The Palio

I am going to go back in our adventure to when we stayed in Siena. We both like Siena as a town. It has great history and is not a big city, but a fairly large town. The people there seem pretty friendly. We stayed in a B and B there that was over 400 years old. It was renovated and updated, but they kept some of the original timbers, etc. There is a famous large piazza there called the Piazza del Campo. We have read about the famous bare-back horse race that takes place in this piazza. The race is called the Palio. It takes place twice a year and has been going on continuously for over 400 years. The various contradas (read districts) compete against each other in the race. The race is wild and wooly. The riders have few limitations. They can hold up, hit other riders or horses, etc. It is common for a few horses to cross the finish line riderless. There used to be about 17 contradas competing, but things were so out of hand that a couple hundred years ago they cut the number who could compete. Now there are 10 competing contradas. Seven qualify from previous races and the others compete for the three remaining spots. The Palio was kind of brought to life for (even though it didn't take place while we were there) by hearing an emotional conversation about it in a ristorante. We found that one of the owners is somewhat of a celebrity of the race. So, we pursued the subject a little.

This is one of the owners and his daughter who is a waitress in the ristorante. Notice the picture of the Palio on the wall. Look in the bottom right corner and you will see this man. It looks like a running of the Bulls pic. On another wall is a photo of another year, and there he is again. It was fun to see their excitement when talking about the race. It is very competitive and emotional for the natives. 

The ceiling in our bedroom. Large timbers with cross beams and a tile floor above. 

A rooftop shot of part of the city.

This is the Piazza del a Campo. They are preparing for a large district event. They put up a large stage, speakers, etc and filled the piazza with row after row of tables and chairs enough to sit and feed thousands complete with table coverings and seat cushions. They had a huge contingency of workers who set up an assembly line fashion operation. They sang while they worked. You had to love it.