Palio is the most important event in Siena. It’s like the Melbourne Cup, The Ashes and Australia Day all in one. In essence, it’s a horse race between the 17 contrade (districts) of Siena, but it’s so much more.

Calcio Storico Fiorentino is an early form of football that originated in Italy in the 16 century. Now it is played only in Florence, at its original location - the Piazza Santa Croce. In its current incarnation, it’s basically a cross between mixed martial arts and rugby. It’s intense. Since first hearing about it I was determined to see a match.

The villa we’re staying in was rented to other people last weekend, so we decided to take the opportunity to spend the weekend glamping on Elba Island, about 200km south-west of Siena.

It’s medieval season in Tuscany at the moment. Between May and September every weekend has at least one ‘festa medievale’ showcasing the towns historic traditions.

So we (finally) finished booking our summer holiday. When we started planning, our #1 rule was “we’re not going to stay anywhere for less than 5 days”.