Palio Diaries - Thursday 10th August to Friday 18th August 2006

Thursday August 10th 2006

Left home at 4.15am to the 6.45am flight from Manchester to Florence via Frankfurt. Parked at an official MIA car park (Premier Parking) which I had pre-booked for a price of £56.00. No problems with journey to the airport or parking. 

Joined a substantial queue at the Lufthansa check-in desk which I thought was unusual. I also noticed an enormous queue at the security desk where hand luggage and small bags are checked. Again, very surprised.

Whilst waiting in the queue, I was informed by a member of Lufthansa staff that due to a government announcement in the early hours of the morning, no items of hand luggage would be allowed on the plane. The only possessions allowed were passports, wallets and medicines.

I had arranged my luggage in such a way that all of my camera equipment, portable computer, phrase books, itinery, hotel details etc were in a camera rucksack to be taken on the plane as hand luggage. Needless to say I wasn't pleased and protested mildly, naturally without success, about the possible risk of damage and theft to my belongings. Thankfully, because I did not have any personal possessions left, I did not need to join the massive queue in which medicines and baby foods etc needed to be inspected.

Joined another very large queue to go through passport control and x-ray. Everybody was hand frisked regardless of the x-ray machine making bleeping or not. Food was piled up high in the corridors where people had to just dump it because it was not being allowed airside. Arrived at the gate with half an hour to spare before scheduled departure.

The plane departed 40 minutes late due to the security chaos. This meant that I only had 25 minutes to catch my connecting flight and I soon discovered that Frankfurt is a very big airport! Managed to navigate my way through the airport and catch the courtesy bus to take you to the plane on the runway. The plane left on schedule.

Upon arrival in Florence, it soon became clear that all of my luggage was missing. Other people from Manchester were in the same predicament so we concluded amongst ourselves that there hadn't been time for our luggage to be transferred from the Manchester flight to the Florence flight. It would have been nice though if we could have been told that officially, needless to say we weren't. I then joined the queue to report all my bags as missing. This took an hour at least, possibly two. Lost luggage said that they would deliver my bags to my hotel as soon as they had found them. 

It was then I realised that I didn't have the full address of the hotel, no instructions on how to get there, no mobile phone & no phrase books!! They said they would be able to find the hotel without any problems because I knew the name and that Siena was not very large - very reassuring!!

I then tried to remember my itinery and instructions. I managed to catch a bus from the airport to Florence City at a cost of 4 Euros. Thankfully, the bus arrived in a small efficient bus station where I managed to catch a bus to Siena, for a cost of 6.50 Euros, which was about an hours drive away. I sat at the front of the coach so that I could see where I was and to make sure I would know when we were in Siena. Very luckily for me, the bus drove past a sign which indicated that my hotel was only 700m away so I immediately jumped off the bus and found my hotel. I checked into the hotel with my passport, my wallet, courtesy toiletry bag from Lufthansa and without my personal belongings including approximately £8000.00 of camera and computer equipment missing. I wanted to go home!! 

Had a shower, put on my free Lufthansa t-shirt and then went out to buy another t-shirt. Took twenty minutes to walk into the historical city. Really impressive, The scale and heritage of the place, especially the Campo was overwhelming. There wasn't any overt Contrada references in terms of flags etc so I hoped that that would change  as the Palio drew nearer.

Back at the hotel, no sign of my luggage, called left luggage from the hotel. Got an answerphone message to say that my luggage was found. Big relief!! Called home to tell my wife that all was OK, she was worried because of the security scare and because I hadn't answered my mobile phone. Told her I couldn't use my mobile because it was lost along with all my other belongings. Got details from my wife on the arrangements to meet a student the following day who was willing to act as an interpreter for me in return for expenses. Then went out for a meal and came back to the hotel feeling quite depressed.

Friday August 11th 2006

Had a good breakfast at the hotel, still no sign of my luggage. Walked into Siena to meet this student. Very difficult to find the addres, even my hotel got the directions wrong!!   Finally arrived on time but no sign of the student, the receptionist didn't speak English and I had no phrase books because my luggage was still lost!! The receptionist had no idea who the student was, despite me giving his name and not aware of any meeting or visitor  such as myself. Italian organization at its very best!!

Tried to use a payphone to call my wife but without success, couldn't find a shop that sold the phone cards and couldn't get it to accept my credit card!! Went back to the meeting point but still nothing happening. Went back to the main university to find the official who had set the deal up. Found her office but not her and no one knew where she was or when she would appear!! Italian efficiency at its best!!

Had a meeting at the Council offices to arrange a press pass for the Palio. Met the lady I had dealt with via email, really nice and helpful. Tried very hard to convince her to give me a press pass for the event but failed. She did give me a press pass for everything else though as long as I signed an agreement not to write anything bad about the Palio!! Couldn't verify this at the time though because it wasn't in English and had to relay on a verbal assurance that that is what it said!! Due to limited space and size of the event, only national italian journalists and world recognized organisations such as Getty etc could have a pass for the main event.

Tried again to find the student and official from the University but without success again. Got back to the hotel and thankfully discovered my luggage. Very keen to put on a fresh set of clothes as the temperatures were around 25 degrees celcius. Soon discovered that my laptop had got a real bashing. The casing had been cracked and prised open due to the pressure or a good kicking from baggage handlers. Seemed to work OK though. Camera equipment seemed OK. 

In the late afternoon I went out with my camera and took a small number of pics, mainly architectural detail shots.

Saturday August 12th 2006

Got up at 3.30am!! My Sienese contact had told me about some horse breeder trials in the Campo to see which horses would be suitable for inclusion into the draw. He told me it started at around 5am and goes on until 9am. I didn't want to miss this. Got there on time, needless to say it was still dark and nothing really happened until about 6am!! Once again, Italian efficiency!! This event is for horses that have never ridden in the Palio, they will be looked at by the vets, breeders and officials to make sure they could cope with the event. 56 horses involved, 10 groups of 5 or 6 horses would go out into the Campo and run for three or four laps. Surprisingly large number of people there at this time of the day, must be real hard core locals. One Contrada group entered chanting really loudly, fantastically spooky atmosphere, first time I had heard this, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

The horses would canter round for a few laps and then the jockeys would really push the horses hard for a couple of laps riding very fast. Could spot some horses that would not be suitable. In between groups, the local council workers would repair the sand track in the corners. Prior to the entrance of the horses, I was amazed how much crap and litter was on the track, it obviously is ok to walk on it and restaurants have tables on it before the council workers and police clear it all just before their due to race! Very strange.

Jockeys casually dressed, no helmets sometimes no contrada colours because this was purely for the breeders, vets and officials. Each horse has a number simply tagged to its ear. All over at 8am, went back to the hotel for breakfast and a sleep!! Also downloaded the files to two external hard drives for back-up.

Sunday August 13th 2006

Arrived in the Campo at around 10.45am. Big day in the Palio schedule, the draw takes place to allocate a horse to each of the participating contradas. A big stage is erected in the Campo, lots of participants in medieval costume, jockeys in the medieval contrada costumes, fantastic atmosphere with lots of people. Press pass was good, gave me some priveleged access near the stage. Nervous about using it at first because I was unsure where I was entitled to go with it, shyness & cautiousness is still a problem for me at times after all these years.

Got some OK shots but position not brilliant. Soon found out that I needed to be on the opposite side of the Campo to get pics of the horses being led away by the chanting contradas. Left the press area in a big hurry after a couple of the draws had been made. Legged it very quickly throught the deserted backstreets to get to the place I wanted to be. A British photographer who had worked on numerous occasions at the Palio told me I would never make it in time. Managed to catch about four contradas so I was very pleased to have moved.

The passionately chanting crowd of contradas swept towards me with the threat and speed of a tsunami. Really have to get out of the way quick, they don't take prisoners!! The hairs on the back of my neck were standing again. Never come across such  passionately intense groups of people who consisted of all ages and of both sexes.

The first real practice race occured that evening. Thousands of passionate Sienese chanting filling up the Campo. Very large sound of a Canon signalled the police to clear the race track of all the people and the council workers with their "Harry Potter" brooms swept up all the debris. Once the track had been cleared of people and debris, the canon roared again to signal the entrance of the horses in their contrada colours with their matching jockeys. Managed to get a spot on an outside corner of the racetrack, on the track itself, along with some other press guys.

The police made sure that my press pass was in order. Took an eternity to line the horses up along the rope. They have to be lined up in a certain order, again done by a draw, and this took over twenty minutes to sort out. Eventually they were off and the crowd let out a deafening roar. Three laps and less than two minutes later, it was all over!!  All this time and effort, passion and organisation, followed by a light canter around the Campo from ten horses!! Unbelievable. The horses ran at less than half pace!! What a non event.

Monday August 14th 2006

Attended the second practice race at 9am, pretty much the same as the first practice race but with less people watching. In the afternoon I attended the candle procession at the Duomo Cathedral. The children of each Contrada make ornate candle offerings to the Madonna and parade with them throught he streets to the Cathedral. The palio banner is also paraded along with flag wavers, drummers and lots of medieval pageantry. All the children dressed in medieval contrada costumes, stunningly beautiful and hand crafted out of the finest materials. Took a lot of images. Did not attend the third practice race in the evening, didn't hink it would be any different to the others and was physically and mentally shattered.

Tuesday August 15th 2006

Attended the fourth practice race in the morning, 9am. Decided to stand near the starting line in the main bit of the Campo with the public. Soon found out that it was a shit place to stand!! Got a couple of pictures of the jockeys that were ok but mostly couldn't get anything decent. Thank god for the press pass!! 

Met my contrada contact in the Campo for the first time and went for a drink. Good to meet up with him after only previously conversing via email and more recently via telephone. He apologised for not being able to show me a round but he lives in Switzerland and his time is very precious and intense when he comes back home for the Palio. He told me that the horse that his contrada had was ill and would not probably race, he was really gutted. Afterwards I then had a wander around the Valdimonte and Torres districts (contradas).

Spoke to the hotel about the possibility of booking a package to see the main Palio pageant and race from a private balcony. After seeing what goes on and what's available in terms of viewpoints, I decided I was not going to be able to get any worthwhile shots without being on a balcony. I really didn't want to see the main event from outside the Campo.

I attended the fifth practice race and decided to stand on the starting line again but this time in a small press/official corridor on the inside corner of the track. Was totally blown away by the carabineri. They paraded on horseback in full traditional costume, they looked stunning and the crowd really like to see this. Then with a lap to go the leader drew his sword and signalled that they should charge. They then rode at full speed, swords drawn around the track. The crowd went ballistic and I it was totally unexpected for myself. As I was standing on the inside rail of a corner they tore past my nose at full speed less than two feet away, swords drawn. I have never been so scared or exhillerated in all my life. Awesome experience.

In the evening, I went to the Valdimonte contrada street dinner. A few thousand contrada having dinner together on long picnic tables singing very loudly, incredible sight. 

Wednesday August 16th 2006

The day of the Palio, the hotel had fixed me up with a corporate hospitality package at a cost of 380 Euros (approx £235.00). Very expensive but I had invested a lot of time and money into the project so far, so it would have been stupid not to go for it as I could afford to. The package claimed to give you access to a horse blessing followed by a private balcony to watch the Palio from. 

The horse blessing was bit of a con, whilst it was accurate, it certainly wasn't as exclusive as it should have been. The contrada they took us to for the horse blessing, was a contrada where the horse couldn't go into the church because of the steps. Therefore they took it to the nearest other church and did the blessing outside on the grass where anybody could observe!! Normally they only allow a small number of contrada members into the church where they proceed to bless the horse. 

After a fairly long delay and stringent security checks, we then went into the Campo and via a cafe, Key Largo, and went up onto a private balcony. No bags allowed on the balcony so I had to quickly cram a long lens into the pocket of my cargo shorts along with my memory cards which went into another pocket. Completely forgot about a camera battery but thankfully just about managed to last. 

Crammed a lot of people onto a small balcony, great view overlooking the Sanmartino corner but facing into the very hot sun. Extremely hard work to shoot and stand from 5pm until 9pm in the baking sun in a confined space. Had a few back problems, but thankfully were surrounded by good natured Brits and good natured locals. No one minded about me taking pics and changing lenses etc. Thankfully we were supplied with plenty of water, no food but the water was the most important thing. My head felt exceedingly hot, forgot to take my cap out of my bag. 

The medieval pageant lasted from 5pm to 7pm and was absolutely stunning. The costumes were incredible, stunningly made out of the best materials. I have never experienced anything so spectacular in all my life. After seeing the pageant, I was thinking that I was pleased to have seen this before I die. Half way through the parade, one lady on the balcony became ill due to the heat and had to be carried away!!

It took an eternity to line up the horses again for the main race, possibly around 40 minutes!! I was surprised at the lack of contrada chanting. Maybe all the seats for the main race are sold to the highest bidders and therefore the main contrada memebers only appear after the race? Very tense atmosphere though and fairly quiet in comparison to the previous few days.

The race was over after three laps and approx 1100 metres. Selva (Forest) contrada won the race with the horse leading from start to finish. Only 9 runners this time due the illness of the Torres contrada horse. People were jumping onto the track before the race had finished and immediately after the Selva horse had crossed the line. Saw two people get trampled really badly by the Selva horse because he couldn't get out of their way. I cringed badly when I saw one guy get hit by the Selva horse at full canter squarely in the middle of his back, he didn't see it coming and went down like a ton of bricks. Horrible to witness, I thought he was either dead or paralysed. Thankfully, I had heard from my contrada contact that he knew the guy and that he was ok but in hospital, nothing serious.

I also saw a few fights break out amongst rival contrada members. One guy was actually standing on a friends shoulders so that he could fight someone on a first flloor balcony!! Passion!! Overall though, awesome experience, very pleased I decided to pay for the corporate package. In the evening I shot a few of the clebrations but was physically and mentally wasted!! Also, Selva weren't the most voiciferous or biggest of contradas.

Thursday August 17th 2006

Called into the Campo to see the aftermath. Very interesting to see the sand being taken up from the square and to see the flagstones underneath. Selva were parading through the streets with flagwavers, chanting and drummers. Saw the winning horse, he had his hooves painted gold and looked very smart and extremely well looked after.

Friday August 18th 2006

The journey back home. Very apprehensive about my equipment as to its safety, especially as it contains all my images. Managed to get to the bus station in Florence OK but ended up in a strange and massive queue to get a bus to the aiport. After wasting an hour in the queue and only getting half way through it, time was running out for me to catch the flight. Decided to leave the queue and find a taxi to take me to the airport. Found one easily and got to the aiport in time, annoyed at myself for not getting a taxi sooner!!

Managed to take my very small (smaller than a mobile phone) portable hard drive with all my images on it through hand luggage, very relieved to be able to do that. Had a duplicate set on another hard drive in wth all my camera equipment in the hold. Wasn't really bothered any more about possible damage equipment as I could take a copy of all my images on as hand luggage, as well as my mobile phone!!

Got home safe and sound both personally and with reference to my equipment.