The Palio of Siena

Thanks to a friend of ours from Siena, we had the chance to see the Palio and its preparations up close. We attended the dinner of the Bruco contrada, in the presence of hundreds of people proudly wearing the yellow-green colours. The whole city is celebrating, there are so many people, perhaps too many!! You can't walk, it's sheer chaos. Almost a sense of suffocation in Piazza del Campo, packed to an unbelievable degree, where tourists and locals mingle in a mixture of colours and races. Wonderful are the rituals before the race: the blessing of the horses, the good wishes to the Fantino (idolised as if he were a deity)...unmissable traditions that must be experienced up close at least once. To get a strong sensation, an emotion that watching the race on TV can never give you.