We had arranged to participate in a pre-race dinner with the residents of Selva. This took place outside, behind Il Duomo, and it was a festive party that lasted for almost four hours. It consisted of food, free-flowing wine, speeches (in Italian, of course), and it is a traditional pep rally for the residents There are nine other dinners taking place at the same time, in different part of Siena.
Our tour operator (www.paliotours.com) arranged for everything, the hotel, city tour, contrada dinner and great seats. They even brought in local guides to sit with our group to interpret the festivities.
If you get an opportunity to participate in a dinner, you will capture a small portion of the allure that this event gives to its residents. This is truly an event for the people of Siena, and everybody else is a humble bystander.
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