Does anyone know how long it takes in Siena for them to clean up after the Il Palio horserace? I am hoping to stop in Siena for an evening on August 18th-- which is two days after they run the race on August 16th. I have heard so much about the great square that I hate to be there if they are still cleaning it up. I think they bring in a bunch of dirt, etc which might take a long time.
Has anyone ever been there right after the race? Thank in advance!
I don't know how the square looks after the Palio but I was there 2 days before and saw all the set-up. Basically, it's the outside of the square that gets changed for the palio, i.e. bleachers set up and mud stuck down. Even with that in place you still see all of the beautiful tiling within the square. We actually found it quite exciting to see how the square gets transformed for the palio.
That is great. I thought that the entire horse race took place inside the square? And I really wanted to see the Square without all of the cleanup! Has anyone else been to Siena just 2 days after the race?
Have a look at this website. It shows pictures of the square without and with Palio. Everywhere you see people crammed in the square is basically unaltered by the event.
http://www.bugbog.com/european_countries/italy_travel_guide/italy-siena-il-palio.html
It's actually quite funny that this site tries to compare the Palio with the Calgary Stampede!!!
Thanks for the photos. I guess I was aiming for just making sure the square was not muddy and/or loaded with fire trucks cleaning all the dirt/mud out of the square. My understanding is the square is the best thing about Siena (as the nicest square in Italy). So i hate to be there on a bad day!
Doesn anyone else have any input? Thank you
The Palio is also run on July 2nd and I arrived in the afternoon of July 3rd and there were no remnants of the race being run at all. They do a fabulous job of cleaning up after the race. Except there was a great energy in Siena and have few parades through town from the winning team. It made me wish that I had been there for the race. If there is any way you can go to the race, I would definitely try. Have fun!
Thank you! that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Anyone have a good hotel rec' for somewhere really close to the main square in Siena?
I suggest starting a new post with your last question.
Last year we were there about 2 days after the Palio. There was some sand on the Piazza but nothing else.
We arrived in Siena on July 5th and that afternoon it rained heavily. After the ground dried, we were able to see remnants of the dirt in the cracks on the ground, but everything was very clean otherwise.
