Palio di Siena

Every year, on July 2 and August 16 (each one is separate from the other), 60-70,000 people fill the central plaza of Siena for a horse race called the Palio. Three laps are completed around the Piazza del Campo, which is approximately 300 meters in circumference. The jockey's, who are like mercenaries, hired by the contradas for ridiculous sums of money, whip the horses and each other with whips fashioned out of calf phalluses. In approximately 80 seconds from the start of the race, over 800 years of tradition, 365 days of anxious anticipation, and all of the love, hate, sadness and joy in the 10 participating contrade (there are 17 total) culminate and are suddenly released as the third lap is finished. There is no filter for emotions in this 4 day event. The exultation the winning contrada experiences is equal to the shame and heartsickness the losing contradas feel. Think of the Warriors winning the Championship, the Giants winning the Pennant, and the Niners winning the Superbowl, all in one year. Times 1,000.

This is a parade for Contrada Onda - the Wave

The Unicorn Contrada - Leocorno

Onda again - they are indoctrinated as babies!

I apologize for my previous posts being a bit verbose. I haven't done any creative writing since way back in beginning fiction, freshman year. Thanks for visiting!

Ciao ragazzi. A presto mi amici!
-Teo

Look up "beauty" in a dictionary and it'll read: See Toscana

On Saturday I went to a small town called Rapolano with my host mother. We spent several hours at a hot spring resort on the outskirts of the town and then took the long way home, touring the Tuscan countryside. The drive was absolutely marvelous. The gentle rolling hills lined with cypress and the ginestra scented air transported me out of my body and into place of peace. Villas and vinyards dot the landscape every few kilometeres, and blend into the tranquil nature of the warm countryside. I hope these pictures can bring you to a peaceful state as well:

On the right, you can see the type of earth which is called "le crete." This is just a small valley with a lake hidden amongst the foliage.

The trees that line the rim of the landscape are cypress. They are typical of Tuscany.

Chiusure (pronounced "kee-yoo-soo-ray") is a small village just southwest of Asciano.

Olive trees line the highways of Tuscany.

This is Monte Oliveto Maggiore, an abbey built in 1313. It is located southwest of Asciano as well.

Freakin' people got into my shot of the main church in Asciano.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these pictures. They really do not capture the true beauty of Toscana, but it's just a little taste, hopefully to lure you here.

Ciao!
-Teo

Old World vs. New World

Via de Montanini (shot from the southern tip facing northward)

The streets in Italy are crazy. Meandering this way and that, the seemingly haphazardly drawn boulevards are shared by pedestrians, automobiles, bicycles, and even creatures that don’t use feet as their primary mode of mobility – pigeons. This inefficiency that is a result of what I previously thought was a lack of planning and forethought causes traffic, a great potential for accidents, and a great deal of frustration for foreigners, like myself, in trying to gather one’s bearings. The Italians don’t seem to mind.

So for the past few days, I have been walking down a path that led to the eventual revelation of the myriad significance that lies within the spider web-like mesh of infrastructure that marks Italy, and probably much of the rest of Europe. America, or the New World, as the first to arrive from Europe dubbed it, is a land that is comparably recent in the development of its cities and other physical aspects of societal framework. Irvine, where I’ve spent my last 4 years, is the quintessential modern city; in fact, it is known as the very first completely planned city. As a result of America being an automotive society, simply stated, without a car in Irvine, you’re screwed.

Is the difference that simple then, you ask? America is newer, thus the streets are straighter? Maybe. The roads in Europe were meant for pedestrians, horses, wagons and coaches when they were built, and are not as suitable for auto traffic. In contrast, as Manifest Destiny sent the pioneers west in America, many cities consisted Main Street and that was it. As they grew more populated and prosperous, they grew outward and by this time, two-way wagon traffic was more common than before.

A map of the center of Siena

Is one better than the other? I don't know. I do know I have almost been clipped by side-view mirrors of trucks a good number of times, but I also know that it is pretty grand getting anywhere I need to go without a car. Now for some more pictures:


(The view from the end of the main corridor) A view of my bedroom shot from the window side The beautiful and timeless Piazza del Campo


Till next time, ciao!
- Teo

Repost of my old post...WACK

So what you're you're reading is actually from June 20th. I had an old blog...but google f'd everything up. Long story. Ask me about it if you're curious enough.

Here is the link to the old blog and you can check it out there but if not just read below.

Jetsetting Begins - LA, Amsterdam, Florence & Siena in 48 hours - 3 day post

2 days ago my customary tardiness nearly screwed me out of about $1,000 worth of airfare, but more importantly, the good graces of Annie's parents. While first impressions are the most important, my brief "hello" at graduation to Annie's mom didn't amount to much, so I can imagine how showing up with only an hour and twenty minutes before boarding at on a crowded Monday at LAX probably gave Annie's mom reason enough to worry since prior to that, Annie had assured her mom that she would be in good hands traveling with me. Maybe i'll get another chance?

11 hours after that we are in Amsterdam. What is it with their apparent infatuation with cows? They have cow pictures everywhere and their duty free shops display more dairy products than brand name clothing. On a side note, Annie freed 2 Euros that were stuck in a slot machine at a casino at the airport. Came up!

Florence is where the fun began. (4 hours later)

A prolonged wait in a sweltering baggage claim area and a swerving bus ride around the tight streets of Firenze that nearly sent me into a state of apoplexy had my nerves a bit high-strung as we deboarded the bus and got our bearings.

I like to consider myself fairly apt at finding addresses on a map and figuring out where to go. However, it wasn't until yesterday that I realized how your sense of direction is only good relative to your knowledge of how addresses are read. I still have yet to figure out how to read Italian addresses. Why do they have a degree sign damnit!?

To make a long story short, I had us on a forced march up and down Via de Pansanini for about 25 minutes with the sun beating down hard on us and the humidity wrapping itself around our whole bodies like a boa constrictor, only to finally stop and climb 3 flights of stairs while Annie waited outside and randomly knock on a door where a Cantonese lady answered and called her landlord to help me out. Who needs to learn Italian when Cantonese and English are good enough! (All of this was done while I was lugging around a 30 lb. backpack and a 50 lb. duffle - Annie was fortunate enough to have luggage w/ wheels. Damn myslef for thinking I didn't need it.)

I'm sorry for putting you through that Annie.

Well here I am in Siena on day 2.5 (I don't know if i should count all of that travelling time w/ the time zone changes and all) with an awesome host mom who made an awesome salad for lunch. It is just about as cool as a place with AC in this house and there is free internet. What more can I ask for. I just need a US-Euro plug adapter...

Damn this post was long. Shows how noob I am at this. Hopefully i'll get better. Pictures to come as well!

Ciao, arrivederci
- Teo (don't worry i'm not gonna actually legalize this name like nata did...)