The group decided to take it easy today or at least that is what Debbie thought. Larry stayed at the flat while the other three headed to the wall of the old city. They ran into an outdoor market which was very hard for Joyce to walk through. Joyce and Jerry deposited Debbie on the wall and went back for sandwiches for a picnic.
Debbie thought they would be going back early after they ate. Debbie even texted Larry that they would be back soon. But once they finished, they went down to the market and it swept them away….curtains, bedspreads, food, clothes ….they walked and walked until they came to the townhall square which has an interesting story.
The Palio di Siena is a horse race held twice each year, in July and August in the town square. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the correct colors represent ten of the seventeen city wards. City wards have rivalries similar to team rivalries.
The race consists of ten horses. Not all seventeen city wards can take part in the Palio. There is a complicated process of how and who decides which wards participate. Corruption and bribery are not unheard of.
On the day of the race, an explosive charge sounds across the piazza, signaling to thousands that the race is about to begin. The race is three laps of the Piazza del Campo, the track is covered with several inches of dirt and the corners protected with padded crash barriers for the occasion.
The winner is the first horse to cross the finish line—a horse can win without its rider. The spectators are in the middle of the square and the outside. Thousands of people view the race. The Palio differs from “normal” horse races as part of the game is for city wards to prevent rivals from winning. Jockeys are allowed to pull or shove their fellow jockeys, hit the horses and each other, or try to hamper other horses at the start.
Don’t think a horse track, think a track field if that. The three stood in the square and went “Huh? Really”
This piazza is also contains the Fountain of Joy. It is a fifteenth-century fountain with water supplied from ancient aqueducts and nearby canals in the surrounding hills of Tuscany. They are not sure why it is joyful. Joyce had a drink and didn’t seem any more joyful.
After visiting the townhall, they walked back to the flat returning after five. Sadly, they missed all the gelato stores that day.
