The people and the pageantry……..

……….We visited Arezzo on a steaming hot day – about 38 degrees. Arezzo is a beautiful walled medieval town set on a steep hill. It was like stepping back in time, literally!! The town was full of teams of “knights” on costumed horses. Arezzo is home to an annual medieval festival called the Saracen Joust (Giostra del Saracino). In this, "knights" on horseback representing different areas of the town charge at a wooden target attached to a carving of a Saracen king and score points according to accuracy. Virtually all the town's people dress-up in medieval costume and enthusiastically cheer on the competitors. On this particular day (a week before the tournament), all of the competitors and towns people ride into the cathedral for a blessing. The trophy then stays in the church until the winners claim it after the tournament. You can buy and wear scarves in your favourite teams colours to show support – these are for sale everywhere, but we didn’t fancy backing the ‘wrong’ team. We also saw a bride and groom wandering about the town – this is quite common – in Italy a couple get married, walk through the town and then hook up again with all the guests a bit later. It’s a very Italian thing to dress up and “see and be seen”…..every night in the piazza’s whole families, young people, old people just wander around, sit, talk and eat gelato until quite late, …………it’s a lovely, lovely vibe……to be continued