This is the little town that has become me and my family’s second home over the last 2 and a half years - but we have only seen the fog in the valley like this once, which was just the other day as my mum was taking me and my brother to school.

The castle in the Centre of the town (the main feature in this photo) is called Castello Orsini which was built in the thirteenth century. Over time it has been expanded and modified to suit its many uses: a family Palace, a prison, a university, and it is now used as a tourist attraction that they open during the many festivals of the year. The biggest festival is the Sagra delle Castagne which is the chestnut festival, celebrated the first 2 weeks of October when the whole town and its people get dressed up as they did in the thirteenth century.

Soriano has 4 different rioni (districts) all represented by different colours: Trinità (Gold and maroon), San Giorgio (Blue, red and white), Rocca (Red and black), and finally Papacqua (Green and red) which is also the rione we follow. All of these districts are in a competition called the Palio where they are judged on 4 aspects: the best dressed district, the best dressed people of the district, best show, and then the winner of the horse/arrow contest.

They also have authentic 13th century medieval markets with artisans making thing such as swords, armor, leather goods, and much more by hand.

But the coolest thing that happens during the chestnut festival is that the castle opens up completely to the public! You can go right up to the very top of the tower and visit all the ex-prison cells. Once when my friend and I went up there, he got locked into one of them and it took them about 30 minutes to find the key! It was funny for us, but not for him.

Hamish Sinclair is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program