Continuing in this chapter: Day 3 we returned to Florence to see all of the sights and we did some serious sighseeing...According to my scralled list from the train ride there that morning, we saw: The Medici Palace and Chapel (outside only, not that cool), browsed our way throuhg the bustling San Lorenzo street market -- great belts, leathergoods and cashmere scarves, but no time to buy unfortunately.Great lunch -- tomato & mozzerella salad with RIPE flavorful tomatoes, spinach gnoochi and frizzante, our favorite drink (sparking water). Duomo museum -- amazing sculpture, neat section on how they built it over lots of years ( no longer recall precisely how many ... something like 110! ) ... used lots of hefty pulleys and created leverage by walking horses around the outside. The Duomos inside is impressive ... particularly the striking contrast between 2D and 3D painting styles in the dome ceiling. They started painting flat 2D scenes, learned math and then created these simply amaying life-like 3D images that literally seemed to be falling of the ceiling and reaching out to touch you. Very neat. I am glad we saw the outside a night because there were tons of people at day. We meandered past high street shops with avant garde architecture, interiors, and fashion. Josh and I swooned (or not) over a $700 Prada fur-like top that was both a turtleneck and stopped mid-chest ... for men. Umm, okay. I just dont get high fashion I guess. One store had red walls and suits displayed in a sea of pink foam sponges. Another had just six pairs of shoes on a green astroturf runway. Odd.
That night we returned to Siena for Il Palio, an annual festival of neighborhoods that culminates in a horse race around the central town plaza. The rivalry between the 17 neighborhoods is strong as bragging rights for the coming year are on the line. There were an estimated 15,000 people in the center of the plaza and seats around the outside were all reserved for upwards of USD300, if our currency conversion was right. We did not get to see the actual race, which only lasts three laps, but did manage to join in the celebrations afterwards. The entire town was lit up with candles, flags, parades for the winning team, and much merriment. Bars replayed the race all night long on TV. In honor of Josh´s girlfriend back home, we had a round of Red Bull and vodka drinks at an Irish pub to top off our night. The drink was awful, but the night was fun!
