Palio "Tratta" Siena 13th August 2013

The Palio of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is held in Siena on the16th August each year.  The four days leading up to this are full of activity, and build to the crescendo of the actual horse race, on Friday evening this year.

On the morning of the first Palio day, 13th August, the "tratta" takes place.  This is the "trial" of the horses that might take part in the final horse race.  This morning 32 horses were tried in four races with 8 horses in each race.  The aim of the judges is to choose 10 horses that are evenly matched and which have the strength and temperament to withstand the race itself.

The trials take place round the same circuit as the Palio itself -  a sand track laid around the main square in Siena, the Campo.

There were quite a lot of people in the Campo this morning, though nothing compared with the race itself when there won't be a free square inch of standing room.  Although it was early, the sun was hot.  You can probably see people standing in the long shade of the Torre del Mangia, the tall bell tower off to the left.  The fine building just visible in the shade on the left is the Palazzo Pubblico, the town hall, and you can see the black and white stripes of the campanile of the cathedral in the background.

The crowd is very partisan.  The people from each contrada sit together in the stands and almost everyone wears the scarf of their contrada.  These girls are she-wolves, Lupa.

And these men are seashells, Nicchio.

In typical Italian fashion, there was quite a performance before the races started.  First the carabinbieri cleared the crowd off the horse track.

Then the sweepers removed all the empty water bottles and cigarette packets.

Then the officials walked round the track, perhaps to check that everything was in order, or perhaps to be seen.  I don't know who was Mr Big, but he has a good tan.

Finally the canon sounded and the first batch of horses came out on track.  You can just see them circling near the start line on the opposite side of the square from where we were standing.

After a couple of false starts (the real race has innumerable false starts!), they were off.

 As you can see, each horse has a big number stamped on it, and the jockeys ride bare-back.  The horses themselves are quite small and are bred for speed.  There was an outcry a few years ago when horses died in the race each year.  The Campo has one particularly tight corner with frequent collisions and spills.  After that the horses were bred to be stronger with thicker bones, and the corner has huge mattresses strapped around it.  There were a few spills this morning, but horses and riders bounce off the mattresses, and there haven't been any fatalities for a few years.

In between each race, the sand is raked and rolled back into place.

 

The crowds in the stands are young men, just like football crowds.

 



These men were watching a couple of jockeys come unstuck on the sharp corner.  The riderless horses carry on racing.  In the real race on Friday, it's the horse that wins, whether or not he has a rider.

 

First you see number 16 with its rider, then after going round the notorious corner alongside a loose horse, without its rider...



The wise jockeys give the riderless horses a wide berth!

We left after the Tratta, as it was really heating up in the Campo.  The next stage, later in the morning, after the 10 horses have been selected, is that each horse is allocated to the 10 contrade that are racing, supposedly by drawing lots out of a hat.  But the Palio is notoriously corrupt! We have been in the Campo for this process in previous years and it can get extremely rowdy, not to say violent, between the rival groups of young men from each contrade.  Better to leave the Sienese to get on with it at that point...

The Dome of St Paul's Cathedral 3rd July 2013

Today I climbed to the top of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral.  It's in three stages.

The first stage is a gentle walk (257 steps, 30 metres) up a shallow wide wooden curving staircase.  It brings you to the Whispering Gallery which runs around the inside of the bottom of the drum of the dome.  You get great views down to the nave, choir and crossing and up to the paintings around the inside of the dome.  There is strictly no photography.

The second stage is a steeper climb up a narrow curving stone staircase (another 119 steps and 23 metres).  You step out onto the Stone Gallery which runs around the outside of the top of the drum, with great views in all directions.  This view is to the east with the City of London in the centre and the Shard on the right.

Here's the view to the south, now with the Shard on the left and the Millennium Bridge straight ahead leading to Tate Britain.

I had a zoom lens with me as well as the wide angle, so I zoomed in on the Millennium Bridge (left), Gherkin (centre) and Shard (right).

 Looking west over the nave of the cathedral you can see the river Thames on the left and Telecom Tower on the right.

I zoomed in on Westminster and the London Eye.

The climb to the Golden Gallery at the top is not for the faint-hearted.  It's "only" another 148 steps and 32 metres, but it's a near vertical climb up a series of spiral staircases.  The staircases are made of openwork cast iron so you have an unimpeded view upwards and downwards.  When you reach the top you have to squeeze through narrow stone steps with a low ceiling between the inner and outer stone skins of the dome before you emerge onto the gallery which is above the dome but below the cupola.  The views are similar but even higher up and with the dome in the foreground.  That scalloped shape is the top of the dome.  You can see Paternoster Square on the right.

The clock from an unusual angle.

 
And the view to the east again.

Views along the Thames 13th June 2013

My brother beachcombing at low tide.  I used to work in the modern office block on the other side of the Thames - seems a long time ago :-)

 

Three Blackfriars Bridges - I'm standing under the modern road bridge (from which Roberto Calvi's body was found hanging in 1982), with the 1886 railway bridge in blue.  The bright pink columns in between used to support the earlier railway bridge built in 1864.

 

Underneath the Millennium Bridge (solarised)

 

A ballet of wheelbarrows at the South Bank!

Graffiti artist from Sydney!

Commonwealth flags in Parliament Square

The View from The Shard 13th June 2013

My brother John and I were thrilled to visit The View from The Shard.  We took hundreds of photos as the weather kept changing and we wanted sunny photos as well as rainy photos.  The outside viewing platform is amazing as you are in "the elements" and it was very windy this afternoon - you could feel the building move slightly :-()

State Opening of Parliament 8th May 2013

Pomp as only the British can do it!

There were lots of horses to keep the crowds amused

 

 

And a band waiting to play God Save the Queen

 

 

Plenty of security, these policemen were outside Downing Street

 

 

And it would have been unwise to try to drive down Whitehall

 

 

The commander in chief of the forces in London was inspecting his troops on a fine white stallion

 

 

Attention!!

 

 

And here she is - I'm sorry she didn't wave at me...

 

 

St Paul's Cathedral 30th April 2013

This morning, in the bright sunshine, I had some fun with my infrared camera and Snapseed on my iPad: