Saturday/Rāhoroi
After your contrade wins, the next day you begin the 'tour' of solemn protectors and to the allied and friendly contrada with the compares, ensigns, drums, the Palio, and sometimes the winning horse and jockey, all escorted by various contrade members. Siena comes to resemble a playpen in which many of the toddlers have hairy legs. That night you start your victory dinners. You have as many dinners as Palios you have won. Selva/Forest have won 28 now. You have a BIG celebratory dinner in late September. Then more dinners beginning the following Sunday.
As soon as the race finishes, many of the Selva followers begin sucking on pacifiers, and/or drinking cheap wine from baby bottles. This symbolises the 'rebirth' that follows from winning the Palio. Here are two pictures of the dummies from this next day.
We wandered for a bit and saw Selva marching into Onda's contrade - marked out with the decorated street lights. You can see more of the dummies in the video.
And into Snail's territory.
I wasn't allowed to do this and I got pulled away very quickly. You have to watch only and not participate, and leave a free path for them to parade.
We came across the Selva stable, where Remorex had been for the four days before the race.
This is what we found. At least Remorex had a great view.
Then we wander to Piazza del Campo for something to eat. I spot this boy playing on the track (a ring of soil was placed on the outer perimeter of the Campo to create the race track.) I am guessing it will be removed in the next day or so.
Then the Selva contrade arrived at the Piazza.
The paper was full of pictures of the raceday. Here are some of them. I did not understand Italian, so I have made up my own headlines. Sweepers Cleaning The Track Before The Race.
The Moment Tittia, The Selva Fantini/Jockey Fell.
The Gasp of One Lady in the the Crowd, Who Saw Before Everyone Else.
The Rush of the First Response Team.
And for those of you worried about Tittia, the fantini - he was fine.
He Was a Hero to Selva - This is his 7th "Win".
The Children (from Onda Contrada) Who Watched (They attended all the practice Palio's)
The Happy Selva Winners
After The Race the Contrada Gathers For a Parade Out.
From the New York Times about the Palio:
"This is truly a human endeavor about which the more you know, the less you understand. The contrade pay their jockeys handsomely to ride for them, yet these jockeys are hired guns and fundamentally unfaithful. Everyone is a potential double agent.
There’s no official betting at the Palio but allegiances are purchased for tens of thousands of dollars. Secret negotiations abound. Did your contrada’s jockey miss his opportunity to peak ahead at that turn, or was he paid to fall back? There’s no knowing.
It is sort of existential criminality, in nearly any other country, would lead to madness among horse people and spectators. This is a race no Red Smith can handicap. Yet in Siena, no one wishes to change a thing about the Palio.
There’s been a good deal of op-ed analysis over the years about how the race illustrates the Italian soul. The Italians admire people, it’s often said, who make good via the wily bending of rules and conventions. Witness Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister, who has confidently brushed off sex and corruption scandals. Benito Mussolini is said to have adored the Palio."
Below, Siena at night.
