On Wednesday, July 2nd the day was organized around our trip to the annual Palio in Sienna. We left for Sienna about 1:30 and it took a little over an hour to get there. 
The first thing we did was go to the Duomo Cathedral. This was an amazing duomo. It has some fabulous paintings, sculpture and a library of medieval hymn books. The artwork on the walls and ceiling were gorgeous. I’ve included a photo of a part of the ceiling and one of the hymn books. The calligraphy was amazing.
When we came out of the duomo, the procession of family groups had started. Each of the 17 groups were dressed in medieval costume and carrying their flags. My pictures of the parade didn’t turn out because a setting on camera got tweaked so the photos were way overexposed. 
After watching the procession for awhile, we got a quick bite to eat and took our last potty break before entering the main square for the horse race. There is no where to “go” once you get in the town square, so you have to hold it until the race is over.
Our guide for this event, the daughter of the family where we are living, guided us through the process. Having a guide that was a good thing because she knew where to go a midst of all the chaos and where to find a good spot for the race! It was so crowded with people everywhere crowding to get into the square. Here is a picture of a few of our group waiting to get into the square. 
From left to right are Jeffrey, Sean, Sam (eating), Amy (behind Sam) and Brandon. I've included a link that has the history and background of the race as well as some great pictures of the event. http://www.initaly.com/info/palio/palio.htm.
I bought a scarf of one of the flags I liked the best. The colors are green, red and white with a goose on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment