The "Tufo" arrives! ONE WEEK today to PALIO...

It was all happening on the Campo today, as the race course was covered with a thick layer of  "tufo", the earth on which the city is built, to make the cobbles horse friendly. Here it is applied to  the notorious San Martino bend, which is the most dangerous- the corner most likely to cause a pile up. It is lined with mattresses, (hidden under the white areas) to soften the impact of any potential blow...

 The city was out in force this morning, here with the Mayor De Mossi (white T-shirt above|) surveying the progress.                                                              

Nevertheless, proceedings still went on as if it were a normal Saturday, with a smart wedding spilling out from the Palazzo Pubblico, complete with Carabienieri in historic outfits...

Dublin and Siena (via London)

Arrived back to Siena Tuesday night from London, (yes, yes, I know I have been flitting about, rather...) into a city which is  limbering up for the Palio-there is palpable excitement in the air, and the countdown has started- 8 Days left! The Campo is changing shape hour by hour as the coveted seating is erected around the course- a seat here or on the balconies costs between 200- 350E and they are all sold out! So I will be taking up my free spot next to the Red Cross (just to be on the safe side) in the corner of the Campo, like last time- three years ago. 

But I need to mention the exciting trip to Dublin too...whither I flew from Amsterdam to take part in birthday celebrations for my old friend David- below with his partner, dear Jeremiah, right, who has exchanged London for Dublin since he works for the European Commission, which has  now usefully posted him in this splendid city. 

I knew I was going to love Dublin- and I was right.

 It turned out to be one of those rare cities that behaves just the way it should; a mythical place which lives up to its reputation. There are just a few cities that have done that for me and they have all been  in the States: New Orleans; New York and Los Angeles have all behaved admirably according to expectation.   Dublin was also just the way it is billed;  a fun loving. eccentric, passionate, poetic city where much alcohol is consumed, and where anything can happen. 

The truth of that preconceived idea  became  immediately obvious as we stumbled across Sweny's pharmacy/bar, where the owner PJ serenaded me with  songs in Gaelic and we were offered glasses of wine and no one expected any payment.  Sweny's is mentioned in Ulysses, and has therefore been saved intact  by fans of James Joyce as an important and original location worthy of preservation.  I found myself catapulted into this Joycean Dublin because it was BLOOMSDAY, which is celebrated every June the 16th,  representing the 24 hours during which the action of the novel takes place.  It was doubly special this year because it  was a hundred years since the controversial novel was finally published. 

There were readings all over town of the strange, wondrous and delirious text, none more extraordinary than the Circe dream sequence, beautifully read in the Abbey Theatre by Barry Mc Govern. I thought I must have  eaten magic mushrooms for breakfast as I tumbled around on the precipitous and vertiginous wordscape that was so beautifully enunciated by McGovern...

The whole of Dublin was out in force, joined by a plentiful supply of enthusiastic American tourist Joyce fans,  dressed up like these below, trying -and often succeeding quite beautifully- to look as if  they were Edwardian. All in all a strange and rather unforgettable experience...

                                                        But now... Siena and Palio!

Below a couple of pictures form July 2019 when  I witnessed Giraffa win the July Palio and decided this is where I want to be!

                                                     

                                        

Movement

The most important thing to happen in the last two weeks is undoubtedly the arrival of that all-important document S1 to my letterbox in Siena, which was communicated to me this evening, about an hour ago, on WhatsApp by Paolo who had gone to my apartment in Siena to check... and there it was! Hurrah! After one month, it arrived finally to its destination...which means that I can now become a resident in Siena; we can start the work on the flat; I will be able to register for |Italian health care; I can go to all those museums in Siena for free when my friends come to see me etc etc...

but before this happy event, there were other reasons to be cheerful, such as the arrival of my lovely god daughter Aoife, (here enjoying a deep fried baby squid at my favourite seaside restaurant in Castiglione della Pescaia last week) and her boyfriend Kai, who kept me company for a few days in Siena. 

Last Thursday I left for France with a coach. Cheap transport, and quite tiring of course. But it has its plus side- It is wonderful to travel through the Alps and to see the world change and feel the distance... arriving at Lyon, I was once again happy to stay with my lovely friends Monique and Pascal. This time we explored 'La Colline qui Prie'- that is to say the oldest part of the city, which includes the cathedral, a comparatively plain edifice if  set against some of the more elaborate cathedrals of the North. But  what a city- I love it! And the food... Ah! here below is Pascal, always a most erudite and enthusiastic guide.

Another long night's bus journey brought me to Amsterdam to see my dear friend Birgit, who was such an integral part of my life in Mali. She works at the Nordenmarkt, selling all her lovely West African stuff at the market on Saturdays and Mondays. 

She took the day off yesterday and we went to the Dutch sea side, which is quite a different experience from my newly acquired Tuscan sea side habits...for a start, the sea is much colder of course, and there are no rows of umbrellas on the beach... the feeling is quite 'Northern'...

And Amsterdam,,, what a lovely city! had almost forgotten. But quite terrifying of course with those  great hoards of cyclist that threaten to mow one down around every corner if one is not careful...

                                                              And tomorrow off to Dublin!

 

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...