So today was a rest day here in Siena, and our excellent guide Paulo took us to see a special treat - Palio. It's a horse race that dates back 1000 years, but really, it's so much more. First of all, each neighborhood, or "Contralto" enters a horse and rider. Each Contralto has it's own flag, and everyone is incredibly proud of their Contralto. I should mention that you belong to the Contralto that you were born and baptised in, so families are often split by contralto. We arrived in the packed city square where they hold the race at around 5pm and stood (or sat) around until the start of the race at around 7:30pm. While we waited, Paulo taught me how to play the Italian version of 21, and I taught him "GHOST" ,
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