The day when I found where I belong...

August 15, 2007

We checked out early, and thus began our absolutely insane day of trying to get to Siena. First we go to the nearby metro stop where the ticket lady insisted on correcting my pronunciation of two (Florentine Italian, the kind that’s taught in the schools in the U.S. pronounces it “doo-ay”, apparently the Milanese pronounce it “doo-ah”…whatever…) then we got on the metro to head to Garibaldi square, the place on the Sena website where they say they stop in Milan. Once there we go up looking for the bus stop. Not being able to find it, we walk into a café where I start to order a cappuccino freddo, and ask the girl (in Italian) where the bus stop is. She starts rattling back at me in Italian the directions for getting to another metro stop. I just stare at her in horror and say “Vero??”. Turns out, the Sena bus stop has not been at Garibaldi for, I dunno, five months!?! So, she gives me the directions again, I ask how long it will take, she says she’s not sure, maybe 20 mins.? Holy crap, the bus is due to leave in 35….Sorry lady, don’t have time for that cappuccino, but thanks so much. And we’re off…

We rush back down to the green line, which we take to the red line (for which, we have to wait for what feels like forever) then we finally get to the stop we need, Lampugnano. We rush up the stairs towards the buses, just in time to see him closing the last luggage compartment. I’m running (as best I can with a 45lb. backpack on my back and a 20lb. computer bag banging against my side) shouting “Signore! Per favore!”. We get up there, and he, all disgusted, re-opens the door, lets us put our luggage in, and we’re on. Whew! On the way to Siena we watched Hot Fuzz (GREAT movie! SO funny!) and read a bit. I swear though, I knew it the minute we crossed into Tuscany. Good lord, the pictures and movies do not do it justice. It’s this sun-drenched, verdant countryside dotted with little picturesque towns made of ancient brick buildings and piazzas. Absolutely stunning. There’s something that rises out of the earth here that just speaks to my soul. I know it sounds cheesy, but there’s no other way to describe it.

So, I make (kind of) friends with the guy sitting across the aisle from me since he seemed to know where he was going (I think he had been to Siena before) and once we got off the bus we tailed after him up to near the city center. He pointed us in the direction of the Piazza del Campo and we started walking. And walking. And walking. I asked another Italian lady where the Campo was. She replied “in fondo”, which basically means “straight ahead”. So, we walked straight. And ran into a wall. Apparently when Italians say “in fondo” they don’t necessarily mean “straight down that street”, they mean “it straight ahead of you as a crow flies”. Unfortunately, not being a crow, I was flippin lost yet again. I grabbed another Italian and pointed at our map and asked where we were on it, he had no clue. Geez! So, we walked, found ANOTHER person (at the top of a very large flight of stairs, mind you) and asked. He said it was the way we just came from. Are you KIDDING me??!! So we walk back that way, and sure enough, there’s a sign! Ta da! We finally make it to the Campo, walk to our hotel from there, get checked in (of course, we’re on the FOURTH floor, thankfully Roberto, the front desk man, is EXTRAORDINARILY helpful and carried our computer bags for us) and settle into the room. We both take showers, then we head out to get something to eat. We stop at a café in the Campo, get some pasta, wine, and LOTS of water. Then we get gelato. Danielle didn’t believe me when I said the gelato was amazing here. We had some in Athens that was mediocre, and I tried to explain that the stuff in Italy and France was beyond compare. So, she orders banana gelato and I get lemon. We both take one bite and almost in unison just grroooaaaannn with delight. Danielle says “NOW I know what you were talking about.” Ahh…..sweet vindication :)

So, after eating we start wandering around looking for where our balcony is supposed to be, while also just checking the area out a little. Right about the time we find the place Sophie calls me to meet up with us. I run out to the Campo to grab her, and we all head up to the balcony. Our balcony was right above the dangerous Casato curve (only less dangerous than the San Martino curve). While waiting for the festivities to start we gazed in amazement at the huge mass of people gathered in the middle of the Campo and were treated to endless repetitions of each contrada’s theme song. We were right above the “Snails”, but we had decided that since the contrada we were staying in wasn’t running this year we would cheer for the contrada right across the street from us, the Unicorn. Soon enough they cleared the track of people and trash and some local dignitaries made a trip around the track. Then some horses with men dressed in black traditional medieval garb trotted around the track once, then to the delight of the crowd, rapidly cantered around it once, the man in the front leading the charge with his drawn sword. As soon as they left the track, out trotted the horses from the contrade. At this, the crowd went wild. As each horse passed the group from their contrada, they went wild, waving their flags in the air, singing their song, or just yelling. Finally, the horses start lining up at the starting line. Each horse begins jockeying for position, ramming into each other, kicking at each other, until, suddenly, BAM, they’re off. You can immediately see that this is just a “prova” or practice. They want to race and have fun, but they don’t want to get hurt. Several riders hang back while they race around. Almost as quickly as it begins, it’s over and the blue and white team has won (not sure which sign they are…). The blue and white contrada goes crazy, pouring onto the race track, quickly surrounding the horse and jockey, singing their song. We watch from the balcony for a while, until we get a call from Heidi saying that she arrived early. So, we leave to head back to the hotel. We get Heidi checked in, then head out to find something to eat. We walk around for a while, and realize that most restaurants are COMPLETELY packed, so Danielle and I, not as hungry as the rest, decide to head back to the hotel, where we quickly fall asleep.