Well, I had an adventure yesterday! We took the kids to Siena for the day to give them a change from the normal farm routine. When we arrived, we discovered that it was the day before the Palio, which is the famous horse race in Siena that I mentioned before in a blog. The city was preparing the Piazza for the race and the streets were bustling with crowds. There were also parades throughout the day featuring the horses that were involved in the race. The girls were very excited about the event.
After I had a glass of wine in the Piazza with Kara, I decided to break away from the group and wander around the streets by myself. I saw a very eye-catching butcher shop that had a pigs head with sunglasses on display outside of it. When I went inside, the owner of the butcher shop went “Bella! Bella! Do you know what we do for beautiful girls that come into the shop? A free glass of wine and FREE samples of the meats!” I was surprised and excited at first, but then I quickly realized it was a marketing scheme when he escorted me, the free samples, and wine to the street outside of the shop. I had to embarrassingly eat and drink in front of all of the passing tourists so that they would see the pretty girl with the meat tray and come in to the butcher shop – A very obnoxious, but brilliant marketing strategy! But, I couldn’t be too annoyed with it, as the meat was very tasty.
When I was finished with the meat tray and my head was buzzing from the wine, I decided to move on. I then came across a man named Sebastian who was busking on the street and started talking to him. His character reminded me a lot of my best friend from home, Josh Hines (check out Josh’s music here – it is incredible!), as he was very charming and had an incredible voice. Our conversation eventually turned into us playing some songs together. It was so much fun! I have never busked before, and I know that I certainly wouldn’t have without the help of the wine I had earlier in the day. We actually made quite a bit of money because of all of the tourists!
Our version of “Hallelujah” was breath taking. I have never had that much of a connection musically with somebody that I didn’t know prior. The girls from Rendola saw us playing together and took some pictures. However, Sebastian was very camera shy, so they didn’t get any pictures of him.
All in all, it was a very fun day and it proved to me what the art of traveling and being spontaneous can do for your character.
Tales of the Travelbug 
Katie, I actually did attend a Palio race. I really didn’t know what to expect, especially that it was over in about a minute or so. So much hype before and afterwards all the street fairs – it was fun. Wish that someone had recorded you and Sebastian playing and singing together – bet it was awesome!
“very camera shy”…. or wanted by the police? Well, sounds like you had a good time – making memories.
“busking” – OK, I just learned a new word and it’s English, not Italian!