Don't quite know where to start...

Let's be  sensible and  adhere to the chronological order of events:

 it started with 

the Whistle-Stop trip to London, where I met up with my Minnesota friends Patty and Les, (middle above) who were interested in seeing my Ladbroke Grove flat... more of this later, hopefully.

 They were also interested in being immersed in London life, and particularly in what happens in and around Notting Hill. 

This desire of course led us to lovely restaurants and happening watering holes, as well as irresistible Portobello antique jewellery stands...and on Sunday we ventured into Mayfair and Mass at the lovely Jesuit church in Farm Street, where we met up with my old friend Andrew, above left, and picked up, in the pew behind, Pieroluigi, an Italian lawyer who joined us for  lunch at L'Artiste Muscle in Shepherd's Market, where he  regaled us with hilarious and  incredible tales, purportedly all true; like the one about the Arch Duchess in the bunkbed and Captain Kerr abseiling down the Union Jack...

Now back in Siena, where in the Campo the grandstands are up; the  tufo is down on the pavement, and the mattresses line the San Martino bend once more; and where there is palpable excitement in the air since there are only four days left to PALIO! 

I have two young Englishmen staying with me, and decided to choose the ONDA Contrada for us to have the Cena della Prova Generale. It is of course 'my' territory, once I move into my new  flat.

I went to buy the tickets with my new friend the Texan Hettie, who also lives here in Siena, and who will join us for the meal. The Contradioli who sold us the tickets in the Onda Headquarter couldn't have been nicer... when I told them I wasn't a tourist but I would be living in Casato di Sopra they took us down to the garden/terrace with  the bar, and invited us for a drink- I was introduced as the new contradiola...although I will have to pay my membership fee and register of course- but I was really surprised at how friendly they were!

The big Onda Contrada dinners are held all along the Via Giovanni Dupre, named after the 19th century sculptor who is the most famous of the sons of the Onda. 

And finally, Hettie and I wandered off to the Palazzo Pubblico, where inside the Cortile the Mayor had just unveiled the August Palio banner, which is the prize for the victorious Contrada in Tuesday's  Palio.

                                       
 And tomorrow morning starts the Provas, when the horses and the fantini can try out the race course around the Campo.