Monday 28 May Florence

Got picked up mid-morning by Artan, who manages the apartment we are staying in, and has his own business running tours of the area. He drove us firstly to Siena, which I have wanted to visit since reading a book called “Palio: The most exciting race in the world” when I was young. Twice a year, on 2 July and 16 August, the city of Siena runs a fantastically dangerous horse race called the Palio. It is set in a large piazza in the centre of town, and hotly contested by the 17 contrada, or areas, of the city, each of which has its own flag and emblem (The Tower, the Dragon, the Snail, to name a few). The names of ten contrada are randomly drawn for each race, and only those 10 compete (there is not enough room for all 17 horses). Earth is laid over the cobbled streets, and the horses race three laps of the piazza, urged on by local riders, riding bareback. The piazza is not flat, and there are some really steep and dodgy corners, so there are horses and riders flying everywhere. We visited the piazza, and did a lap of the course, imagining the mayhem of the race. Look it up on YouTube.

Next stop Monteriggioni, a small village built by the Sienans at the height of their rivalry with Florence, as an outlying barracks to guard a pass through the hills. It is tiny, maybe 20 or 30 houses and a central square, circled entirely by a high stone wall, with towers at regular intervals. We had lunch here, a Tuscan feast of cold meats and salamis, cheeses, bruschetta and pasta, accompanied with a bottle of very good local chianti, all in the warm sun on a balcony draped in jasmine. Bliss!

After a drive through the beautiful Tuscan hills, and much historical, economic and military discussion with Artan, we made our final stop at San Gimignano, known as the Tuscan Manhattan because of its 13th century towers, These were built by the local wealthy families, who entered into a bit of a ‘mine is bigger than yours’ rivalry concerning the height of their towers. Originally there were 70-something towers, but only 13 now remain. Quite a sight.

Home by 7pm, and a bit of a break, and then Romy and Kia and I went out for a moonlit walk around the absolutely stunning Duomo (cathedral of Florence). This magnificent and massive building is made of pink, green and white marble and is topped by the biggest dome in Europe, a 1400s masterpiece by architect Brunelleschi. Tomorrow we shall venture inside, and climb its 463 steps for the view from the top (won’t tell the kids how many steps there are until we reach the top!!).

Outside our apartment, Via de Ginori, Florence

View of Florence Duomo as we left town

Interior of Siena cathedral - love those stripes!!!

Floor mosaic, Siena cathedral - some of the contrada emblems

Column base, Siena cathedral

Very clever 2 dimensional painting, using trompe l'oeil technique to look like a real window
with amazing feeling of perspective. Siena Cathedral library.

Piazza del Campo, Siena - the Palio race track

Lunch, Monteriggioni

Monteriggioni walls

View through gate to Tuscan countryside, Monteriggioni

Bear(?) in the entranceway of the Museo del Tortura (yup, the Torture Museum), San Gimignano.
Sign not necessary - as if we would touch that!!

Towers of San Gimignano