Let me preface this entry by saying, this is probably the coolest thing I have ever witnessed in life. OK, now we can move on...
So, after a lovely saty in Torino the day before, we boarded the train to the small mountain town of Ivrea, about an hour north for the famous BATTAGLIA DELLE ARANCE (Battle of the Oranges!). First, let me explain European trains to those who don't know. You buy your ticket before hand at a machine/biglietteria (ticket office), then, BEFORE you get on the train, you have to stick your ticket in one of these little yellow machines which stamp the date and time on it, "validating" it. Then, when you're on the train, the conducter comes around and checks tickets. So, in the excitement of getting to Carnevale in Ivrea, it seems that my group forgot to stamp our ticket. And I say "our" ticket, because since we bought them together, we were all on one. But the train hasn't pulled out yet, so I valiently offer to get offer to get off, stamp the ticket, and get back on. I run off, down the platform, and get to the machine. "Sbloccato". Something's blocking it, not working. So I go to the next platform. Same. The third, a piece of paper over the mouth of the machine. "Non in servizio". Not in service. Finally, a little panicked, a nice old man yells, "Signorina, qui!!" (Miss, there's one here!) I finally stamp the ticket and run back three platforms to see the train pulling away. Of coursre. Split second decision, I was going to jump the train, just like in the movies. However, the train was already too far out, and me not being the most athletic/fast person in the world, I didn't make it. But I did try. It was dramatic. So, now I'm yelling after the train "Aspetta!! Aspetta!!" (Wait! Wait!) while running and making a scene. After giving up, I find myself next to an older gentleman on the platform, with no bag and everyone's ticket.
-"Hai perso il treno?" (Did you miss your train?)
-"Si"
-"E tua valigia?" (And your suitcase?)
-"Sul treno" (On the train.)
-"Da solo?" (By itself?)
-"No, i miei amici sono sul treno, ma ho il loro biglietto." (No, my friends are on the train, but I have their ticket.)
-"Oh."
-"Si." (pausa)
-"Allora, puoi prendere il metro al Porta Susa, tutti i treni fermano li dopo qui. Puoi incontrare i tuoi amici e dargli la biglietta." (Well, you could take the metro to Porta Susa, all the trains stop there next. You could meet your friends and give them their ticket.)
-"Si??? GRAZIE SIGNORE!!"
Very succesful italian conversation, so off I ran to get on the metro. It was not until I was halfway there that I realized that My purse was on the train, and I had absolutely NO money to buy a €1 metro ticket. MANNAGGIA! So, after an unsuccessful attempt at begging for money (FYI, don't all of a sudden try to take up begging at a train station. That place is already full of beggars. There's no free turf) My intelligent friends who DID have money, decided to get off at the next stop (NO TICKET, after all) and come back to me on the metro. Phew, crisis averted. Now we just had to wait an hour for the next train.
OK, back on schedule, we make it to Ivrea about 1 PM. Upon exiting the station we see hoards of people in red hats. Apparantly anyone not officially on a team in the Battaglia needs to wear a red hat, so they won't be targeted! The whole town was decorated to the nines in Medieval banners and signs, There were huge tents of food and candy and sweets, and all the hot wine you can drink! (Which is surprisingly better than you would think. It's kind of like hot cider, and believe me, we needed it because we were in the Alps, and it was COLD!) Every 5 minutes or so a horse-drawn cart would go by carrying about 15 people in Medieval team uniforms, signing songs and battle chants. Also every couple minutes, you would come across a few oranges rolling down the street. Something interesting was about to happen...
A little background on the Battaglia Delle Arance: Here's the website:
http://www.carnevalediivrea.it/english/battaglia.asp
But here's the gist: Back in the Middle Ages, the commoners were fed up with the Feudal lords and would throw things at them when they would ride through town, specifically the bucket of beans they would so generously give out during Carnevale. This evolved into people throwing oranges from balconies, which eventually became the all-out, commemorative, symbolic, fun, battle that we witnessed last Sunday.
OK, so there's 9 teams on foot (about 100 people each) who are placed in different piazzas around the village, with enough orange ammunition to last for hours. (For those interested, oranges don't grow in the North of Italy, but the millions at the battle are imported from Sicily, and most are blood oranges, which makes the battle much more colorful, to say the least..) Then, about 18 teams on carriages (about 10 guys each) - representing the feudal lords - ride around town to the piazzas and basically get nailed by oranges from every direction by the "rebellious commoners" on foot. But don't worry, they have oranges to throw back, and the advantage of being higher up, and are in full padding, medieval helmets and all.
So, the battle began at 2:30. We got good seats behind the screen (all the "spectator" areas are covered by nets, also to protect the buildings). And began to watch team Scacchi ("Checkers") and team Scorpioni ("Scorpions"), battle the carriages. As soon as one came into the piazza, the music swelled, everyone yelled, and the battle began! Oranges began flying from every direction as everyone just got pelted! After about 45 minutes, of course we decided we had to get in the action. Anyone can fling oranges, after all. So we moved to a smaller, but more lethal piazza, and watched team Tuchini del Borghetto battle. Now, this team's colors happened to be red and green. So everyone had a red hat on, there goes the spectator protection idea. But we didnt care, because the Tuchini welcomed us, even handing us oranges to throw! When carriages would come by, some would stop in the middle for a few minutes and battle, while others would just ride through without stopping, throwing oranges as they went. The teams that stopped got huge applause, while the "conigli" (cowards) who kept going got hissed and booed by everyone there!
For those wondering, yes, I did get hit several times. Most notably in the eye. But miracuously no bruises to report from any hit! It hurt, but not enough to take me out of the battle!
After 3 hours, the battle was drawing to an end, and we made our way to the train station, exhausted and covered in orange pulp. It was a sticky ride home, to say the least. SO worth it.
My camera ran out of batteries during the battle, but here's some YouTube videos of the action:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ygEMi1QexYw&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HiXi7HU3CUw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuTCU3v0Zng&NR=1
More thumbnails ...
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