Mapping SIENA

Villa Catignano: one of the many beautiful places an e-bike can get you to from Siena A few years ago, I interviewed an American writer , who during her month-long stay in Siena whizzed through the city on a bicycle. This was an unusual sight - vespas are the two-wheelers of choice in Siena's hilly town center, not bikes like in mostly flat Florence.  But the invention of e-bikes is about to change this. The city of Siena has installed an  electric bike sharing program which is functioning well. However, it's mostly aimed at locals and residents, as its set-up is a little complicated for visitors who only stay a couple of days in town. Hence, for tourists, the best bike rental options in Siena are with the privately owned shops which supply bycicles of every size and type for a day or two or an entire week.  Giulia from Julskitchen.com cycling through the hills of Siena Siena Bike Shop rents out racing bycicles, hybrid and e-bikes and is a great optio...

Desperate for Palio tickets?  They are hard to find unless you reserve them months or even years ahead. The easiest option is to join the rest of the crowd, who's watching the Palio for free from the middle of piazza del Campo, which is just the way most Sienese see the race.  However, this year the municipality of Siena has 23 last minute tickets available  for the Palio dell'Assunta 2015 .  Prepare to stand in the queue for them, but with 150€ per ticket it's well worth the effort (seated tickets normally start from 250€ and go all the way up to 500€ per person).  PALIO TICKETS: AUGUST 16, 2015 The tickets are for the seats on the palchetti, the seated wooden stages built up especially for the race all the way round piazza del Campo. The seats are located between via di Dupré and Casato di Sotto, which is a great area to observe the wheeling and dealing between the jockeys before the race.  The Palio tickets are sold from 10 am on Satur...

Jockey Brio during the fourth trial race on horse Morosita Prima running for Contrada della Torre (here passing in front of the blue and white wearing members of enemy contrada dell'Onda) A false start happened after nearly an hour of waiting for horses and jockeys to properly align in piazza del Campo. Then more waiting and even worrying that with night falling the Palio may have to be postponed to the next day.* But it was worth the long wait to see contrada della Torre win.   The only neighborhood in Siena with two enemy contrade had both of them - Onda and Oca - present in the race. In fact Onda was following sharp, but Torre's horse Morosita Prima and its experienced jockey Brio turned the Torre neighborhood into the celebrated winners of the Palio della Madonna di Provenzano 2015. Brio (born in Sovicille near Siena as Andrea Mari) has participated in 21 Palios and has won its fifth one tonight.  Contrada della Torre hadn't won since the Palio of the 16th...

Palio dinner preparations in the Onda neighborhood As with every Palio, only 10 out of Siena's 17 contrade can participate in the horse race.  The ten contrade which will race piazza del Campo on July 2, 2015 in the world's oldest continually run sporting event are:  Torre (tower) Nicchio (shell) Civetta (owl) Valdimontone (ram) Leocorno (unicorn) Oca (goose) Pantera (pantheress) Selva (forest) Onda (wave) Tartuca (tortoise) PALIO HOSE RACE JULY 2, 2015 The weather forecast shows 30 degrees for the whole week in Siena. If you're not great with the heat and sticky crowds skip the long afternoon of waiting in piazza del Campo on July 2, and make do with a trial race instead. The first of them takes place on the evening of June 29 at 7.45 pm. Followed by morning trials at 9 pm and evening trials (again at 7.45 pm) on all the days leading up to the final race on July 2. The morning trials are less busy than the evening ones, but the light is beautifu...

Understand a bit of Italian? This is the night to figure out how much regarding a topic that seems a bit removed but actually isn't at all.  Italy entered the first world war exactly a hundred years ago on the 24th of May 1915. 600'000 Italian soldiers died during the war. Many of them were 'Italians' born in Brasil or Argentina who traveled to Europe as young men to fight for a country they had never put foot on before. 150'000 of Italy's soldiers in the first world war had been born in Brazil, Argentina and other  countries their parents had had to migrate to for a better future abroad. An important fact to consider when we read the daily headlines regarding todays incessantly growing immigration to Italy and Europe via Lybia.  'La storia quasi vera del milite ignoto' is told by Emilio Franzina, the writer of the book with the same title, which tells the story of a young soldier born in Brasil to Italian parents of Venetian heritage.  ...

Often left out for Siena's more prominent museums in piazza del Campo or near the cathedral, the Pinacoteca is nevertheless one of my favorite sights in town. A visit in the quiet palazzo is a must for lovers of the Sienese school of painting. But you don't have to be into early Renaissance art to enjoy the lay-back atmosphere in the museum, which will be near empty even on a Sunday afternoon in high season. It may be a little more crowded during the late night opening for this Saturday's museum night. But the panorama views over the medieval town from the upper floors should make up for it.  Works by Duccio, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers will guide you trough the 14th century, the golden years of painting in Siena, when the town was one of the foremost economic and artistic competitors of Florence. The works by Sano di Pietro and il Vecchietta are the local highlights of the 15th century, whilst Sodoma and Lorenzo Lotto represent the master painters o...

Close to the Firenze-Siena highway, tiny Monteriggioni is a beloved stop on the Tuscan tourist trail. However, most locals don't take the Monteriggioni exit for sightseeing but for a bite to eat at bar Orso. The roadside cafe not far from the highway exit is well known for its panini: generous Tuscan sandwiches filled with prosciutto, salami, Pecorino cheese or - my favorite - acciughe sotto pesto (anchovies marinated with parsley, garlic, chili pepper and extra virgin olive oil).  However, on a sunny winter day skip bar Orso and drive up to Monteriggioni itself. The medieval stronghold is visible already from the highway and similar to San Gimignano has been a landmark along the former pilgrim route since medieval times (and hence also got its mention in Dante's Divine Comedy). The fourteen towers have been cut back and rebuilt through the centuries but the intact town wall is the real deal. The small town has several bars and restaurants. On a warm winter ...

Matera has won the title of European Capital of Culture and even though we're disappointed in Tuscany, this is a well deserved victory. From the start of the competition Matera has been an eye-catcher. The bottom-up approach of its bid was impressive and once the city council married the idea of Matera's candidature (it had initially been born by a private group of people), the committee was swift in connecting the young and creative local scene to European and international forces. Hang on there, this party isn't over yet! #Siena2019 In regard to digital involvement Matera was the benchmark for the other Italian candidate cities with its great website and busy interaction on every possible social media channel from day one of the competition.  But what must have been most important to the jury, Matera put together a soundproof bid book called 'Open Future/Open City', which has already started to infuse the people of the Basilicata (once mainly known as Ita...

Today is the big day. The European and Italian jury meets in Rome to proclaim Italy's European Capital of Culture 2019. Two cities in Europe will share the title; Plovdiv has already been designated to be Bulgaria's ECoC city in 2019 whilst Lecce, Perugia/Assisi, Cagliari, Matera, Ravenna and Siena are still in the race for the title in Italy.  Until 5 pm today that is, when the jury chosen by the European Union will supply the name of the Italian winner. In Siena the press conference will be followed via live streaming in piazza del Mercato (the square below piazza del Campo). From 3 pm members of the Siena 2019 team will meet voluntaries, locals and supporters of Siena's bid in the former market square. Join the crowd for a party with events and live music and keep your thumbs up. Pier Luigi Sacco and his team have worked hard on an inspiring bid book. If Siena wins the title, every single project in it will be put into practice over the next years culminating in...

I'm busy helping prepare our Tuscan village's Festa dell'Uva , the harvest festival 2014. But if I wasn't turning moldy medieval cellars into improvised bars stacked with Montecucco wine I'd be giving a hand in Siena today. Not just Palio horses and Renaissance art. Join Siena's Magenta Day! MAGENTA DAY: FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014 If you explore the Tuscan city today skip Duccio, Pinturicchio and the cathedral for a change and join some contemporary pink frenzy instead. From 10 am the Magenta Day takes over Siena's town center and no matter whether you're a local, an American tourist or one of the refugees who arrived this summer - everybody is invited to join in. Participate and experience for yourself how contemporary culture and innovation are - at last! - back in town. Siena is competing to become European Capital of Culture in 2019 - and judging from today's program SIENA 2019 is doing one hell of a job! Starting off with a ...