Siena is back in business again after the long weekend leading up to the Palio yesterday evening. On Saturday we decided to go to the Prova in Piazza del Campo. It was quite exciting to see so many people gathered in the piazza. The mood was amazing — I can’t imagine how it must be on the actual Palio day. Here is a footage of the race of the Saturday prova.
Baby Boy didn’t really like the ‘blasts’ at the end of the race. But he did have a great time hanging out in the crowd prior to the race.
I’d love to write more about the Palio, but I think it’s best to wikipedia it (am a bit lazy today .. haha..) or come to Siena and see it for yourself. Anyway, sometime next spring Baby Boy is going to be ‘baptised’ into a contrada — we’ve decided on Drago, not only because it is a smaller size contrada but also the dragon symbol is a link to Baby Boy’s Welsh heritage.
Sunday evening was the prova generale, with a show of carabinieri on horseback as well as another mock race for the horses. On Monday most businesses in Siena was either close or only opened half day. Since D got the day off from work, we decided to go on a short drive to Castiglione del Lago, a small town on Lago Trasimeno (Umbria). After walking around in the old center, we stopped for lunch at Ristorante La Cantina. It was a nice relaxing lunch for the three of us. Baby Boy wasn’t so much into grilled fish, but he did enjoy the patate rosmarino and a whole jar of baby yogurt (plus he finished off his left over pancake from breakfast in the car). The food and ambience was great — very different from Siena. I had a plate of spaghetti di sapori di lago and shared a plate of grigliata mista di lago with D.
After a quick gelato stop, we headed home just in time to watch the Palio on TV. Oh yes…remember my spinach pesto? Well…Baby Boy may not have the biggest smile, but at least he was willing to give it a try. He did manage to finish his meal at the end.
ps: Although there was a slight confusion on which contrada actually won the race (Oca or Nicchio), after examining the replays, the winner was the Oca (goose) contrada. Congratulations to Giorgia — our neighbor (& my former student).
