The Piazza comes alive in Siena, especially when it’s occupied by special events. Living close to Piazza del Campo has been such a blessing, but I will say it stays pretty lively some nights. Recently, the artisan chocolate festival was in town, so lucky me–I walked past temptation every day, several times a day, for four days in a row. This coincided with the start of tourist season, and man am I glad that did not start when we first arrived! It’s overwhelming at first, but once I can sift through the crowds, it’s so fascinating to pick out little tidbits of language. German here, Sicilian dialect there, something that sounds like what I guess to be Dutch somewhere else–I love being able to consider Italian familiar enough now to pick it out anywhere. The chocolates were of course delectable, but more interesting to me was how thoroughly it involved the city and the general public. Among the tourists were the locals, and many of them were just as excited about the chocolate festival as the non-locals were (including my host mom, who left us a brochure and sample chocolates on our desk a few days before it started as a way of informing us).
Before we came here, we read about how important the Piazza is to city life and for people meeting up together, but I didn’t really understand the depth of this important until recently. Because the Piazza del Campo was the political center of the city, it has been an important spot for (literally) centuries. I love thinking about how the important people of the 1300’s were meeting in the same place I am, although for very different reasons. So, community events tend to center around the Piazza, and makes it the go-to place.
My host mom seemingly lives for the next public event in Siena, because it’s something that brings them together as a family, as a contrada, and as a city. Whenever something is coming up, she reminds us several times, and I love it. Her enthusiasm about her city has been so lovely to experience, because it really pushes me out the door to get involved with Siena as a community. A recent festival of San Giuseppe, one of the patron saints of our contrada (dell’Onda, sempre!), brought out the families in full force. Children running wildly with Frittelli in hand, demanding Palio horse toys clad in our blue and white, old couples proudly presenting their baked goods as a contrada fundraiser, parents endlessly yelling ¨bambini!!!¨, and vendors everywhere with contrada toys, foods, and gifts. Once I told my host mom I had gone to this festival, she seemed like she would burst with joy–because I had experienced an aspect of their community.
