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Home
Good Site?
Brits save money!
Discounts.htm
About the Site
Showers & WCs
Disabled Guests
Washing up & Laundry
Babies & Electricity
Amenities nearby
Wild Life
Other Activities
Places_to_Visit
Weather
April
May
June
July
August
September
Where is it?
Rent - a - Tent
Booking & Tariff
Contact Information
Search
Discussion                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box:  The Palio is a cloth banner given as the prize to the winner of this bareback horse race which takes place on 2nd July and 16th August each year.  Ten riders, drawn from the seventeen contrade or parishes in Siena race around the Campo, the  central square in front of the Town Hall.  All the riders and supporting teams wear medieval costume with drummers and flagmen throwing huge flags in the air and catching them.  There is great rivalry between competing teams and much money is said to change hands on the result.  This is a spectacle like no other that you can see anywhere else and well worth a visit. The banner of Montalcino is always carried at the front of the opening parade to honour the town for sheltering the leading   citizens of Sienna in the castle in Montalcino following their defeat by Florence in the mid 16th Century war.  During the rest of the year, Sienna is an elegant town of steep    medieval alleyways built between 1260 and 1348 with plenty of small, smart shops and places to sit in the sun with a glass of something cool while you watch the world go by.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Text Box: PREPARING TO RACE FOR THE PALIO IN THE CAMPO, SIENA Text Box: PREPARING TO RACE FOR THE PALIO IN MONTEPUCIANO,     THE BARREL RACE!!   Text Box: PLACES TO VISIT

 

 

Text Box: There is another "Palio" also a cloth banner given as the prize to the winner of this race which takes place on the last Sunday in August each year.  Again, this is a contest between the parishes of the town.  In this case there are eight.  It used to be a horse race but it fell into disuse for safety reasons.  In the 1930's one of the parish priests suggested reviving the race only, instead of riding horses, the contestants should push one of the oak barrels in which the local Vino Nobile is stored, along the race course.  All the participants and supporting teams wear medieval costume with drummers and flagmen throwing huge flags in the air and catching them.  There is great rivalry between competing teams and much money is said to change hands on the result.  Not so exciting?  Less dangerous? The course is 1.9 kilometres along the town's main street which is quite narrow and twisting and is sharply uphill all the way!  It's very tough going and very exciting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

Text Box:   THE TOWERS AT SANGIMIGNANO IN THE APRIL SUNSHINE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: PONTE VECCHIO IN FLORENCE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: The Old Bridge built in 1345, one of very few bridges in the world lined with shops.  All the shops are Goldsmiths! Some have workshops overhanging the river.  Along the top on the eastern side runs the private corridor linking the Uffizi Gallery with the Pitti Palace.  Street performers, street traders and portrait painters can be found on the bridge adding to the bustle and the colour  

 Text Box: Pienza is a small and very picturesque town some 10 miles (16 Kms) from the camp site.  It was the birth place of Pope Pio II, the one who started the crusades against the Muslims in the Holy Land.  He wanted to remodel the town in the new renaissance style  but all he managed was a new cathedral, a new palace next to the cathedral which his family were still living in up to a few years ago, (he built a much larger one in Siena too) and the town hall.  Being a modest chap as befits a man of the cloth, all these, especially the cathedral have his coat of arms all over them and in addition he changed the name of the town to Pienza in honour of himself. There are several good restaurants in Pienza.  Traffic in the centre is restricted so it's virtually a pedestrian zone and the views over the valley (Val d'Orcia) are stunning.  The Val d'Orcia is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Well worth a visit.  Click on the pictures.                                                                                                                                   

Text Box: Click on a picture Text Box:       Lovers' Lane               Cathedral front                     Town Hall       Back alley overlooking      Palace courtyard                                                                                                                    the valley                                                           

 

 

Text Box: PIENZA