Day 22 – Fiorenze to Siena

Stunning. Crazy. Breathtaking. Insane. Bewildering. Madness. Speechless.

Just a few of the words to describe my day. Today I will remember. Today will stand out from all the others. Today was something else!

Let me start from the beginning. The ride today was stunning! No other way to describe it. Hilly and undulating through the Tuscan Chianti countryside, I followed one road all day today called the via chiantigiana (apparently). A road brilliant to drive and just as amazing to cycle. I even managed to meet an English cyclist, living in Florence, who was out for a ride and paced me nicely through the hills…

… stopping only to show me a famous butchers at the top of one of the many mini climbs so I could try a local delicacy…

… called (third one down)…

… interesting translation there! It certainly didn’t taste like it had come out of an *@#. The stunning scenery continues all journey and the kilometres flew by …

… after saying farewell the last 20km were pretty simple to my hostel and I treated myself to a little siesta! After this my day just got more bizarre.

Whilst chatting to Toby on the ride he explained about a traditional horse race they do every year in Siena. Unfortunately it had passed this weekend but all the flags and decorations would probably still be up so Siena should be stunning!

As it turned out the race had been postponed due to bad weather… until tonight! So as I headed into Siena there were huge crowds all heading in one direction. So I followed…

… I managed to grab a quick tour around the town and a bite to eat. I saw yet another stunning duomo…

… before I got sucked in with the crowd into the Campo. I knew it would be busy but there must have been 10,000 or more people squashed like sardines inside this square…

… I had no idea what was going on. I did manage to meet my second lot of Brits for the day who had also traveled from Florence (but sensibly by car) to watch the event, what I have just found out is called, the “Palio di Siena”. Essentially 10 horses run 3 laps around the very tight square whilst trying not hit the walls! Each of the 10 riders represents a different ” contrade” or city ward and everyone was wearing the colour of theirs. Flags lined the streets…

… all houses, building and roofs showed their colours. But what followed was, for want of a better word, insane!

First there was lots of flag waving from each and all of the contrade, as the track was cleared (we were standing on it!)…

… then the horses appeared…

… lined up. Lined up again. And again. And they were off. False start. Lined up and again and again. Off they went. Another false start! This went on for half an hour (we had now been packed in the campo for an hour). Until finally they had a clean start and three crazy, intense, noisy laps later we had a winner (it was a guy in green, orange and white, that’s all I can tell you). There were a couple of crashes into the walls which had been padded and several jockey less horses finished the race. But words don’t do justice to the event! A definite one in a lifetime experience!

What followed was, I guess, not particularly surprising but still unbelievable.

As soon as the horses had passed us the gate was opened and some people ran straight for the exit. Others ran behind the horses. And some ran towards other spectators…

It took no more than 30 seconds for a huge Italian brawl to break out on the track right in front of us! It started with 10 and gained numbers quickly until about 100 men throwing anything they could at each other!

Unfortunately as the gate next to us had been opened the brawl spilled right in towards me. The packed crowd were suddenly scrambling backwards to get away from a savage and brutal mess. At one point I was drawn to the front of the fleeing crowd and only a few feet from the mayhem. A guy who was already bleeding got caught badly and was knocked unconscious almost at my feet! Way too close for comfort! At least some others in the fight had the decency to drag him away before he got trampled.

It lasted a good few minutes before the Italian carabinieri in full riot gear started to slow it down. The carabinieri had been about 10 meters away the whole time! Only then did I take a breath an observe the chaos. There were people bleeding,  some still fighting,  people crying, people desperately trying to flee to the now blocked exit, and there were parents with their children still all around me!!!

Insane!!! Words cannot do it justice! Football hooliganism has nothing on this. And these are people from the same town who probably live on the next street to one another!

Wow! What a day. What an experience. What a mess!

So where was I. Oh yer only 2 days to Rome now! I had to book a hotel tomorrow night and the cheapest one (@ £35) is a 4 star hotel in Orvieto. Don’t mind if I do! I might not be let in on my bike haha. 140 miles is all that separates me now. I just can’t wait. Very ready for a few days by a pool. Especially after the beauty and insanity that today treated me to.

Unbelievable. Night all.

Stats

Miles – 44

Speed – 13.9mph

Time in the saddle – 2 hours 50

Ascent – 1400m   Decent – 1104m

Croissants eaten at breakfast – 5

Memory left on phone – 200mb (I ran out during the race/brawl, more deleting required!)

Euros left – about 100 to get to Rome

Track of the day – Vangelis – Chariots of Fire