Siena Palio July 2, 2018

This year I was lucky enough to get to attend Siena's Il Palio Horse Race on July 2, 2018 with my two kid's Ian and Emma. While it was a long day and we thought that it would never get started. After an entire day of pomp, parades, Contrada's showing off hundreds of years of tradition being followed it was time for a horse race. Well that is what we thought. The race finally started around 9:30 PM but only after several false starts and what seemed like an eternity horses lining up at the start. Once it did however, wow! Two minutes of flying bodies both human and horses, medical attendants scrambling and after a few quick laps it was then all over. Well accept for a minor riot that broke out between members of the winning Contrada and one of the losing Contrada's. 

Later as we were trying leave and just outside Il Campo, in the winding maze of streets that is Siena, we came across what seemed like hundreds of Italian police all bunched up and blocking pedestrians. I sensed that this was not a good place for me and my kids to be so we tried to turn around but we were blocked in. Suddenly a drunk guy leaped through the police line and took a swing at what I think was the winning horse. Quickly the police descended on him an began aggressively pushing the group we were in back. Behind us was another group of police. The immediate crowed quickly dispersed into the adjacent piazza and we made our escape. I have posted just a quick series of photos I took. I haven't even begun to look at and sort the hundreds of photos and movie footage I shot that day. These start with one shot before the race, several during the race and one as we came upon the horse and police afterward. After that however I was no longer taking photos! We just wanted to get to our car and go home. We were hot tired, hungry and not looking forward to the hour and a half drive back to Volpia over the windy roads of Tuscany. When we did reach our villa my wife had put together a spread of left overs and wine from our dinner the night before and we all talked about the wild events of the day.