The Mille Miglia (1000 Miles) is a reenactment of a classic race that ran from 1927 to 1957. The only car models that can apply to enter are ones that were raced in the original series. The organisers then assess the historical significance of the car in question to come up with the final list of 420 vehicles.

When planning this year we decided that every time the kids had a school holiday, we’d put our stuff in storage and travel. The kids had a particularly long Easter break so we decided to head to London.

This past weekend we took advantage of a clear weekend to take the kids out of school for a couple of days and head to Cinque Terre before the summer crowds descended.

After watching ‘Under The Tuscan Sun’ last week, we really wanted to see flag-throwers (sbandieratori) in person. This weekend we got our chance.

We headed to Torrita di Siena, about an hour east to watch the Palio dei Somari, a historic donkey race. It’s an all-day event, so we weren’t sure we would all make it until the end, but the flag-throwing was first, so it was perfect. We jostled for spots in the piazza and waited…

First, the band entered, in traditional costumes (including swords and chainmail).

This week was our 15th wedding anniversary. It’s been getting warmer in Tuscany so we decided to rent a vintage car and go for lunch.

After dropping the kids at school we headed an hour south to pick up our cherry-red Fiat 500 from a garage full of other Fiats, Citroen DS’s, Alfa Spiders and even a Volkswagen Type 2 van.