The Colour of Heaven and the Strength of the Sea

or: IL COLORE DI CIELO E LA FORZA DEL MARE

The motto of ONDA, and there has been a lot of that blue (and white) lately...Here above is the final flourish in what has been a seemingly never-ending celebration of Onda's July Palio win last year. It was called the 'Cena del Piatto' and the plate in question is the one that is carried above by the Onda Capitano and the successful jockey Carlo Sanna, AKA Brigante. It is inscribed on the back with the year and the contrada who won it and it was now handed over to the authorities who will in turn hand it over to the next July winners. 

I had these two lovely companions to the dinner: Alexander and Enrico, both students of Italian literature here at the University of Siena. 

And yesterday was the ONDA Giro, the yearly outing  to the other parts of town to greet and give homage to  the other Contradas in a ceremonial celebration: Here we are at the Contrada of Leocorno, who meets us with one of their alfieri.

And here at the Contrada of the Civetta (the Little Owl).

It is a long and rather exhausting day to follow the cortege through the winding steets of Siena to the deafening sound of the marching drums. But also an exhilarating and moving experience. Although the Sienese are not really any more religious than anyone else as far as I can make out, there is nevertheless a strong cult of Mary here, that is reawakened every year when Palio is around the corner. And for the Contrada giro to  greet the other neighbourhoods, there is the obligatory and joyous entry into the chapel of each Contrada, when a hymn to the Virgin is sung by everyone in front of a picture of the Madonna and child. This is an ancient and beautiful hymn unique to Siena, sung in Latin which they call the TE DEUM, although it is not the same as what normally carries that name. It asks the protection of the Virgin against enemies and salvation at the time of resurrection:

https://www.ilpalio.siena.it/5/contrade/tedeum

And in the middle of all this ONDA involvement  I decided also to take a day off to enjoy the blue and white of  my favourite seaside establishment in Castiglione della Pescaia: The Bagno Castiglionese, where the sun was hot but the water still quite cool and refreshing. 

But back at ONDA again, there was another street dinner along our major street the Via Giovanni Dupre, and a whole series of evenings in the ONDA garden, to one of which I took Hettie and also Sanjay, here for a few days. And this is of course only the beginning of all things PALIO: the stands are beginning to go up around the Piazza, soon the tufo will be arriving to transform the most beautiful 'square' in the world into the crazy racetrack it will become on the 2nd of July...
 

Swedish Interlude

 It has been too long. But things have happened that must be recorded: the most important of these my recent trip to Sweden, where my dear friend Pia married her Farz in a ravishing 18th c chapel on the West coast, near the town of Halmstad: 

                 Pia was with me on that auspicious journey to Mali for New Year  2005/6, which became the  launching pad for my new life in Mali, since we visited Djenne, and  I decided to go back eventually. It was Pia's idea to go to Mali, and 8 of us went on our adventurous journey not only to Djenne, but through the northern part of Mali to places totally beyond reach today. 

At Pia's wedding I met up with some dear friends I had not seen since that journey, and others I had not seen for a very long time, as well as making many new friends. Much fun was had by all, and although it was cold and it rained most of the time, a clement deity decided that on the Wedding Day itself the sun shone down on us from a brilliant blue sky. 

                                      

                                       I had time to admire an interesting example of Swedish Public Art: (!!!)

and after the wedding I went to my Childhood Paradise, just around the bay at Torekov, where the early summer roses were already spreading their intoxicating fragrance. 

This short Swedish interlude ended at Staffanstorp, close to Lund, with a  couple of chess matches between cousin Pelle and me, 1-1.

                                                                                  

Back in Siena now where it is already quite warm and I spent an enchanting evening just outside Siena in Montalbuccio, with dinner under the stars at Claudio's beautiful garden where his horses are roaming around freely, just like mine used to in Mali...