The Last Full Day
Knowing that this was our last day and also the day of the Palio Race – postponed from yesterday we assumed that the City would be crowded; it was. Accordingly we set out to see a couple more sights – the Fort (wiki ref here) and the Basilica of Santa Caterina (wiki ref here).
Reaching the Fort after a twenty minute walk, mostly in the shade we then explored it. This consisted of walking on the top walls for the entire circumference.
When I do this I always want to see the unseeables – the interior rooms and cubicles but as usual none of these can be seen. The Fort is not owned by the Military anymore and has become a
Cultural Centre meagerly maintained by the City.
One of the many sites in the Fort is an Amphitheatre used for cultural events and concerts. This week they streaming the Palio Race as it happens. 1.5 kkms later we left the walls and strolled to the Basilica. Passing the Soccer Stadium (wiki ref here)we marvelled at the design it was place in a valley and the stands were actually fitted into the valley walls – impressive.
On to the Basilica. We were warned that it is just a large high Church famous for it Murals and the Relic of Santa Caterina’s head and compared to other Churches it is austere, but still needed to be seen.
Stopping for a coffee break on the way home we are back in the room escaping the heat of the day and expecting the rain to come again and postpone the Race yet again. We did stop at a restaurant we had wanted to eat at two nights ago and arrange a table for two at 7pm, race permitting. They will close until after the Race if it runs – 9pm – too late for us to eat.
Back out on my own; Doreen being museumed out she stayed in the room and I had one last crack at the sights. To no avail. the place I wanted to see was the City Museum located in the Campo. I went to the Museum but was told I had to buy a ticket first. Found the ticket office only to be told by a “Manuel lookalike” person from Fawlty Towers. “We are close-ed” a two syllable word in a heavy Italian accent complete with hand-talk. I got the message and didn’t get to see the Museum. Took a couple of pics though.
Wandered around the neighbourhood taking pics of anything that took my fancy – I really like the lamp holders. Each Contrada has their own paint-jobs and mighty pretty they are too. Hoovered down a Hazel Nut gelato and picked up a beer from a local store and toddled back to the room. We will pray for rain as we would like to eat early!
OK I went out again – to the Philadephia Bar, just up the street from the BnB. Selfserve for beer meant going to the cooler and asking the bartender to open it. 
The race was on the big screen TV, and I settled down to watch the Race. We had been warned about what happened -“Sometimes the horses get nervous and start to bite each other” That’s what happened. Add the crazy rule of the starting lineup and it took eight attempts, which took forty minutes to complete, to get a good start. The rules state that each horse has to line up in the correct order of the draw 1-9 and then the 10th horse/rider has to judge when the lineup is correct, if it is he charges from the back to start the race. Nervous horses do not like to line up and stand still – hence the delays.
The Race was off! I do not know which Contrada won but from a spectator’s point of view it was boring – nobody fell off. Actually one of the riders did – he was bucked off in one of the aborted start lineups.