Day 30-31: Siena and Florence

We have now been traveling for an entire month. It is amazing how time flies when you’re having fun! We woke up at 8:30 because we wanted to get our touristy shopping done before we left for Siena. Our hostel offers an all you can eat breakfast for 5 euros each, but none of the food sounded too good and the straight black coffee didn’t sound too appealing. We opted for a more delicious breakfast. We found a bakery that has a deal where you get any freshly made pastry, a bowl of fruit, fresh juice, and any kind of coffee you want all for 3.80 euros per person. So much better!

After breakfast we browsed the leather market yet again. We walked away with some great gifts for ourselves and family. One such gift for ourselves were authentic Italian leather jackets. We had each tried a few on the day before just for fun and started to get an idea of what looked good. We each tried on many different styles and each eventually fell in love. Andrew refused to buy a jacket until he felt like he was getting a good deal. Through his amazing bargaining skill (thanks papa Tight) and Allyson’s cute lovable begging we managed to negotiate a price we were both happy with. Andrew’s jacket was marked for 400 euros but got it for 120, and Allyson’s was marked for 389 and got hers for 100 euros. And we look damn sexy.

We got back to the hostel just in time to catch our bus to Siena to see the famous Palio horse race. The bus from Florence to Siena was only an hour long, but it went by quickly. When we arrived in Siena the city was bustling. There were so many people, all sporting scarves for the horse that they were rooting for.

The race takes place in Piazza del Campo, where the 10 horses selected race around the perimeter of the square. Each horse represents a contrada (neighborhood) of Siena so the locals take the race very seriously. The jockeys have to ride bare back, so this sometimes results in horses finishing the race riderless. We were lucky enough to see such an incident. The racetrack goes around the square, so this forces the 20 thousand viewers to squeeze into the center. It was only standing room making it a very claustrophobic 4 hours. When we first entered the square, long before the race was due to begin, we found a spot to stand. Thanks to Andrew’s expert maneuvering we found our way to the edge of the racetrack where we had prime viewing when the festivities began. The race is only three laps of the square taking only about 90 seconds, but there is a long medieval themed parade before the race.

This was one of the most exciting events either of us have ever seen first hand. It was amazing to see how emotional people became over the result of the race. Ironically the team Tortuca (the turtle) won the race, but we were happy because this was the team we were cheering for. If you know nothing about this event, google and youtube this race. So cool!

After the race we had all you can eat bruschetta and all you could drink wine with our tour group at a local wine shop. It wasn’t very good wine and only ok bruschetta, but nothing could bring down the mood of the evening. Everyone was so pumped from the race! We got back to the hostel and went straight to bed. We were exhausted, it was a long day.

On Tuesday we signed up for a 3-hour bike tour and wine tasting through our hostel. There were about 10 other people on the tour and it was led by our favorite hostel tour guide, Dario. It was our first time really going around Florence so it was a good way to orient ourselves within the city and start thinking about what museums and monuments we actually wanted to pay to go in later. The tour ended at a little specialty food shop where we tasted olive oil, pecorino cheese, a few spreads, balsamic vinegar, and wine. It was all locally produced and delicious!

We explored Florence a bit more on our own, mostly just sticking our head into churches. We knew that while in Florence we would have to splurge one night for a real Florentine steak, and last night seemed as good a night as any to go for it. We asked at the hostel for the best (reasonably priced) steak place and were sent to a restaurant on the other side of town. It was a half-hour walk but we took it as an opportunity to sport our new jackets. We were starving by the time we got there, only to find that the whole restaurant it closed all August! We decided to check out another restaurant that had been recommended to us as well but were never able to find it. In the end, we went to the restaurant that we loved so much for our first lunch in Florence and were not disappointed by their steak. We just don’t get meat like that back home!

Culture Shock: For the Palio excursion with the hostel, we all were given bright orange shirts to wear that say “I Survived the Palio of Siena”. We didn’t think anything of it, and it ended up being a nice way to find everyone else in the group. Unfortunately some people from Siena found the shirt incredibly offensive, claiming that there is nothing dangerous to “survive” at the Palio. Some even tried to start fights with a few boys from our group, so we all turned our shirts inside out for safety!

Star Sighting: We were told that only extremely rich people and celebrities watch the Palio from seats and the apartments surrounding the square. While everyone else was watching the festivities, Allyson was scanning the windows above us for anyone she recognized. It didn’t take her long to find a face that any girl would know- Mr. Darcy!! That’s right- Colin Firth was in the window right above us! Allyson was very excited and soon people around us started to take notice as well. Colin Firth was a good sport about it and even waved at Andrew.