{"id":807,"date":"2019-10-17T19:05:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T17:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2025-08-19T12:27:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T10:27:18","slug":"cand-te-bate-richard-gere-pe-umar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/2019\/10\/cand-te-bate-richard-gere-pe-umar\/","title":{"rendered":"When RICHARD GERE slaps on your shoulder!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I never thought I was a lucky bastard, yet it seems that I really am. After I rubbed shoulders with Tom Hanks<\/a> at the premiere of “Inferno” in Florence, now I have the damn luck to see Richard Gere<\/strong> in person, again in Florence…\u00a0 Pretty Women all over the world, eat your hearts out! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll definitely say it\nis simple luck, if I tell you that I bought the ticket for this trip in\nJanuary. I am a victim of the sales periods, what can I do?… I told myself:\nwhatever, if I cannot go, at least I will not lose too much money. So I had no\nidea what luck was waiting for me ten months later. Or I might suspect Ioana,\nmy ex-colleague, a Florence citizen, that she synchronizes the great stars from\nHollywood with my visits in Florence hihi. She was the one to tell me about Tom\nHanks and now, knowing I was coming to Florence, she sent me a link about\nRichard Gere who was going to be given the\nkeys of Florence<\/strong>, during the very days when\u2026 Mrs. Mladin had already opened\nthe gates of the city\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read there that I was\nsupposed to send an e-mail if I wanted to take part in the event and, if I sent\nit before the maximum number accepted was completed, it was all right, if not,\nciao and arrivederci!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked at the date of the article… A day had already passed. I wrote a nice and short e-mail in English, telling them I am a Romanian journalist on a short vacation and that I would very much like to get in there. Waiting for the answer, I put into the suitcase a pair of trousers, some light flat shoes, a T-shirt and a key-pendant. Yeah, right, I have a key, not that of Florence, but mine is cooler, because it has the keyhole too \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Doubting I will be able\nto get in, makes me leave at home any kind of a smart-elegant jacket \u2013 they are\ntoo heavy and I want room in my luggage for what I’ll buy there\u2026 So, let us go\nto Florence! For the seventh time during the last few years…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hardly finished my first walk around the city, when, what do you know, I get an e-mail from the Italians. They tell me that, if I bring the press ID card, I can go in. What?!? I cannot believe it!!!! Can it really be that simple? I ask if I can bring the camera too. Yes, take it with you, you desperate woman :), they seem to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I become euphoric, although\nI do not have any confirmation I am on the “list” \u2013 as I should have,\nI understand. I just have an OK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after, I\npanic. My God! I have to go buy a smart-elegant jacket. I did not want to take\nit from home, now I have to pay for it. Mladin, that’s the only chance! I go to\nsome shops, the popular ones… I am not going to pay a fortune just to be\nanother girl in a mass of hysterical women (that’s how I imagine it will be\u2026).\nI finally find a black, simple jacket, that has a reasonable price, I buy it,\nbut I don’t stop here…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I go to see the place,\nthe famous hall where the event is taking place. It is Salone dei Cinquecento<\/strong>, from Palazzo Vecchio. Normally, you need a\nticket to get in. I only go to the door. The hall looks spectacular! That’s it,\nnow I know the way. It takes me\u2026 one minute to get here from my hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am so important… At\nleast that’s how I feel. I am going to the Palace!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RICHARD GERE FLORENCE EVENT<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ALL I COULD DO FOR RICHARD GERE, WAS TO PUT ON SOME GLOSS\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Come at 16:30” \u2013 the e-mail said. What do you know? I got dressed from 15:30, I took out my expired make-up kit and, after studying it and being amazed I have such quality things, I decided to wear… some gloss \ud83d\ude42 It was too complicated to use the other things…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 16:01, I am already\nat the Palace, with the camera, the phone and the press ID card and I am asking\nthe policemen at the entrance if I can go to the hall. They show me a line and\nask me to stay there. “Even with the press ID?”, I ask insinuating…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find out that yes,\nthat is the place where I have to wait. At 16:30, we will be all checked on the\nlists. Hmmm… I am nervous. And I have doubts. If I am from the press, I am\nnot on the lists, that’s for sure. And then, how am I going to get in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The people in the line are relaxed Italians. There are young girls, who show no stress, who wear jeans and sports shoes, some old women, some well-dressed, other wearing very casual clothes. The tourists who visit Palazzo Vecchio look at us, the people in the line, with curiosity. I am expecting someone to ask me: “Sorry, what are they selling here?” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time passes very\nslow. People gossip a bit, look in their mobile phones… I am reluctant to\nopen the Facebook, because I am afraid my battery will run out and the phone is\nthe best alternative to the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some new policemen come,\nbut this does not change the waiting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes after\n16:30, people start taking out their ID cards. The Italian women next to me\ngive mine a bizarre look, as they realize I am not one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two women check the\nnames. I get in front and I show them the press ID, and I also have on hand the\ne-mail that told me I could come. The lady says: “I am not sure if the\npress can go in now, but you can go upstairs and ask”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I go up the stairs in Palazzo Vecchio and to my surprise there is no one I can ask if I can go in or not, so\u2026 I go in! I am inside the hall!!! With the press card, with my camera, but… no gloss, as I have eaten all of it during the time I have been waiting in line. So, I am myself again, 100% \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SALONE DEI CINQUECENTO<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

FROM INFERNO TO PRETTY WOMAN<\/strong>…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I go among the first\ninside the hall, I start looking at the ceiling, at the lateral walls, then I\nchoose a very good place that is still free, at the end of a row. They are\nplaying “Pretty Woman”. Nice idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three seats in front of\nme, there’s a barrier, a sign that the first rows are for the people invited.\nCould they be for the press? Should I tell them I am from the press and go\ndirectly there? I prefer to keep silent and sit in my place. What if they take\nme out of there? Now, at least I have a good place in the 7th<\/sup> row,\non the aisle. I didn’t have such luck at concerts…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As far as they have\nannounced, the event begins at 17:30. There are some 40 more minutes. Pretty\nWoman is played again. This is clearly the stamp on Gere’s forehead… Even if\non the screen in front of us there are images with him from different movies,\nsome from charity activities and some portraits and personal photos as far as I\ncan understand. I don’t know much about his private life. Only what I have just\nread: that he has a 36 years old wife and that he is a father again, at 70\nyears old. That is something!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the people who come\ninside the hall, take their places and they start taking pictures, just like\nme. And selfies. Just like me… A very elegant lady films with a gopro. Pretty\nWoman is played once again. I am amused. Is this the only song of the evening?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a few minutes past\n5. Some people go on stage and place there the earpieces for translation. I\nthink the people who will sit on stage are very special, because there are also\nsome sits for the special guests in the first rows. (Special guests who have\nnot come yet\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At 17:20, the front rows\nare still empty. I am bored, so I start counting them… There are 15 rows\ntimes 24 seats per row. They could have put there even more seats!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty Woman is played\nonce again. Really?!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I start studying the\nplace again. I admire the pictures on the walls and the ceiling, piece by\npiece. I only hope that the actress Ana Ularu will not fall on my head! (For\nthose of you who saw \u201cInferno\u201d,<\/strong> this\nis the hall where, from the ceiling, falls down the enemy of Tom Hanks \u2013 the\nother famous friend of mine\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And once again Roy\nOrbison sings Pretty Woman. Really, man, that is too much! I look at the sound\nguys. Isn’t that like the Chinese water torture already???<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look at my watch and after a short counting, I come to the conclusion I must have heard the song some 20 times!!! This how they make you hate a hit \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find it strange that\nmany people greet each other as if they are old acquaintances or even friends.\nA woman comes, she kisses someone sitting next to me. Some other people come in\nand they hug the ones who are already inside. It’s like in the village bingo\nhall. Old women greeting and hugging each other, as they have not seen one\nanother from the Sunday mass…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cameramen and the\nphotographers begin to come, one by one. They are sent to the side, behind a\nrailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So that is it… I now see where the place for the press is. I should be there too. I look at them, then I look at my place, then I look at them again and once more at my place and I definitely choose to stay where I am. The seat is perfect. Great view to Mr. Gere’s spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stand up to stretch my\nbones. But I don’t move an inch, as the hunt for good seats has already\nstarted!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

35 photos of Richard\nGere are shown on the screen. What can I do, I am bored! Lucky me that someone\nelse discovered the Theory of Relativity before this moment…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is already past 17:30\nand no Richard Gere anywhere close. And no special guests either. The seats are\nstill empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The people visiting the\nmuseum stop at the balcony to see what happens in the hall downstairs. Nothing\nyet… So they continue their visit for which they have paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A young lady next to me\nconstantly presses her boobs… ?!? She must feel there’s something wrong with\nthem hihi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ladies from the\nstaff show people to their places. It is necessary, as at 17:45, a miracle\nhappens and a huge group of people enter the room. Maybe they let free entrance\nas there are still empty seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another miracle is that,\nafter they have played it some 30 times, Roy Orbison is finally silent!!! The\nmusic is off. It is only the overall noise…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some trumpet men come on\nstage. The special guests go on stage too. I have no idea who they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

RICHARD GERE SHOWING UP<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“There he is!”\nwe hear someone saying and in an instant we are all on out feet with the phones\nin our hands. False alarm! It was just a white haired man coming inside… At\nease! We sit down. I have a few dilemmas about the way I will take pictures and\nfilm. After the experience with Tom Hanks, I would not like to go through it\nagain, especially with the very intimate light these people have on stage. You\ncan almost see nothing there…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I decide to leave the camera and film with the phone, so that I am inside the picture too. Am I stupid not to appear in my own phone production? \ud83d\ude42 I rehearse once and that is it. I am ready, with my thumb on the rec button. The only thing missing is Richard Gere… And it is already 18:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have made the plan. What you see here has nothing to do with what happened when Richard Gere came. There was a huge wave of enthusiasm, no line was respected, everybody was jamming and elbowing his way through, not to speak about the wave of journalists. They were all over him with expensive, professional cameras and with so many light, it seemed everything was burning around him \ud83d\ude41 So… HUGE disappointment for me who was thinking I could see something nice on the phone!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The megastar goes forward… the people shout: “Richard! Richard!”\u2026 and he goes close… and some more flashes, stepping on each other’s feet, tens of phones in the air… and my heart is beating so fast that you’d think I am having a private dinner with him, not that I am lost somewhere in the crowd \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am filming. When he gets close to me, out of\ncommon sense, I stop looking on the screen of the phone and look at him. I want\nto see him with my own eyes, God damn it! He comes close to me and\u2026 he puts his\nhand on my shoulder, as a sign of salute. What??? Yes, just like that! And I\ncan\u2019t find anything sillier to say than\u2026 “Hi!” Hahahaha. What? Just\n“hi”? Well, yes, “Hi” and that is all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that I don’t look stupid to you, I could say\nI really said “Hai” (Romanian for “Come!”, same\npronunciation as \u201cHi\u201d), as an invitation to have an \u201caperitivo\u201d in Florence.\nBut no, that is not what I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After saying\n“hello” in his own way, he looked at what I was doing with one hand\nin the air, somewhere far from my body\u2026 I was holding the phone filming like\ncrazy… I had nothing useful in that film, so that the muscular effort would\nhave been useful at least. “Many crazy people on this planet”, he\nmust have thought…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He passes through the\ncrowd, he greets the people on stage and he sits in the middle armchair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After some minutes of\ntalks with the sound people about the translation, after looking on the phone\nscreen and some more talking to the people next to him, the ceremony starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event has a\npolitical and social air I choose to ignore. I like the stories however…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They speak a lot about\nthe way he personally took food to some refugees<\/strong>\non the sea. He tells us how he took his son there and those people felt\nimportant because Richard Gere introduced his son to each and every one of\nthem. Nice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the speech of the\nMayor, Richard Gere plays the role of the host and pours water both in his glass\nand in that of the Mayor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the hell are you\ndoing??? \u2013 I feel like shouting when I see a camera filming right in my face. I\nrealize I have to shut up and look in front of me. That was all that was\nmissing, to see myself on TV…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And things don’t stop\nhere. Another cameraman comes and puts some lights in our faces and we all sit\nthere in complete order, not to make a fool out of ourselves. If I wanted to be\nin the public, I have to obey, there’s no other way…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On stage they keep talking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people in the\naudience have already started to post their photos on social media or to send\nthem to their friends… This is a sign that the speeches of the Italians are\ntoo long. (I try to understand what they are saying.) Some people start\nleaving. They saw him, they took photos of him, there’s nothing more they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What I liked from what\n“uncle” Richard said was: “As I don’t care about politics, I\ndon’t care about religion. But I care about my teachers!” and he spoke\nabout Dalai Lama<\/strong>. And he pleaded a\nlot for helping people who help other people to survive, not stand in their\nway. No matter if we speak about people jumping from burning houses or about\nrefugees on boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My ass is in pain from all the sitting on that chair \ud83d\ude42 I look at my watch. There have been some two hours and a half already. The Italian woman next to me asks me to take a photo of Richard Gere with her phone, as I am on aisle and I have a better view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I listen to what he\nsays about Florence<\/strong> (Tom Hanks was\nasked about Florence too by the journalists).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has come here a very\nlong time ago, with his girlfriend at the time, he says. The most romantic time.\nThen he came back here for some shooting for movies. Then he tells us he sent\nhis parents across Europe in the Orient Express and they came to Florence too\nfor a one day trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the current trip, Richard Gere went into the Uffizi Galleries<\/strong>, when there were no tourists, as the museum is closed on Mondays. He seemed very happy about this visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RICHARD GERE RECEIVES THE KEY TO THE CITY OF FLORENCE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

…AND SURPRISES, SURPRISES!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s it! Here comes\nthe solemn moment when he will receive, from the Mayor, the keys of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The trumpet men start\ntrumpeting, the Mayor is decorated with the ribbon and Richard gets his keys. I\nhave no idea why there are more than one, but who cares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For him and for\nhis foundation”, the Mayor says and this way I find out that he has a\nfoundation. I will search about this…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lots of flashes. The\npeople are desperate to take pictures. We all go in front! I film. So do some\nother people around, on, under me… On a strategic moment I can even have a\ndetail of the keys he received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then… the Surprises Surprises moment: the Mayor tells Richard Gere that they have a surprise gift for him. Everybody laughs. I don’t understand what it is, but I think it was a bus pass \ud83d\ude42 So that the man can come and travel for free around the city in the busses or the trams. Then I find out it was a one year pass for all the ballet and opera shows. Well, I was close enough! Sort of…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second surprise is a\nT-shirt of Fiorentina football team<\/strong>\nwith his name on it. “Numero uno!!!”, Gere shouts amused. This is a\nsensation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n