We're in Siena for three days. It's beautiful. One of my favourite places ever. A totally medieval town set in the heart of Tuscany. It has been unbearably hot again these last few days but we did manage to do a walking tour to learn more about Sienese history and of course, the Palio di Siena!
In short, the Palio is a bareback horse race held twice yearly in the city's Il Campo (the main square) between 10 horses and riders from different contrada's (districts) in the city. It's origins date back to the 1600's and is still one of the biggest events of the year.
By sheer luck, our hotel ended up being near the winning contrada's headquarters – the Civetta (Owl) contrada won the August 16th race just a few weeks ago. Flags are still up, road feasts still happen every night and each evening, the contrada's members parade their winning banner through the streets and the Il Campo. How cool is that!?!
It has been a great few days here and we've had a lot of time to relax, catch up on some sleep and gorge ourselves with even more gelato. What a hard life!
