Yesterday, The Palio was held in Siena, Italy's central piazza. The Palio di Siena is a horse race that takes place twice a year, on July 2nd and August 16th. It features 10 horses and riders, bareback and representing 10 of the city's 17 wards. I have seen this race on Rick Steves PBS travel show, and it looked like thousands of people were in that piazza watching the race. My sister Susan and I visited Siena back in May of 2019, where I took the photograph on the left of the central piazza. However, it was long before those horse races took place, which is why I had to add a couple of horses from Fort Collins, via the magic of Photoshop, to create the proper atmosphere.
Even though it was still a month and a half away from the July 2nd race, there was a huge parade in the neighborhood where we were staying, the locals cheering on their entry in the upcoming contest. I took the photo on the right out of my hotel room's window late in the afternoon, just before we headed out to dinner. As you can see, there were a LOT of people marching down the street. Hours later, as I was about to go to sleep, I heard some banging on pots and pans and various cheers, and was surprised to see that the parade was still going on, although with a lot less people. Talk about enthusiasm. I wonder if alcohol was involved?
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