Frequently in Italy you come across a place, a town, a smell, a sight or a site, music or sounds that will hit all your senses and take your breathe away and it will be by pure chance. That is what happen in the city if Arezzo.

It started well walking up from the carpark down in the modern part of town through the stone streets up to the main piazza. Art installations have been hung across between the tall buildings & tourists and locals  eat ice creams, drink coffee, studybuildings, visit churches and a few enter the very classy & rather expensive antique & jewellery shops.

The first sign that something special is going on are the flags that are hanging from the  buildings all the way up and all the locals are wearing different scarves or have flags draped around their shoulders. At the top off the old town this guy is waiting down a narrow side street with a group of horses and the piazza can just be seen with a suggestion of something special taking place.

The full splendour of the event unfolds – practice for the annual jousting competition which takes place between different quartets of the city (hence the colours & flags).

Enjoy the images and feel the atmosphere.

Spectators support their teams, applauding each successful pass/hit of the target; the riders avoid the swinging wooden balls as in mediaeval times; others enjoy the bars while they wait for their practice session; shopkeepers wait for the action the be over to get a bit of trade; photographers capture the events for local media.

Finally, as the sun sets and plays chasing patterns with the clouds, the day is tapped off with wine & pasta.