Finally the day for Palio arrived ! Spectacular, even exceeded our expectations ! Had the morning at market town, Greve, stocked up on yummy fruit, vegies, meats, cheese and bought sandals for J and G. Cheap as chips! Jaz was so pumped to buy apples on her own. Fab pig sambos, cut straight off the pigs butt. So the Palio afternoon... bit of a stress to start, taxi 45 mins late, so late to collect tix, streets packed with the parading contrades, which were wond...

Great day in Siena. Had a bit of a mad drive in with the craziness of the day before Palio. Cars everywhere. We had hoped to see the horses (the 'neigh neighs' as Lana refers to them) but unfortunately no show. We realized why later on! Cruised around the duomo, the interior was packed with decorative frescos / biblical scenes which jaz loved. I've taken to reading to the girls about the history of the village/towns in the car prior to arriving and jaz is foreve...

Homework morning for jaz and gab, while bettsy took Frankie into castallina for a shop. Afternoon we Visited San Gimignano, the village with 13 towers yet in it's time had 70. Big success. Climbed to the top of the highest, scary at the top, an open top just above waist-height and very windy, with enormous bell. Jaz was a bit freaked and could only hang out for a bit before heading back down. They ran like mad around the piazza and enjoyed some pizza and gelato...

Fabulous Florence !! Man it was hot but girls were amazing. Walked and walked, a 12 hour day! Frankie and Lana tag teamed the pram for several sleeps with a few scuffles in-between. Headed straight for the duoma area which was streaming with tourists, but it is seriously magnificent. We persevered and went inside for some relief from the heat. Then it was Frankie's turn to spot 'nude david' , Michelangelo's David! The favorite was the romantic bridge vecchinio ...

Chilled at villa in the morning. All ready for a lovely morning but... ! G had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Mid morning after I'd been the empathetic, understanding mum over several incidents, I turned into a witch and chucked her in the pool.... Pretty bad huh! I felt v bad but funnily enough G had a good recovery!? Sobbed in her room for 5 then appeared with a sheepish look on her face. I apologized and together we even had a bit if a giggle at my los...