Hello there! This was our last week in Florence and it was filled with activities. On Monday, we visited the Bardini Gardens with our class and it was my favorite excursion. The gardens offer really beautiful views of the city and it’s a great place to just walk around and draw.

View of Florence from Bardini Gardens

Bardini Gardens

On Tuesday, we visited Pisa. Seeing the leaning tower was really cool, but it was much smaller and cleaner looking than I expected. The best part was hanging out in the grassy area behind the tower and watching people pose for pictures. Some people get really into it (wink, wink).

Hugging the Leaning Tower

Posing with the Leaning Tower

We also said goodbye to Florence this week in various ways. We tossed coins into the Neptune Fountain in Piazza Signoria (even though it wasn’t running). We also added a lock to the Ponte Vecchio.

Our Lock (If You’re Ever in Florence, Try to Find It)

Our Lock on the Ponte Vecchio (Held by Courtney)

And, finally we enjoyed the San Giovanni festival. We watched the soccer players walk down the street in their Renaissance garb and attended the fireworks show at night. We watched the fireworks from the bridge to the left of the Ponte Vecchio. They were the prettiest fireworks that I have ever seen. They had fireworks both similar to and different from the ones in the United States. The more unique ones looked like water fountains going up into the sky.

My favorite picture (These kinds look like waterfalls):

San Giovanni Fireworks

Way to end this trip with a bang! Thank you Florence for being such a beautiful place and thank you Macaulay for this wonderful opportunity. And, thank you, as always, for reading. I fly back home tomorrow and I can’t wait to see you all!