No we’re not talking about the now-disclosed group protesting against the absurdity of the brexitisis plague still afflicting the British Isles. (Hasn’t a vaccine been discovered yet to protect one against this national self-mutilation?)
There are real donkeys involved in Querceta, the ones with lovely furry ears.
An inordinate amount of rain prevented us from attending the scheduled date of the ‘Palio dei Micci’ at Querceta, one of Tuscany’s major events; a pageantry of mediaeval and renaissance costumes with flag-waving acrobatics from the ‘sbandieratori’ announcing the six-lap race of the ‘micci’, the local dialect term for donkeys. Indeed, the Palio is an elaborate Italian take on the traditional English ‘donkey derby’. Regrettably, the rain almost washed away one full year of preparations and we then could only enjoy the Palio dei micci by viewing the film made by our local station, NOI TV, last year.
Here it is:
The good news is that the Palio dei Micci was only postponed and it took place the following Sunday from 10.00 with the main race at 16.00.
We managed to catch the tail end of the event and decided that, although the costumes and displays of the various troupes and sbandieratori (flag-wavers) of the various rioni were impressive, it was not quite what we expected from a traditional Italian medieval pageant and palio.
This was because the event was staged in a sports stadium used on other days for football matches and political rallies.
The beauty of mediaeval pageants in Italy is that they take place in a picturesque medieval town setting. Siena’s Palio and Arezzo’s ‘giostra Del Saraceno’ owe their fascination partly because of the historic palaces and mansions surrounding them and the fact that the spectators truly merge with the competitors.
Clearly the inhabitants of Querceta are very proud of their Palio dei Micci but we felt it was very much their event and the somewhat cold setting of the stadium (the weather was also very dull) also didn’t help very much.
However, on another occasion when the sun comes out I’m sure it will please many to attend Tuscany’s own Donkey race.
