So much to see and do in Florence - and the weather is warm but a nice breeze, my fan, and head scarf (I've bought a new one every day for 5 Euros from various street vendors) keep me on the move. Onto the big bus to explore the villages of Tuscany.
First stop Siena, where a local guide meets us to give us a tour - people everywhere so early in the morning ... why? We couldn't believe our good luck, but today we had arrived on the very same day as the 2013 Palio di Siena - a horse race dating back to 1310 which is held in Siena only 2 times a year - on July 2nd (today!) and August 16.
Our local tour guide was beside herself with excitement as she shared with us details of this special day:
Ten horses and
riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colors, represent ten
of the seventeen contrade or city wards (like in
the Palisades it would be the Huntington vs the Riviera vs the
Highlands...) Residents of each contrade wear special large scarves on
race day to identify which contrade they are aligned with - for
example our tour guide lived in the section of Siena which was the Oca
- "The Goose". Her best friend lives a few streets
away in a different ward, the Tartuca - "The Tortoise",
and her mother lives in still another area of the city, the Chiocciola
- "The Snail". 363 days of the year they are loving and
kind to each other, but on the 2 days of the Palio di Siena - they are absolutely
loyal to their ward and their ward alone!!!
A
magnificent pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the
race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world. The square
has seats for 33,000 people, and over 30,000 additional people watch from
windows, balconies, rooftops, or standing. The race itself,
in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo three
times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is not uncommon for a few
of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns
in the piazza, and indeed, it is not unusual to see unmounted horses finishing
the race without their jockeys. For this reason the ground of this temporary
racetrack has been prepared with a thick layer of earth and rows of mattresses
are lined up against the walls.
The most successful ward has been Oca - "The Goose", which has won 63 races, at least according to their records, which start from 1644!
(Breaking News: We heard "The Goose" won yet again today!)
We couldn't believe our good fortune to be in Siena on this special day. Although we didn't stay for the pageant and the race (tickets had been sold out months ago) we were still able to be surrounded by the excitement and energy of the festivities that were only hours away. It was a thrilling atmosphere!
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| A large (and refreshing) fountain. |
Of course in Sienna, as it seems in every town in Italy big or small, there was a magnificent cathedral, this one called appropriately the Siena Cathedral. Construction began in 1196, and by 1215 there were already daily masses celebrated within. It's another WOWOWOWOW - such a beautiful site to behold inside and out.
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| The inlaid marble mosaic floor was created by about 40 artists between the 14th and 16th centuries. |
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| The hexagonal dome is topped with a golden surround, like the golden sun. |
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| Within the cathedral is the Piccolomini Library built in 1492 which houses precious illuminated choir books and frescoes. |
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| Our view as we departed Sienna |
Back on the bus and onward through the countryside to the town of San Gimignano, a small walled medieval hill town not far from Sienna. Known as "The Town of Fine Towers", at one time there were 72 tower-houses (a demonstration of wealth and power by the 2 major rivaling patrician families), but today just 14 tower-houses survive. With San Gimignano's hilltop setting and encircling fortress walls, the feudal atmosphere and appearance take you back in time to what life must have been like in the Middle Ages. The historic town center, Cathedral Square, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
After climbing up a winding cobblestone road you finally end up in the town center which is the shape of a triangle, and surrounded by restaurants and little shops. In the middle of the square is a cistern (a well), which was first built in 1237, then rebuilt in 1346, and served for many years as the main source of water for the town's residents.
By this time it was mid-afternoon, and it was getting hot hot hot! The next stop was at a winery where most of our Go Ahead Tour members sampled 12 different varieties of locally grown wine, and then were offered the opportunity to purchase the bottles. The crowd was in very high spirits when we boarded the bus back to Florence (by the time we arrived most were also asleep in their seats!) Personally Willie and I had "hit the wall" and were exhausted from days of go-go-going...When we returned to the hotel at 5pm each of us "took to our bed". I woke up the next day at 10am!
Bill meanwhile had the evening to himself and it turned out the museums were open on Tuesdays until 10pm, so he took himself on a tour of the Uffizi Gallery to view "the world's finest collection of Renaissance art" and the Accademia Galleria to view Michelangelo's early masterpiece, the statue of David, sculpted when the artist was only 26 years old!
The next morning he couldn't stop talking about how awe-struck he was with the art in those 2 museums, and said we HAD to go back...and so we did! Stay tuned!
After climbing up a winding cobblestone road you finally end up in the town center which is the shape of a triangle, and surrounded by restaurants and little shops. In the middle of the square is a cistern (a well), which was first built in 1237, then rebuilt in 1346, and served for many years as the main source of water for the town's residents.
Bill meanwhile had the evening to himself and it turned out the museums were open on Tuesdays until 10pm, so he took himself on a tour of the Uffizi Gallery to view "the world's finest collection of Renaissance art" and the Accademia Galleria to view Michelangelo's early masterpiece, the statue of David, sculpted when the artist was only 26 years old!
The next morning he couldn't stop talking about how awe-struck he was with the art in those 2 museums, and said we HAD to go back...and so we did! Stay tuned!
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