Musica e Ballare (Music and Dance)

Friday night’s party at the Bruco (caterpillar) contrada was a lot of fun. First of all, the setup was the most unique and spacious - yet inviting – contrada we’ve been too. They had a nice courtyard area where tables were setup for the dinner, which was still going on when we arrived at 11:15pm. Then below was a cleared area, surrounded by flowers, where tents were set up with a “dance floor” area in the mulch. The atmosphere was the most exciting of the contrada parties we’ve been to as well because everyone was dancing (usually, Italians don’t dance unless they’re from Southern Italy). They played a lot of American music, but the best part was learning line dances to popular (in Europe) Spanish songs.

Saturday morning, Ana Rose, Elena, and I awoke early to try to go to Orvieto, an adorable Italian hill town that I visited when I was in Italy in 10^th grade. I was excited to go back and revisit what I thought was one of Italy’s most charming towns. Since Elena was late meeting us, we literally ran 25 minutes to the train station. We bought our tickets and found out we had to take a bus then a train, but the bus stop was at the same station, so we thought we’d made it on time. Then we arrived at the bus, and we were not allowed on because it was full. At least 10 other people had been sold tickets to a full bus too, so we were all confused and trying to figure out what the problem was. Unlike America where the customer is always right, we were told we’d have to wait over two hours for the next bus plus pay more since the later bus cost extra. Everyone was frustrated because we would not have bought the tickets if we’d known the bus was full. That plan didn’t seem to be worth it to us, especially since Elena had friends arriving from Florence to stay with her this evening. Thankfully, they did give us a refund for the ticket. Instead, we took the opportunity to fully enjoy our last weekend in Siena. We walked around Siena, shopped a bit, and had a leisurely lunch outside under an awning at a cute café we’d wanted to try, called Ristorante Da Renzo. I tried ribollita for the first time, and really enjoyed it. It’s called a “poor man’s soup” because it’s day old bread mixed with white beans and a hodgepodge of vegetables, which isn’t making it sound too tasty but with all of Italy’s fresh veggies, olive oil, and spices, it was yummy! Then we relaxed in the afternoon, when most of Siena’s shops are closed and took naps before dinner with Stella.

After dinner, we went with Stella to Siena’s annual summer jazz festival. It was in the Fortezza (Siena’s fort) in an Enoteca (an outdoor wine bar that had been set up for the concert). As we walked to the Fortezza, we saw an amazing view of Siena’s Duomo and San Domenico church being lit by the moonlight (the pictures won’t do it justice). It was such a nice evening (I even had goose bumps at one point!) and absolutely beautiful sitting in the Fortezza with the full moon overhead. We arrived early enough to get seats, but as the concert progressed, people lined up along the walls of the fort overhead and peered over to listen to the music. The first group that played was from the jazz university and students composed most of the songs. Some of the numbers were a little experimental but most of them were very enjoyable. Truly just the atmosphere and experience made the evening so delightful. The concert lasted until after 1am, so Ana Rose and I left around 11pm to go to Niccio (the clam contrada), which was starting their week of Palio parties. Niccio also had a nice setup like the Bruco contrada. When we first got there, we watched a few games of Barberi – a game that mimics the concept of the Palio, where balls of different colors representing each contrada are rolled down a “course” and whatever ball reaches the end first wins. Beforehand, people buy a contrada card to bet on – ranging anywhere from about 1 to 4 euros per contrada card. If your ball/contrada wins, then you get a prize – everything from a live chicken to bottles of wine! Then we met up with the rest of the CET group and headed to the dance floor. We had a fun night dancing but after two hours of techno music, we were ready to call it a night. Italians definitely like the techno beat!

Today (Sunday) will be spent studying for finals next week, doing homework, and probably starting to pack. Though I’m sure we’ll take time to enjoy more of Siena, trying to soak in every opportunity before we leave.