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Uccello di Firenze

Otherwise Known as Bird of Florence

By Jennifer ThomasPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Uccello di Firenze by Dominic Shreckengost

My mother and I had planned to visit Italy since the early 2000s when I was only a teenager. We were living in a small agricultural town in California at the time. She would tell me stories about our Italian heritage and how she was born in New York. Every so often, between that point in time and the fortuitous moment we finally found ourselves in Italy in 2017, I would think about this far-off place and it seemed other-worldly to me. As if part of me assumed it did not really exist. I wrote a report about Italy in 4th grade. So it must exist. I had seen old movies filmed there. Hollywood wouldn’t lie to me. I spent two semesters in college learning the language. Surely, if the language existed, then people on cobblestone paths were actually ordering “un caffè e un biscotto” in the morning on their way to work at the Uffizi or Ponte Vecchio. In these moments of disbelief, I would shake it off and continue with whatever monotonous task was at hand.

In my mid-20s I met my future husband, Dom. I would tell him about my dream to one day travel to Italy with my mom. At this point, Pinterest existed. I would find these magical places in Italy and add them to my board. As years passed, I got more adventurous and started looking up schedules for high-speed trains in Italy. Next thing I knew, I was emailing Italian tour guides. I was unstoppable. Dom’s mom was close to retiring. Dom’s brother had also recently gotten into a serious relationship. I thought about the six of us: My mom, Dom’s mom, Dom’s brother, Dom’s brother’s girlfriend, Dom and me bravely traveling to another continent. You see, most of us had never traveled outside of the United States, certainly never to Europe. Dom started furiously learning Italian on Duolingo. He saw the fire in my eyes and all of the prep work I had been doing over the months. He knew it was only a matter of time. Then, one day I had had enough of only dreaming about Italy. I called Dom’s mom and asked her if she’d like to go to Italy with us. She said yes. Then Dom’s brother and his girlfriend agreed too. All of the tickets for all of the planes, trains, and museums were purchased. Hotels and Airbnbs were finalized. Next thing I knew, all six of us were safely off-boarding the plane in Naples.

After a few glorious days exploring the surrounding area in Naples, we boarded a train to Florence and then nestled into our Airbnb for the night. The following morning, our tour guide waited for us at the front door. He said that I had picked very lovely places to explore, but asked that we add one more spot. He was a local and we, of course, were excited to see the spot he wanted to take us. He drove us through a beautiful neighborhood up winding paths until we finally reached the Piazzale Michelangelo. The view was breathtaking. You can see the whole city and there is a nice replica of Michelangelo’s David. My mom and Dom’s mom seemed to be taken away by a woman very meticulously cutting glass tubes to make very intricate floral patterns. The woman started a conversation with them about her craft. It’s called millefiori, which means “a thousand flowers”. Millefiori can be traced back to Alexandrian times. Dom overheard the conversation and stepped over to take a close up photo of her beautiful art. At the exact same time a bird, by chance, flew up. The woman’s hands opened up out of surprise. However, in the photo, it almost looks like she was setting the bird free. An even closer look will show that the bird grabbed a piece of necklace string, probably for its nest. So we call this photo Uccello di Firenze or Bird of Florence. I look at this photo from time to time and remember all of the amazing memories our family made during our trip. I am grateful for how welcoming the Italian community was. They all took very good care of us and I hope I can one day return the favor.

family travel
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