Siena’s Piazza del Campo and the Strade Bianche

 

The rain threatened all day but held off until we turned our bikes into the courtyard of the new villa for the next two nights. After 10 miles of riding we entered busy Siena and began climbing the narrow road up to the Piazza del Campo, one of Europe’s greatest medieval squares and famous for the twice annual Palio di Siena horse race and the finish of the soon to be classic bike race, Strade Bianche. What beauty! What history! The horse race is an historic competition between Siena’s neighborhoods, and the entire town shows up. Prior to our arrival, our guide gave us a lesson on how to order a proper Italian coffee  

Leaving Siena I got to tick off another box by riding on the now famous Strade Bianche race route. The pro peloton makes the route look flat, but it is not! One grade pushed over 16% and felt like a wall. Thankfully lunch was awaiting us at the top. 

If you’ve been waiting, I had to stop writing to catch the shuttle to our dinner location which was further up the road in the village of Montalcino. Another quaint village in the area of Tuscany known for its Brunello wines, as opposed to the Chianti region we left on the other side of Siena. Apparently the medieval kingdoms of Siena and Florence were in constant battle over who got to control Tuscany. One day they decided to stop the foolishness by having a competition between two of their best knights. On a particular date, each knight was to charge off towards the other at the moment the rooster crowed. Where the two knights met was to be the new boundary between the kingdoms. The Siena rooster was well cared for in preparation for the event. Fed well, kept in a secure quarters, living the dream. The Florence rooster was black in color, kept in the dark in a small cage and not fed for a couple days ahead of the appointed date. On that date the black rooster was fed up and started crowing well before daylight thereby giving the Florence knight a head start and thus the Chianti region extends further west than it might be. Black roosters are displayed on true Chianti wines to this day. 

Another difference in the regions is the landscape. The Chianti region is more wooded while the western Siena region is more open and agriculture. Still, all of Tuscany is beautiful.