La Luminara

Last week, I ventured in to Pisa with ITR for my first Luminara experience. Every year on the 16th of June, buildings along the Arno River in Pisa are lit up with more than seventy thousand candles in honor of Saint Ranieri and all of Italy seems to come out to take part in the celebrations.

The event was fun, the candle-lit buildings were beautiful and the fireworks were dazzling but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in one relatively small space in my entire life. (Not even when I stumbled across Pink Day in Amsterdam.) Walking across the 300-foot bridge after the firework display took an hour in the sea of people all trying to leave the city centre. I’ve never been touched, literally, by so many Italians.

Here are a few photos that capture the event. More to follow.