Balloons!

Last Sunday we had a crazy day. It was our last Sunday with the youth, so we all went out to Parco Valentino for a picnic, some games, and a dash of Bible Study. I think it was one of our largest youth meetings ever! (Which, looking at the number of people in the picture below, means we have a small but committed crew.) John led the Bible Study and since not everybody there spoke English, Giorgio--in the green shirt--translated for us.



Afterwards, John and I trooped out to Chieri for the Chieri Street Festival. It was different than any festival we've seen in the States. The first act we went to was pretty simple: they gave out hundreds of big red balloons, played some music, and then released even bigger red balloons out into the crowd. Entertainment doesn't have to be complicated.




And not everybody gets a chance to have their portrait taken with a big red balloon! Here are John and me. . .




Lloyd, in the process of trying to hit me with his balloon.


Giorgio, whose parents were on a business trip to Sardinia that weekend; they could have come back earlier but they wanted to spend some time at the beach. So they left Giorgio to pine away with the Williams family. Poor kid.


Sian with her beater balloon.


At one point the guy in charge told us all to hold up our balloons and wave them back and forth. Obedience was mandatory.


We also learned a lesson about what happens when you blow up your balloon to a larger size than it can handle. A sound like a gun shot echoes off the surrounding buildings and somebody is left without a balloon. . .


We stayed the night in Chieri and the next morning decided to go out for a bike ride (to cool down from all the street festival excitement). It was a nice little ride outside of the city; here are some views. . .






And yours truly the photographer.


That's all for now, folks! Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!