Siena

Today we went to Siena. Stijn drove us in his car.

It felt like it was a very long drive. The drive was scenic.

Siena is on a hill. The town were very helpful and had a series of escalators to take you up the steep hill.

We went to a square called Piazza del Campo where in a week's time there would be a horse race called Palio di Siena. The area around the square was being prepared for the race. There was a gravelley sand clay mixture on the ground. It made a big ring around the piazza. This is where the horses would race. Then around the outside tiered seating was being installed.

The Palio di Siena is a race that happens twice a year on July 2nd and 16th August.

The one held one the second of July is called the Palio di Provenzano.
The race has only ten riders. The riders are chosen from within the 17 contrade ( city regions ). The riders ride bareback and wear the colours of their contrade. The riders have to race 3 laps. In the race you can get thrown off your horse. This happens a lot so they made the rule that only the horse has to cross the finish line.

Walking around we saw a tower that looked like a liquorice allsort!

Siena was very busy and it was raining on and off. We did not stay long.

We drove back to Lucca and had some dinner with Stijn before heading back to our B & B.

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