Eighteen ! ... Siena, July 5th, 2011

The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, the town square, which houses the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia.

The flags of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards. The flags are symbolic of the medieval bareback horse race known as the Palio di Siena.

                                    this flag represents the contrade Bruco (the caterpillar)

courtyard inside the Palazzo Pubblico

                                  view from part way up the Torre del Mangia (city hall tower)

                              shell-shaped Piazza del Campo.............

                                  Basilica of San Domenico. Built in 1226..........

                       Duomo di Siena. The Cathedral of Siena....construction began in 1215

                                             the Duomo....

                      we celebrated Aline's eighteenth at il Bandierino on the Piazza del Campo.