Buongiorno!
La bella moglie and I are in Italia for il matrimonia of our old neighbors. They Googled romantic villas in Toscana and chose a village not far from Siena. So we booked our lodgings not realising it was the same weekend as the famous Il Palio, the bareback horse race around the huge square – il campo. No wonder the room was 1000 Euro a night! We hastily found lodgings elsewhere for 100 Euro. When we arrived in Siena on Monday, the day after the race, the place was still teeming with people. The race had been postponed because of rain!
We ended up watching it on TV. There were a couple of false starts and it was pretty clear that an inside draw at the dropped rope start was a huge advantage. The winner, a beautiful chestnut, looked outstanding in the pre-parade, and led from pillar to post. Three of the ten horses had nose rolls but didn’t run on. One horse lost its rider. It was all over in about 60 seconds. 20000 people went crazy.
Il Palio
At least I can say that I have watched it.
Ciaio!