9/06/11 Florence: But Only For One Hour

We left Milano early this morning on our way to the next stop in the Le Marche region near the city of Macerata.  But before Macerata we had to make a small detour to Florence.  During the planning of this trip I had made only two requests:  1)Choose an efficient driving route to keep driving time to a minimum; flying into the north and departing from the south; and 2) a one hour stop in Florence so I could take a photo.  Only this was no ordinary photo, I had been planning it for years.  Allow me to explain.

Over fifty years ago, my father and his good friend Renzo took a road trip; the trip that became known as their “Giro D’Italia”.  Along the way, they took a number of photos, but my favourite has always been the one of my dad with the city of Florence in the background.  I never really paid attention to it until a little over six years ago when I was preparing a slide show for my dad’s sixty-fifth birthday.  I decided then and there that I wanted to recreate the photo.  At first I figured that I would stand in for my dad and take a photo of myself in the same place.  The realities of life were such that a trip to Italy with my parents was unlikely.  So when the trip turned from an idea into a reality, this was the only solid task on my agenda.

My mother was suspicious of my motivations.  What could be so important in Florence that I needed to stop in for only one hour; I was forced to let her in on my plan but only once she had been sworn to secrecy.  My father, as is typical of him, didn’t ask a thing.  He knows I like photography and that there was a picture that I wanted to take in Florence: that was good enough for him.  “Punto e basta” as they say here… and that’s that.

Those guys at Google are a clever bunch; with Google Earth and Streetview I was able to pinpoint the exact location where the photo was taken using the angle of the buildings in the background.  I thought I had found the spot on via Giuseppe Poggi but the vertical angle didn’t line up; the original photo must have been taken up above in Piazza Michelangelo.

We exited the highway and made our way to the piazza overlooking the city.  As we got closer dad began to talk about how he had been here with Renzo so many years ago on their “Giro d’Italia”.  When we stopped, he pointed out that he has taken a picture “over there”.  And that’s when I pulled out the old photo and revealed the purpose of our visit.  Dad didn’t say much, but I knew that he was honoured.  We found the exact spot: same wall, same rocks; it’s as if time had stood still for this very moment.  There was metal pedestrian barrier in the way, but to the surprise of the other tourists, dad and I went to work and quickly (not to mention loudly) moved it out of the way.  It was hard to tell on my camera’s screen, but we didn't get the angles right exactly right.  Not to worry, the moment was like many others in life in that it wasn’t about the final product, but the journey.