June 30 Siena

 Today was going to be a much better day.  We had wifi last night so I looked at our route ahead and made some changes to stay off dirt paths as much as possible.  And it worked!!  We had a lovely ride into Siena.  Once there we found our hostel located in an old church and parked our bikes.  When I rang the bell Padre Emmanuel met me in a tee shirt and holding a beer!!

Our hostel at Basilica San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi.

Siena is packed today with tourists and locals because the upcoming Palio race in 2 days.  Remarkably they fill the central Plaza del Campo with dirt and run a bareback horse race around the square.  It's 3 laps around and the first horse to cross the finish line wins - the rider does not have to be on the horse - which is often the case.  The center of the Campo fills with up to 60,000 people and then there are people in bleachers all around the square.  I recommend you look up Youtube videos of the race if you want to see something crazy.

The central Campo surrounded by a dirt track.  Imagine 60,000 fans squished into that central area!!
Each neighborhood sets up for a big neighborhood feast for 3 straight nights.

These guys gave Brian some wine.  They had a lot of empty bottles on the table!!

Brian sitting in one of the bleacher seats.

I can't imagine how they get all the dirt out after the race is over.

Siena is divided into 17 Contrada's and 10 of those are selected to enter a horse and rider into the race. 

 We took a walking tour of Siena and you can see the different neighborhoods by which color flag is flying on the buildings.  Locals are out and partying and drinking and singing - supporting their Contrada.  They told us they started partying yesterday - and the race isn't for 2 more days!!


The famous Duomo di Siena with it's distinctive black and white marble.  The colors represent the coat of arms of the 2 founders of Siena.
We were packed into the Plaza del Campo with thousands of other fans to watch the trials for the upcoming Palio race.  It was an amazing experience.

Nightfall over Siena

Brian and Padre Emmanuel








Comments

  1. SueJuly 3, 2024 at 1:47 PM

    You guys were so very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time! I remember when we were there it was so clean, I can't imagine how they get all that dirt out!

    ReplyDelete

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