I couldn't be more excited to attend my first Calcio Storico in Florence. Calcio Storico literally means historic soccer... basically... and it's tournament involving the four historic neighborhoods of Florence. The game itself is a mix of soccer and rugby but is actually quite physical. In the past few years the games have been cancelled due to excessive physical activity between players and teams even before the tournament has started.
The tournament is held in Piazza Santo Spirito and it started yesterday. The teams represent the four historic neighborhoods of Florence and they don their neighborhoods colors and costumes for the event. The teams are: Azzuri (blu) of Santa Croce, Bianchi (white) from Santo Spirito, Verdi (green) from San Giovanni, and the Rossi (red) from Santa Maria Novella.
There is another game today, and the final game will be played on Friday, which is the feast day of San Giovanni, the patron saint of Florence. Friday is also a day of celebration and festivities with fireworks from Piazzale Michelangelo and many parties and historic celebrations going on throughout town.
Yesterday I ran into the opening parade as it was moving through Piazza della Repubblica and making its way to Santa Croce to start the tourney. Here is a picture.
Videos of the parade and game to come!
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