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Where oh where do I begin? So much fun has been had. The Palio Festival was a spectacle if I’ve ever seen one. The Sienese (or people who live in Siena) are soooo serious about this yearly horse race. There are 17 districts in Siena, each one with a chosen representative or rider who competes in the Palio Festival, held in the main plaza of Siena. Only 10 districts are chosen via lottery to compete, and over 40,000 people squeeze into the inner circle of where the horses race. The outer ring consists of old buildings which circle the plaza and offer a better view if you want to pay. The race was at 8pm, but we had to show up at 5pm to make sure we could get a position near the edge of the inner ring. Starting at 6:30pm a parade begins and the bell tower rings. Each district has a main drummer who leads a pack of people to represent their district. They’re dressed in renaissance attire and wigs, and are very serious with no smiles. They march on and there are usually a couple of men in the back who toss flags high into the air
and everyone cheers. There’s also a king looking guy who circles the ring followed by a chariot filled with people who look like they are the heads of the church. It is pretty interesting, and keeps your mind off of the fact that you have been standing in the same spot shmoooshed up next to people with big hairy moles and stinky breath for 2.5 hours. For some reason that seemed to be the situation Caitlin and I were in. I mean seriously, moles with long hairs coming out. Ick.
Then, the parade ends and it’s time for the horses to take their stand on the line. Keep in mind there are no cages or starting gates as you might see at the Kentucky Derby. There is only a rope on the ground and a bunch of competitive, kicking, fighting men on horses who are trying to find their spot on the line. This takes a few false starts, a lot of moaning from the crowd and after about 30 minutes of staggering on the line, the race starts. I forgot to mention they are riding bareback, so one horseman falls off on the first lap. There are only
two laps and on the second, another horseman falls off. There were two horses neck and neck and a winner was declared - the mother goose. Chaos REALLY begins then. People hopped the fences and started fighting because apparently enemies exist between these districts. The horses were just in the mix of the crowd; people were crying and some were cheering. It was crazy I tell you! Me and Caitlin just stood there watching it all move around us. We didn’t want to get caught up in any fighting, so we just waited until some people cleared out. The winner, as we saw on tv later, was thrown about and kissed and praised all night long. People from the goose district paraded around with drums and chants until about 12:30 or so.
That was the highlight of Siena. The next morning, we headed to the bell tower where the race was held, and I climbed the stairs to the top for some city views. Then I quickly viewed the Duomo, which was actually surprisingly different. The inside columns were striped black and white, which was something I hadn’t seen before. It kind of reminded me of Beetlejuice’s suit. I
know that’s kind of a weird thought. But, the church was embossed with ground mosaics and beautiful art from famous renaissance artists.
The rest of the day ended with travel to Barcelona, which is a great city. The pictures should speak for themselves, but the city has such an eclectic and unique feel. Gaudi did a wonderful job spreading his creativity over the city. His work is inspiring. The church he spent over 40 years of his life working on, is still only a little over 50% done. Luckily he has a dedicated group of followers who are finishing out his work for him. It’s all funded by visitors, so I feel like Caitlin and I are helping build the church in some way. I loved mostly that he infused his work with nature inspired pieces. The staircases would like sea shells, the columns at Park Guell like waves, etc. Most of what Caitlin and I walked around to see was work by Gaudi, …. Oh, may he rest in peace.
Another highlight would be the AMAZING fountain. Seriously - magic. It was like Bellagio in Vegas times 100. There is a façade of fountains surrounding the Palou
Nacional. Music starts, and there’s a light show with fountain acrobatics like I’ve never seen before. Please, if anyone knows of any other amazing fountains, please tell me where they are…I think this is a new fetish.
Last, but not least, the food experience in Barcelona was incredible. The first main dinner was a pile of seafood. Squid, calamari, prawns, two kinds of fish, enough mussels to last me a year, seafood soup with clams, paired with a delicious bottle of rose wine. Mmmm! The place we ate was hopping, and Caitlin and I were pretty much pushed out of our chairs when we didn’t order dessert. I had to chug the rest of my wine. The beach view was beautiful though. We walked down the boardwalk and enjoyed the sites. Too bad we decided to go to an Irish bar and drink 4-5 pints of beer each, and wake up hungover which lingered for 2 days straight. We still managed to put down a good meal the following night, and I have to talk about this place because of the history.
The restaurant was named Pitarra, after a poet in Barcelona in the late 1800’s. His poems
were turned into plays and he was then known as the first true Catalayan theatre writer. There’s a statue of him in the theatre district and the restaurant is actually where his old watchmakers shop used to be. Upstairs, I got a sneak peak of his writing quarters, and the window where he could look out into his shop he had inherited from his uncle (which is now the restaurant). The restaurant was soooooooo nice, as in well mannered for such a good price. It was decorated with some old clocks and on the way upstairs to the bathroom they had old pictures of the man and the celebrations around his work. I even got some pics of some of the old costumes he used in his plays. Brilliant dinner I tell you. If anyone goes to Barceolona - you have to eat there. We tried the famous Paello dish with rice and seafood. Mmmmmmmmmm!
The hostel was quite the experience: a ten bed co-ed dorm in a busy bar area. We were getting so used to our own two to three star hotel rooms. I enjoy meeting new people, but I have to say I’m looking forward to
our own apartment in Greece already. Just kidding, but seriously. Hehe.
That should sum up things for now. Please enjoy the pics, and thanks to everyone for your comments! I’ll write again soon….
XO!
Erin
PS: Check out all the pics - the fountain pics are in the back! Loved it!
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Deb
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Proud of You Both....But Missing You
I am so glad you are well documented this. I am so proud of you both for traveling the word. HAVE FUN!!!! But call me sometime. I miss you!!!!