Leaving Florence

Our Last day in Florence!!! After having finished packing yesterday, the plan was to go take my suitcase to uni in the morning, then help pack up and clean the apartment before leaving on the 2:09 train to Foligno. Not unusually, things didn’t quite go to plan!!! I was burning a DVD in the morning (thinking it would finish rather quickly) so I could pack away my computer and catch a 9.47 train, however ½ hour after the train had left the DVD was only just finishing. I ended up having to take a bus (which I only just managed to get) as this was the ‘convienient’ gap in the train timetable to Prato… Then I didn’t manage to get back in time for the handover (not really that tragic) and only just made it back to Florence by 1.45. We decided that we would rather catch the later train (4:09) as neither of us felt ready enough to leave. 2 hours later, we’d managed to send 3 packages to Australia, buy Tim’s leather satchel and only just make it to the station – although the apartment was still a mess (at least we’d moved all the furniture back to how it was when we moved in…) Saying goodbye to Tim was hard especially after we had spent so much time together the last week. Leaving Florence was really sad after an awesome 3 months with great people!





After a fairly long train ride, we arrived in Foligno to find, once again, horribly inadequate directions to the hostel; “500m from the train station” and the tourist office closed! After asking numerous locals for directions, we finally found the hostel down a tiny alleyway, a little further than 500m from the station. It turned out to be a really nice hostel with a beautiful courtyard in the middle and large and clean rooms.






Dinner was quite amusing; after having wandered into the 1st nice place with a menu, we managed to order antipasti without realising (the waiter offered us stuffed zucchii and we didn’t say no; then they just kept coming) as well as the meals (well, primi piatti as usual) and left spending slightly more than planned, feeling almost as full as we were after the bistecca!!! We then wandered back to the hostel, straight to bed, feeling rather exhausted after all the rushing around, needing a good night’s sleep…

Il Palio

Il Palio!!! What can I say but simply amazing… (in a crazy kind of way). We headed off on the bus to Siena at about 10.30 stopping to take in a couple of the sights and buying the flag of a certain Contrada (I chose the wolf) before reserving our places near the front railing at the corner where apparently everyone falls and waiting (this involved taking shifts at eating, going to the toilet, buying drinks etc…) Waiting took quite a while, although the atmosphere in the square as it slowly filled till it was packed and the police locked everyone in the Campo was electric. The pomp and pageantry of the pre-race parade was amazing, with “representatives” of all the guilds marching, flag throwers, warriors and the racehorse of all the Contrada marching before finally the Palium (the prize for the winner which is only a silk banner) came out at the end pulled by these huge ox!!!

The Parade is a lively display of rich, brightly coloured medieval costumes which date back to the 1400s. The procession winds around the racetrack with the flag-bearer of the Commune oh horseback bearing the standard of Siena, followed by his groom, a group of drummers, trumpeters and musicions (the Musici di Palazzo). These are followed by the Captains, the representatives of the “Podestà”, the flag bearers with the standards of the “Terzieri” of the town and land, the flag-bearers of the Corporations of the Arts and Crafts, the capitain of the people on horseback and a group of flag-bear ers with flags of the old Sienese Republic. Next were the representatives of each “Contrada” (the first 10 are the ones running in the race_ which are followed by a row of pages bearing the festoons of laurel leaves and then by the seven Contrade that don’t run. Finally, the triumphal chariot drawn by huge oxen which carries the four “Provveditori di Biccherna” along with the oriflamme of the Commune, the Palio and a group of trumpeters.

When finally the parade finished (took about 3 hours I think) and after a couple of punch ups behind us… (involving something about Contrada loyalties… the Sienese are incredibly passionate about the race and their Contradas) the race was almost ready to start. Nothing like the Melbourne cup, it took 3 false starts and a lot of pushing and shoving (supposedly where last-minute bargains are made) before the race was finally underway. The race was finally won by the Goose Contrada, but not without dramas… The Shell horse was a close second (which is considered losing) and 3 horses finished (or didn’t quite make it across the finishing line deciding at the last corner that running in a circle 3 times was quite a stupid idea) having lost their riders in the 1st 2 laps. As we rushed back towards the buses back to Florence, we had to navigate seas of cheering, jubilant residents of the Goose Contrada, as well as the crying and angry residents of other contrada, making quite an intimidating atmosphere…