I'm not a huge Raoul Bova fan, but I have seen him in many films and a TV series and do like him as an actor. In all honesty, my favorite Italian actor is actually Silvio Muccino. A girlfriend of mine told me that Raoul Bova would be at the Edison libreria (bookstore) at 2 p.m. for the opening of his new movie, "Scusa ma ti chiamo amore." At first I wasn't able to go, but then I had to be in centro (downtown) around that time.
We met outside the libreria without having had lunch yet and walked up to the already packed first floor. We decided to go up one more floor and stand at the railing facing the table where the actors would be seated.
Initially, we were comfortable standing against the railing because there were only a few of us, but then more and more people arrived: one woman stood next to me and had her arm on top of mine so that she'd fit next to me and then a group of young girls stood behind us, blocking the whole aisle and pushed us even more into the railing.
Books fell off the shelves behind us and no one could walk down the aisle behind us because we were all packed in fairly tightly. Each one of us wanted to catch a glimpse of Raoul Bova, and most of us were ready to snap a few photos too.
They put up a red rope about six feet in front of the table where the actors would be seated and ten minutes later they arrived. Screams and applause were heard throughout the libreria as the actors filed in.
At one point a group of girls screamed, "Sei bellissimo! (You are very handsome!)"
Raoul Bova spoke first for a few minutes about the film, but it wasn't easy to hear him. After another man spoke, they were letting people, mostly girls, in to get their books signed and to kiss Raoul Bova on both cheeks. We watched a little bit and then left to grab some lunch. It was fun to see him, but neither one of us wanted to fight through the huge crowds for an autograph.
I took a lot of pictures, but many didn't turn out because they were a bit blurry. For a while I had one girl's elbow in my back and then she used my shoulder to balance herself to take pictures. And the woman next to me tried to get a better angle by pushing me and moving in front of me.
I had fun being in the libreria to see Raoul Bova since not many actors come to Florence for the opening of a film. It'd be nice if Silvio Muccino came for his new film, "Parlami d'amore" in February. Maybe then I'd be willing to fight my way to the front to get an autograph.
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