picked me up on Sunday morning at the Porta Romana and drove us  to her riding club close by Volterra, where she keeps her lovely Hunky- an apt name for her handsome white and very big horse! After her private dressage  lesson with the Austrian proprietor below, we went off for a perfect lunch in a little village Osteria... wondering what we have done to deserve all of this ...

                                                     

And that was not all- once back in Siena I met up with Satomi for an aperitivo at the Campo and then moved on to the Duomo where there was a concert in honour of St. Catherine of Siena, whose anniversary was being celebrated. However, I had missed the main attraction in the morning which was, apparently, a procession involving all the Contradas in full regalia, carrying a reliquary containing the thumb of St Catherine through the streets of Siena. Hmmm, nevermind...