Festa di San Giovanni

San Giovanni (Saint John the Baptist) is the patron saint of Florence, so this saint's day is a big event in Florence. Unfortunately it isn't easy to find information about some of these traditional events so we managed to miss the procession to the Duomo in the morning. We certainly weren't going to miss the fireworks (Fuochi di San Giovanni) at night, however.

One of the great advantages of our new apartment is its view towards Piazzale Michelangelo, this was especially true last night because the fireworks are launched from Piazzale Michelangelo and we had the best seats in the house.

We poured ourselves a couple of glasses of Chianti Classico and watched the fireworks which went on for almost an hour. I had clamped my camera to the railing so I could casually click the shutter every now and then to capture the light show.

Afterwards we wandered around the city, which was packed after the fireworks show. It is just amazing how alive this city is; it is a rare night that you'd walk outside and find the streets empty of locals and tourists or absent of buskers. We will miss Florence.