Of the thousands of pictures I took in India, this is the best. It was a completely random moment: I was looking over the edge of a balcony off some major monument down towards a river. My eye was caught by the reflection of the clouds in the water and I snapped a picture. This young kid saw what I was doing and struck a gangsta pose faster than you can say Mumbai! It was just one of those moments you can’t understand, you can only be grateful it happened! I’ve got my favorite picture. I love the moody clouds, the water reflection, the amazing child, the trash, all of it. Thank you, India!
After posting the blog post from on the Siena Palio, I am inspired to add from my personal recollections of the race. I was incredibly fortunate to attend a Palio in the early 1990s.
My Italian boyfriend said the Palio was not to be missed and he made a lot of special arrangements for my first experience. He was assolutamente right–it was not to be missed!
We drove to Siena that day from his home in Assisi. He had used his contacts so we could watch the race from a balcony window to the left of the Palazzo Publico and I prepared to be amazed. I was indeed!
It was an unbelievable thrill to be a part of the living history of the Palio. We stood outdoors on the balcony on a warm sunny Italian pomeriggio with a perfect view of the entire race. It was an incredible experience to be there.
My favorite part of the day of the race was the banner guard that circled the race track prior to the race. Each contrada enters their own people wearing their own contrada colors. It felt like I had time traveled back to the Italian Renaissance.
I grew up with a horse-loving father and we not only rode horses but attended rodeos almost every summer Sunday. I even competed in some of the events. Sadly for my father, I am not a lover of risk-taking horseback riding, either to do or to watch. Because of that, it was hard for me to watch certain parts of the Palio, for the race is still brutal even though it is much less so than it was during its early centuries; horses and riders careen into the temporary walls set up all around the periphery and riders fall off horses and get trampled. It is all very chancy. You can see it in this video:
After the event was over, we ran around all the side streets in all the contrade (neighborhoods of old Siena), which were filled to overflowing with rabid fans (think American super bowl fan fanaticism)
all wearing their contrada colors.
Each contrada maintains a museum of sorts with all sorts of paraphernalia from years past. These museums are typically only open on the day of Palio, so it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see not only the race, but the museums as well.
The one aspect of the Palio that absolutely blew my mind is that the winning horse is brought into the Siena Cathedral! The secular and divine come together in patrioticism.
Somehow I just never thought I would live to see the day when I’d see a horse in a magnificent Italian cathedral!! But that was before I knew Italy at all!
Here are some more fun shots of the hysteria surrounding this annual event in Tuscany!
As the horses and their bare-back riders line up against the starting rope in Piazza del Campo, you can almost taste the anxiety, agitation and adrenaline, rising up from the 40,000-strong crowd. The last few weeks, months and years of planning have all led to this moment. And the next one and half minutes will decide the happiness of one of Siena’s contrade for the year to come and even beyond. This is the legendary Palio di Siena horse race and it’s a spectacle not to be missed!
The Palio dell’Assunta, Siena 2010
The Palio is a piece of living history. The tradition of horse racing in Italy goes back to Ancient Roman days when a pallium, or precious piece of material, was awarded to the winner. In medieval times, the Senese people held races called palii alla lunga through the city streets, with the winner being the first bull…
Paris has its arrondissements, New York has its blocks, and Siena has its contradas. But a contrada, or district, is not just a geographic designation within the city’s historic walls, it is much, much more serious than that. It is life itself.
Contrada first
The UNESCO heritage city of Siena will host the second of her annual Palio horse races this weekend, on Saturday 16th August, but before we can delve into the history of the race, we first need to understand what a contrada is and why passions run so high at the Palio.
The Palio of Siena
Siena is divided into three main parts, called the terzi, or thirds. These are Terzo di Camollia, Terzo di Città and Terzo di San Martino. These are then divided further into the 17 contradas, or to be more correct contrade (Italian plural), that sit proudly within the medieval walls. The contrade…
The sea is a fickle mistress. Built on marshland within a salt-water lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice owes her fortune to the sea. At her birth, at 12pm on 25th March 421 AD (according to legend), the lagoon protected Venice from her enemies. Later, in her heyday, water-based trade and naval warfare made the city very rich. But water can also bring damage and destruction as Venice knows all too well. Venetians call the phenomenon Acqua Alta, or high water.
Acqua alta in Piazza San Marco, June 2014
Wading through
So what causes acqua alta? Here comes the science bit! Acqua alta is produced when a number of factors combine to cause an exceptionally high tide which floods the city. These factors include –
Normal and seasonal high tides
Low pressure weather and prevailing winds pushing the high tide into the Venetian lagoon like a storm surge
Did you know that approximately 10,000 weddings are held in India each year from late September through January, the time between heavy monsoons and the summer heat. The brides often wear thousands of dollars worth of gold while family and friends offer bullion bars and coins as presents to the newly married couple.
Some of us westerners know Indian weddings from our favorite Bollywood movies. The fact that the invitees can number in the hundreds to thousands and that the event takes place over many consecutive days, is a bit outside our usual thoughts about weddings. Auspicious dates are specifically chosen based upon astrology and most of the marriages are arranged.
Here are a few images of grand weddings.
Along with all the gold, bride’s hands and feet are almost always tattooed with elaborate henna designs.
On my recent trip to India, I saw the preparations for these huge affairs many times, especially when I was staying at fancy hotels or visiting well-known places.
Here are some of my snapshots of what I saw. All I can say is nothing succeeds like excess!
Vote! unless you want Roe v. Wade overturned and other atrocities. Whose body is it anyway, ladies? Tell politicians to get their rosaries off your ovaries! We won’t go backwards. Tell ’em!
get back, lauretta! 
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