travel: siena, part one

Last month, I got married and traveled around Italy. It was magic.
The travel was, as always, exhilarating and challenging and full of delicious food and walking and naps. We started in siena, where we rented a villa for our family and few close friends for a week. We were also married there, by a shared favorite friend, and it was all the emotional good things that weddings are. (More on that later, when wedding photos arrive.)
Siena is...I have no complaints. It is tiny and touristy and still manages to be delightful. One of the most special parts of our trip was Siena's contrade. Siena is divided into 17 districts, or contrade. Each contrada has their own animal symbol, flag, motto and patron saint, and all 17 contrade race against each other in the Palio di Siena, a horse race held twice a year in the Piazza del Campo. Imagine San Francisco's neighborhoods having strict border lines, their own animal, flag and everyone raced each other for honor and bragging rights. There would be blood.
We weren't there during a race, but everyone on our trip embraced the contrade, researching and picking their own spirit contrada. I couldn't choose just one, but I did really like Drago (dragon) b/c of the motto: "the heart that burns me becomes a flame in my mouth."

dearest siena, i want to be back hanging out with you right now.