Sienese Nightlife

It's July 3, so the ‘Palio di Siena’ was yesterday. The cornerstone to the lives of the Sienese, it is a cultural experience like no other. And I am not going to talk about it. Pick up any Rick Steve's or Lonely Planet and they can tell you all about it (or Jon or I will in a few weeks). Instead I want to talk about the actual Siena, the one hidden behind the picturesque postcards and the fanny packs. Because every day, as the shadows from the Palazzo Pubblico grow longer over the Campo and the throngs of tourists take the ‘rapida’ bus back to Florence, Siena makes its transformation into an actual city. And a city isn't a city without night life.

Siena is pretty similar to a US college town. Practically devoid of anything resembling a proper nightclub, the youth scene here thrives on relaxing in the Campo with some wine. Every night starts and ends this way, with little alteration. Bars pepper the border of the Campo, each selling their own version of cheap, good red wine, packed with Italians, Americans, Australians, Germans. Everyone is engaging in the same nightly ritual surrounded by a city that has stayed largely unchanged for 700 years. It is unquestionably a cool feeling, to sit and socialize in the same spot that the Sienese of old did, in a Piazza that has remained relatively unchanged since its heyday.

Down a side street off the Campo sits Bella Vista, one of the most relaxed, but by far the most interesting, night spots in Siena. Owned by two immigrants from the Ivory Coast, the walls are completely covered with posters and magazines, engulfing the bar in a bizarre collage of celebrities from the 50's to now. The unique interior attracts travelers and Sienese alike, creating an international bonding experience over a good mojito and unending reggae. The owners dance wildly behind the bar and spark conversations in French, Italian, and broken English. Great place, great times.

If the bar scene wears you out, which it is want to do, you can always talk one of your new Italian friends into taking you to an Italian college party. We first arrived in Siena as exams were ending, and one lucky night we got invited to a party thrown by the University of Siena before all of the students left to go back home for the summer. Two things became instantly apparent as we arrived in the courtyard of an old church. First, Italian dance music is still about five years behind the American scene. Kevin Lyttle's "Turn Me On" blared from the DJ booth, taking us back to 2003. Second, the vast majority of the students could not dance. It was at this moment that I realized I may have been born in Italy, as this would be a pretty accurate description of myself. We awkwardly shuffled to "Stacy's Mom" for hours.

It wouldn't be Siena if the contradas didn't have an input on the city's night life. Contrada parties are where the Sienese really let loose and create some of the best experiences for us here in Siena. Two weeks ago we went to a party in the Wave contrada, where a member of one of the home stay families was playing with his band. We went in expecting an Italian pop or rock band, but were instead met with an Elvis lookalike singing, in jumbled English, 1950's rock standards. Standing underneath the Tuscan moon, watching an Italian rock band play the most lively rendition of "You Really Got Me" we had ever seen while everyone around us thrashed with the beat, we all had the same thought: How were we lucky enough to experience this?

Nick Carullo, UVa

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '11