As it turns out, I had never seen the film. I only knew the story behind it. You can't be a romantic at heart and not know it :) Two people meet and have a strong connection but are engaged to other people. They decide to meet on top of the Empire State Building six months later, after they end their current relationships and if one doesn't show up they agree to leave it as is. While watching the film, I couldn't believe how similar their feelings resonated with mine. They had a sweet and pure relationship. As the movie progressed and the accident occurred and Nick waited sadly on top of the Empire State Building while Terry was fighting for her life, I was worried, I didn't know if they'd end up together and I was hoping they would, as if their fate would also be mine as well. (I was in a vulnerable place at the time) The point is that it brought me to this beautiful, heartwarming film and it's now part of my dvd collection.
It also gave me a great idea.
July 1st, 5pm (this is the day/time they had decided to meet) this friday
One day I will make my way to New York and go up there with my camera and discreetly watch for any other romantic souls waiting to meet up there. Life does imitate film sometimes. Or I wonder if I'd find someone else like me with the same idea? Under the same circumstances I would do the same thing. And if they didn't show up, it better be because they were in an
accident!! ha ha! But nowadays we have cellphones so that kills it all.
These pictures were taken from the top of the Duomo in Florence.
You can always meet here.
It was quite a hike going up these steps, 463 to be exact!
Hopefully, 463 reasons why you love the person you are meeting up there!!
I like this spot right here.
40 comments:
"It's the closest thing to heaven we have in New York City."
(kleenex!!!)
The final scene - for the love of God - has never failed to bring tears to my eyes. However, your pictures would make me have to choose the Duomo in Florence over Empire State Building, if I were Deborah Kerr to play Terry McKay.
Why oh why, Lorena, your posts always bring tears to my eyes? I will sue for the spent salt!:)
The person whom i wanted to remember my b'day always forgot it or so i thought - but now after 10 years(shes married now) she calls n tells me that she never forgot my b'day once - just that she resisted her heart from showing their feeling so that we wont fall in love. Which movie are you talking about lorena ? Its such a romantic idea ... I will be waiting for u on the 1st of July ;)
i like the very first version of it, the one in black and white. gives the story even more of that romantic quality. =)
Dear Lorena: Now you got me crying... It's that what you wanted?!! Then you got it!!! You know? I have never seen that movie, I only know about it for the reference to it in "Sleepless in Seattle", in which "An Affair to Remember" is a very vital component of the plot... Yeah, the antichance, somtiemes I think about all the people we don't have by our side because a splith of a second crossing in a corner, a deflated wheel, a phone call of a person who talks feces for a long time, slowering the life to whomever is at the other end of the line. There is this ad of Visa card in which an unborn child is talking to the "audience". He describes his parents, who still don't know each other. They are almost crossing all the time in the same places (implaying they are made one for each other) as we, the viewers are getting more and more desperate, as the child is also getting, as we can percieve in his voice, when he says: "If they don't meet, I will never be born". At the end they decide to take a vacation and it results that they seat side by side in the plane. Then, you hear this strong anouncer voice reciting the slogan: "Visa, the moment is now". That ad always makes me want to cry, because there are lots of lifes burried in mediocrity, in places and moments the chance of happiness is so thin. But underneath, like a life in winter there is a faith that somwhere in the road is my Partner in Life, and that there is a strong supernatural entity with will and capacity to love, who knows all of us and have something to us, and that he's stronger, mighty stronger than any circumstance...
Take care, and God bless you...
At least, a beautiful present I received from Heaven the day I found this blogg... ;0)
Funny, that movie was on amc sunday night and i decided not to watch it because i didnt feel like getting all sappy! :) I'll meet you at the top of the empire state building!
another wonderful post. I hope when you do get to new york we can meet!
me tooo... i'll be there.. =) how incredible that your post includes all of my favorite things: destiny love, and new york. ;)
now, i really have to watch the movie, it's been on my list forever.
Lorena: ¿Por qué no jugamos Loto y nos encontramos en Firenze? ;0)
Hermosísimas, fotos, dicho sea de paso...
Dios te bendiga y cuide mucho...
H.
De paso, ¿cuándo es tu cumpleaños? Digo,para no olvidarlo...
Ah, Lorena, Lorena. How can I tell you that the romantic in you will always win out, that one day you will climb the heights of your own fears, and meet a budding love that will take you even higher?
I can't promise you the name of the person, but I do know this. When you see yourself alone at the top, peaceful and happy, the other soul will soon follow...
i have known of this movie but have never seen it, must see it now. :)
i love the shots of empire state bldg in movies but the top of the duomo would be a good alternative specially given that it is italy. :)
I would like to fall in love there! I would like to fall in love, period.
I am a sucker for films like this, I love Pretty woman best for comfort viewing though. My cat has decided to help me type again, I love him dearly but whilst I hate to offend him I must perswade him tails are not an enhancement to vision. He loves 'The Aristocats' He informs me, well at least that's what I think he said.
After oneyear of loosing someone i thought i have no more tears left but i guess i still can cry:) u r post brought back a few memories and lotso f tears,guess life is strange as always.
chikididu :: you are amazing!! always such colorful comments, love it. really, tears :) tears of joy i hope.
ha ha sue me. PLEASE NO, give me some credit, i climbed so many steps to get these pictures!
bablu :: thanks for sharing your story. why do people silence their love? fear i guess. i should know.
the movie is "An Affair To Remember."
maybe i'll see you there 1 day :)
transience :: i wasn't aware there was more than 1 version!! i looked it up though and found it!! "Love Affair" released 1939. thanks for letting me know of this :)
the scientist :: i never saw that ad, thanks for sharing it. isn't it amazing how random it all is? i always like thinking back after i've met someone and look at all the amazing things that brought me to meeting them. sometimes it's amazing.
i got something in return, a scientist who shares such lovely thoughts :)
(mi cumpleanos es Marzo 14) si ganaria el loto, a italia seria el lugar para ir!
(my spanish is not so great)
deem :: yeah, you have to be in the mood for such films, i agree. wouldn't that be cool to meet there!! when i make my way to NY i will definitely let you know.
stella :: yay, good :) that's right, you are both from NY. we can all scope the place, do some posing, picture taking, writing, whatever!! hope you watch it soon.
mermaid :: as always, your words inspire me and encourage me and make me smile. You give me hope :) and "climb the heights of your own fears" really hit me sweetly! thanks.
gulnaz :: i hope you get to see it soon. if you have a taste for romance, it's great. i would choose italy as well, definitely.
potted flower :: i did take those, thanks :) hope you take pictures soon.
johnny crash :: ha ha, good old king kong. i remember that film. thanks for reminding me of this!
mitzee :: yeah, i agree.
sue hardy-dawson :: cute, your cat joined in :) never saw the Aristocats but tell him i said thanks!!
I liked Pretty Woman as well.
akruti :: hopefully they were tears of joy and anyhow crying is good for the soul. thanks for visiting.
virumandi :: thanks!! i agree, although reasons here really stands more for qualities, attributes, moments that you've shared and when you think of it this way it is only tokens of your love and the # can go on really. (i was just trying to be funny when i said 463 reasons :)
Your photos are always so wonderful. If you're not already a professional photographer, then you should really consider it.
thank you red! that means a lot :)
Hi Lorena. Just dropped down on ur blog. Every post has a unique sense of love. Nice posts. Will visit it again soon. Keep posting.
Hey could u tell me one thing babes. Firstly, did u posted the pictures on ur blog using HELLO & PICASSA. Anf if u have used it , then could u tell me how do we post more than one pics in a single post........ if u could help......
C ya later...bye......TC
Gorgeous photos, as always. And romantic story-line. I actually haven't seen that movie. Perhaps I will check it out. A bummer about your birthday! I hate birthdays. I really do. Mine is coming up soon and I'm dreading it.
You post less but when you do, it makes up. Enjoyed this.
Everytime i read your posts i feel like i want something or need something.. sometimes they are things that i cannot get -at least not now!- .. Now my eyes are teary!
Your posts are simple in ideas but touch the heart very deeply, and the mind too!
Keep it up :)
Lorena: You really touched me with that reply. Gracias, amiga mía, tesoro puesto en mis manos por el cielo. Eventhough I know you for a very little time and never in three dimensions (but maybe the sharing of the souls makes a fourth, which is more important), your friendship is one of my most treasured... I would not like to say posesion, because frinedship has to do a lot about freedom, and that concept and the one of property collide... I, know: your friendship is one of the most treasured jewels my heart was allowed to stare...
You are not professional? Swear to God I though you were... I pictured you as this person that from assignament to assignament let her heart be drenched by the experience and the view and then share it in that lovely way. You know, for example, I have watched a great deal of pictures of the Colliseum and in those two you made I saw in the texture of the stone, the chorus of the martyrs, the parade of years, the blood of martyrs and gladiator, crying in desperation, fear, trance of testosterone, hunger of freedom, acceptance of death: "Ave Cesare, Morituri te Salutant" (Hail Cesar, Those Who Are Goint To Die Salute You), and the blood of the years falling on the stone and fading in cycles. But, you know what? Maybe I pictured you in what you must be doing for a living, because you have such a great gift, like a direct sign from a star over your forhead: The faculty to write poetry and tell stories (with the full esence of the experience inside them, as if they are in a womb, waiting always to be born in the moment the eye of a viewer lies on them) with the passing of light through a film, and the talent for making such beautiful portraits of seconds and the emotion inside them with words after words after words. Gracias, Lorena, porque nos regalas de tu don (you give from your gift), so a lot of us are in debt...
Take care, God bless you...
And your Spanish is great, amiga mía...
Your pics are just really great. What a wonderful spot to survey the scene. I'm so glad that you were able to watch the Cary Grant version. I love him in anything. The story is great and beautiful. I do it find it funny that because of that story line; we get "Love Affair" with Warren Beatty. I think that Annette Benning is beautiful in her role. And, then where would "Sleepless in Seattle" be without "An Affair To Remember"? Is it possible that the greatest love stories have already been told? And, it is up to us to live our version. Will be back again to check back with you. Take care.
anuj :: thanks. glad you visited. i sent help through your email you provided on your blog so hopefully you got it :)
sk8rn :: thank you. let me know if you like it. happy early birthday :)
shirazi :: thanks :)
faith :: thanks. i guess my longing pours over in my posts. nice observation & thanks for your wonderful comments :)
the scientist :: well i was left stunned by such lovely words you wrote! the way you express yourself is amazing and i'm honored to have them directed towards me. "heart drenched by the experience" really captured how i feel and definitely after reading your beautiful comment. i'm happy you consider me a friend. thank you for gracing my blog with such amazing words, kindness :)
marcel :: thank you. good question. yes, it is up to us to live our own version and to each one,i'm sure we all believe 'mine is the greatest' how can it not be, each love is unique.
glad you will return and take care as well :)
jenn :: isn't it wonderful. i don't know if the empire state building's romance wears off, i think it's what you bring to the place, your own special romance, that makes any place sweet.
ifSpockIsEnough :: i'm glad it's possibly causing any of you to go see it. i like the idea that i come out screaming :) !! thanks for your lovely comment.
I spent so much time in Florence at the Duomo and it never occurred to me to take a picture from the top of it. Beautiful!
thank you :) glad you visited!
I have a fear of heights. Jill has claustrophobia.
One year we went to Plymouth with Joseph, who was then 7.
He wanted to go up the lighthouse.
I couldn't take him because of my vertigo.
Jill couldn't take him because the stairway up the lighthouse was such an enclosed space.
So we asked another family to take him.
Sad, or what?
Lore... Oh... geee... thanks, girl, now I am red all over. But let me tell you. I am the one honored here. And still more touched by your words, poeta...
By the way, I haven't told you how much I love your love for the texture and the light, not only the drama of the definicion by the contrasts and violent grades between lights and shadows, but how eloquent is the visual texture of the work. You can swer you can touch and feel the temperature, roughness or smoothness of a stone, or a determined surface...
Couple of months ago I bought a photography journal, in which is presented the work of an American photographer who made a series of pictures that dealt with light and desing in a medieval church in Italy. Now I don't remember the name (I'll bring it to you later), but your work reminds me much of his...
Gracias, amiga...
Cuídate y que Dios te bendiga...
You know what? I haven't said the phrase that sumarizes everything...
Niña, te admiro...
Take care and God bless you...
And the poem about the fighter (fight-her) was so strong and well written, because deals with the strongest battle, one quiet, yet more destructive and needed of courage, the one of renouncing for love. And that speaks volumes about you, ma amie...
That is a beautiful place! I would be great to meet someone there. I have picked out the place where I want to meet, it's in the catskills of NY. Mohonk Mountain. it is beautful.
http://www.mohonk.com
It's were I plan to propose when the time is right.
In China they don't celebrate birthdays.
Just messin' with ya. But that is true, according to one of my former ESL students, who I call every year to wish happy birthday.
She always goes something like, "Oh. Yeah..."
roger :: it's ok. at least he got to see it. i was a little hesitant myself but i had a family in front of me so i figured if they can do it so can i. i went alone because my friend didn't want too. we had just finished climbing the campanile.
hector :: i guess we are both honored evenly :) you really have an eye for photographs, you see so much and describe it so well. i look forward to hearing what photographer you speak of.
"te admiro" muchas, muchas gracias :) asimismo!
yes, that poem, i like how you summarized it "quiet, yet more destructive" thanks for the wonderful feedback. and it does speak volumes for me. very perceptive :)
thank you and take care as well.
gq1nyc :: i checked out the place, beautiful!! looks like a great spot to propose :) lucky girl.
paul :: well i know the jehovah witness don't celebrate them if that helps. yeah, to some people it's no biggie.
hey lorena nice photos as usual :) and btw i loved that movie of cary grant (even though i don't know the actor really). saw it a number of times! and i even watched the remake by warren beatty. i'm not for mushy movie, but i love it.
My very dear Lore: The Photography Journal is LensWork, and it was the No. 58 May-June 2005 edition. The photographeris Jeffrey Curto. But I was wrong in the information I told you. The pictures were not about a medieval church, as I told you, but about antique buildings in general in all Italy, especially in the region of Toscana (Tuscany). The series is called "Bella Luce" (Beautiful Light). You can see a sample of his works in www.jeffcurto.com. And, you know what? The guy lives in Chicago, where he teaches at College Du Page in Glen Ellyn. But maybe you know. Maybe he was you teacher, 17 years the elder, and took you to Italy, being married (thing you didn't know at the moment), but taught you about love and light, about textures and chiaroscuro, about places whose fresh umbra protected a love you didn't know had to be hidden. Then, back, you found out and renounced, but were left mastering lights and shadows over the sculpted stones... :0) O.K., a little soapy plot, the Constitution garantee the right to develope from time to time, and a story I though just as a possibility this mourning (I am kind of surreal when I wake up). But seriously, dear one, check his works, you will see something about you...
Take care and God bless...
By the way, even I use elements from your work for the soap I wrote, you know I respect the value of it and the biographical character behind it...
amie :: thanks. i really don't think this one is mushy although i might not be good judge of character.
the scientist :: i will definitely check out his work. thanks for letting me know.
great story, it feels nice being a character in this soap and why am i not surprised i was
left alone "mastering lights and shadows over the scultped stones" -great line! thanks for
an interesting read in the morning :)
That is a perfect spot!
:-)
isn't it :)
My beloved amiga: Checked Curto's work? What do you think of him?
Take care and God bless you...
Tu amigo que te admira y quiere mucho,
H.
Your post about the childhood was a heartmassage, you gave me a beautiful air of nostalgia, followed by a whole day of laughing about the mischievious acts that my friend Rodrigo and I comited... :0)
i still haven't had a chance but will do so soon. i'm glad the current post brought back memories!
take care as well.
Since I arrived here only recently, its taking me a while to catch up..but on a saturday morning at work..its so cathartic to be able to see beautiful photographs..beautiful beautiful...and another person's thoughts alongside....really, I feel like I am soaking up a different world..
thank you :) i'm honored that you are roaming around my world :)
My web server log found this reference to my work being published in LensWork, so I thought I'd stop by to take a look. I like the images you've posted on your site; you have some interesting ways of looking at things. Have you traveled to Italy often? Not sure if you ever got a chance to look at my work, but if you did, thanks!
-Jeff Curto
http://www.jeffcurto.com
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