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Last Thursday we went to Siena for the Palio. Basically it was amazing. We left bright and early on Thursday as a full group (all 55 of us). It took about an hour and a half to get to Siena. We spent the morning looking at the Duomo, the Crypt, the Baptistery, and then the Museum. It was a little bit much religion for one day. In the museum there was a tower you could climb up that gave amazing views of the city.

This is looking over and into the countryside.

This is the Duomo.

And this is the Campo, where the Palio is held. You can only see about a third of it -- but it's enormous! It holds 50000 people for the Palio. Tourists, Italians, you name it. The Palio is a huge event for the Siennese because the neighborhoods are such a vital part of life.


This is an idea of what 50000 people look like in the square. There was first a long parade (literally two hours). Then the horses came out. They line up with one behind the rest based on a random drawing. That one behind is the one that starts the race whenever it deems it appropriate. This meant it took an hour for the race to start, including two false starts. The horses were just so nervous. They're not racehorses. About a month before the race the horses are picked from the countryside. There's another random type drawing to place them with the different neighborhoods. The 50000 people made them so nervous. Apparently every year some fall over on the turns and such -- but not this year, of course.

Anyway, after 90 seconds the race was over. The jockeys ride bareback and it's crazy. Tartuca (turtle) won the race by quite a bit. It was actually the same horse that won last year winning again, though it raced for a different team the year before. The fans jumped the barrier and started parading around the track afterwards, waving flags and everything. Some people from neighborhoods that didn't win literally burst into tears. That's how important the race is to them. It was so exciting to see.