June 19, 2007

Europe | Italy | Tuscany

The Amazing Race

By Nicole Cotroneo

How close would you get to thundering hooves?

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In the Tuscany of your dreams you never pictured horses attending mass or that you’d be staying in a pigsty. But this is the season of Il Palio, the famous biannual horse race of Siena, where ten of the medieval city’s 17 contrada (districts) compete for nothing more than a hand-painted silk banner and immeasurable braggadocio. From June 29-July 2 (and again on August 16), there’s feasting in the streets, parades, and flag-throwing exhibitions — why, yes, just like the scene in “Under the Tuscan Sun.” The steeds that do best in trials are even blessed in church. On the final day jockeys do three laps around the campo bareback and at breakneck speeds — using crops to goad their horses and mess with their opponents.

After you’ve feted the winner, you’ll want to slip some 30-something miles south of town to the World Heritage pastures of Val d’Orcia. There, amid the cypress trees and walled villages, you’ll find respite at La Bandita (pictured), a new eight-room hideaway run by 33-year-old “retired” music exec, John Voigtmann, and his travel-writer wife (and globorati pal), Ondine Cohane. Restored to its 1920’s charm, the secluded farmhouse sits atop a hill, with an infinity pool overlooking the typically Tuscan vistas. You can join your hosts for a family-style dinner featuring the best of local vino, or just kick back in the privacy of your own “Pig-Sty” suite.