Sienna and the crazy Palio
We arrived here on the 29th on the afternoon train from Florence.
Plenty of time to stroll the short distance into town from our hotel and begin to work out both the layout of this essentially medieval town and sort out the way the race works. After three days in Siena I'm not sure we have too firm a handle on either of those things. We didn't use the same route back to the hotel twice but did have fun getting lost. The town is quite stunning. The Duomo or cathedral is at the top of the hill and streets radiate out and down from there with another network of narrow streets which sort of follow the contours of the hill. The Campo - a huge steeply sloping square is part way down the hill and it's in this square where the race is run. We were fortunate to be able to see the four trial races, two per day, which precede the main event. All were exciting. The trial races allowed us to get our bearings and work out the system. The rivalry between the different teams is intense, At the end of the first test thee was come trouble between two groups which was dealt with pretty swiftly but Italian riot police.
The race track runs round the edge of the Campo with a surface or clay laid temporarily over the brick and stone paving. Tall, ancient, buildings surround the Campo. The spectators are either in precarious wooden temporary grandstands on the outside or are corralled in the middle of the square. Grandstand seats are both expensive and hard to get. The bit in the middle is free.
The races are three laps around the track. There are 10 horses per race. They have no saddle, just a halter and the riders don't have spurs. The impression I have is that this lack of normal horse controls makes for pretty challenging skills for the riders. The guys look tough. The race is three laps, about 90 seconds in total. The build up is quite something. First the riders enter the Campo, then comes a long and complex process of getting them in the right order for the start. In the final race that part took over an hour.
On the final day, the day of the big race, representatives of the teams parade through the city dressed in medieval costume. Each group is led by a drummer, then two flag bearers followed by the team. The parade is massive and goes on for several hours. It culminates at the Campo before the start of the race.
The final race took ages to get going. The starter had a lot of trouble getting the horses lined up the required order. The race had a crash on the first lap, two riders now in hospital.
The next and final city is Pisa. We have two nights there before we fly back to Edinburgh. Highlights are likely to include that leaning tower and maybe the Vespa museum.
We arrived here on the 29th on the afternoon train from Florence.
Plenty of time to stroll the short distance into town from our hotel and begin to work out both the layout of this essentially medieval town and sort out the way the race works. After three days in Siena I'm not sure we have too firm a handle on either of those things. We didn't use the same route back to the hotel twice but did have fun getting lost. The town is quite stunning. The Duomo or cathedral is at the top of the hill and streets radiate out and down from there with another network of narrow streets which sort of follow the contours of the hill. The Campo - a huge steeply sloping square is part way down the hill and it's in this square where the race is run. We were fortunate to be able to see the four trial races, two per day, which precede the main event. All were exciting. The trial races allowed us to get our bearings and work out the system. The rivalry between the different teams is intense, At the end of the first test thee was come trouble between two groups which was dealt with pretty swiftly but Italian riot police.
The race track runs round the edge of the Campo with a surface or clay laid temporarily over the brick and stone paving. Tall, ancient, buildings surround the Campo. The spectators are either in precarious wooden temporary grandstands on the outside or are corralled in the middle of the square. Grandstand seats are both expensive and hard to get. The bit in the middle is free.
The races are three laps around the track. There are 10 horses per race. They have no saddle, just a halter and the riders don't have spurs. The impression I have is that this lack of normal horse controls makes for pretty challenging skills for the riders. The guys look tough. The race is three laps, about 90 seconds in total. The build up is quite something. First the riders enter the Campo, then comes a long and complex process of getting them in the right order for the start. In the final race that part took over an hour.
On the final day, the day of the big race, representatives of the teams parade through the city dressed in medieval costume. Each group is led by a drummer, then two flag bearers followed by the team. The parade is massive and goes on for several hours. It culminates at the Campo before the start of the race.
The final race took ages to get going. The starter had a lot of trouble getting the horses lined up the required order. The race had a crash on the first lap, two riders now in hospital.
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| Before the start |
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| Race under way |
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| The winner |
The next and final city is Pisa. We have two nights there before we fly back to Edinburgh. Highlights are likely to include that leaning tower and maybe the Vespa museum.
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