If a picture's worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth?

Ok, this is a pathetic excuse for a blog post, but I suppose it will have to do for now. Here are several video clips from my time in Florence with a quick description of what the video is about/why & where it was taken. While I'm waiting for these videos to upload, I'm going to finish repacking for my flight back to the States from London, which leaves in about 9hrs...

This is a 360 degree look at the view from the Ponte Vecchio (literally "old bridge") at night. The music in the background is from a busking classical guitarist. At the end of the video, you'll see my two roommates, Brenna (on the left) and Stefanie (on the right).


This is a 360 degree view taken from the south bank of the Arno river just east of the Ponte Vecchio by day.


This next video sort of explains itself...it's the view from Piazza Michaelangelo overlooking the city from the southeast.


This is a slice-of-life video documenting one of the many times that my friend Chy and I would sporadically burst into song in harmony as we were walking places (this particular instance is along the streets on the south side of the Arno, but similar instances also occurred while hiking in Cinque Terre and in various other parts of Firenze at various times of the day and night). Apologies for the wind/traffic noise--the harmony would sound a lot clearer/more in-tune without all the background noise.


This next video is of part of the parade/procession associated with one of the festivities of San Giovanni Battista day--a city-wide holiday. This parade involved LOTS of people dressed in medieval attire processing from Piazza Santa Croce to another part of the city (I'm drawing a blank at the moment what street it was). Here's a snippet of the parade that I captured on film.


Ok, I know it's not much detail on what I've been up to, but I need to go finish packing now. Can't believe 7 weeks are up and it's time to head home again!

Quick final thoughts on going home:
-It's easier this time to come home than it was last fall at the end of my semester in London. I really enjoyed Italy and would be comfortable with it if my career ever leads me to move there for any length of time, but for some reason, I just still have this inexplicable love for London. Maybe I'll muse more on that in a subsequent blog post...we'll see.
-I keep trying to say "thank you" and "excuse me" in Italian, even when the people I'm talking to have already addressed me in a British accent...so if I say "Grazie mille" or "Scusi!" to any of you when I'm back in the States, please don't judge!
-Not looking forward to jet lag. Jet lag is dumb and annoying. Hopefully it won't be too bad this time.
-No matter how hard I try, I pack too much stuff. Next time I think I will take literally the common travel advice to "pack everything you think you'll need, then take half of it out."
-I hope I get to come back to London. I really don't know if I'll get to, and if so, for how long. It could be as little as five months from now (grad school auditions?) to years before I'm back in this city I've grown to love intensely.
-I am SO excited to sleep in my own bed again. Is it sad that that's one of the things I've missed most about being away? Maybe it was just because my bed in Italy kept sticking its sharp springs into my back at night...
-I can't wait to see all of you, family and friends, and catch up on what you've been up to for the past nearly-two-months and to share more stories in detail about all the cool opportunities God's granted me in the past two months. :)
Love,
Emily