The couple smiled and held hands on their honeymoon, posing for the camera in front of Rockefeller Center in their fanny packs. The man with the gentle features and dark wavy hair is Roberto, wearing his Hard Rock Café T-shirt. That’s his wife, Laura, beside him, with her graceful neck tilted, dark shoulder-length hair, and hoop earrings. Those look like cool Ray-Ban shades too.
It was a sunny day in 1994.
It was also their first time in America.
Much hasn’t changed in the city they glitzed up 30 years ago, with some exceptions: two megalithic subtractions from the skyline and one monolithic replacement for them. There are more lights in Times Square. But the old feel, the soaring and breathtaking concrete, and the bustling excitement are still here.
Roberto Trinchero, a Venetian who worked in the grocery business and emigrated to Australia in 1996, worked at the same company as his wife. Laura Trinchero, who bore their son Alessandro 22 years ago, speaks English with a much milder Italian accent than her husband. They were set up by mutual friends during a ski trip. The rest is history.
Growing up, a wavy-haired and tall Alessandro traipsed the boardwalks by the Sydney Opera House near his childhood home. He watched his sweet parents make people laugh and turn strangers into friends wherever they went. The Trincheros traveled to Italy many times. Alessandro now appreciates both his heritages: artful Italian culture and the easygoing ways Down Under. He also loves photography.
When his parent’s 30th anniversary drew near, he thought it was worth honoring.
“This year my parents had been discussing the fact that this was their 30th year of marriage,” Alessandro told The Epoch Times.
It was a Sunday morning when the idea hit him. “We were doing just a house clean-out, just going through some things, things to donate and to give away,” he said. “I started going through some of the photo albums that we have.”
The old photos sparked an idea. What if they traveled to New York City so his parents could retake their honeymoon photos at the same spots? “How cool would it be to go back and recreate some of these?” Alessandro asked. “I kind of threw it out like it’s a selfish idea because I’d never been to New York, and I wanted to go really badly.”
Great idea, keep dreaming—Alessandro half expected to hear this.
“To my surprise, they actually thought it was a good idea and put some thought into it,” he said. “It actually ended up working great.”
Soon, they were scouting out the hotel his parents stayed at in 1994 on Times Square. It was the Novotel, but it’s called M Social now. They sought the same room with a view of billboards and lights and found a similar one.
“It was just insane to see how some things hadn’t changed at all and some had just been completely different,” Alessandro said. Samsung and Coca-Cola still had the same ad spaces. He said, “Back then they were on ... billboards that rotated every 10 seconds.”
Amazingly, the same hotel concierge, Alvin, worked there 30 years ago, the Trincheros learned. The family got to know him the same friendly way they get to know service people wherever they go.
Then the Trincheros hit the town.
Alessandro had never seen the Twin Towers as his parents had. They told him how having two identical buildings of that scale was an architectural achievement back then, something very prestigious.
The couple posed around town, and Alessandro took pictures. They toured many of the iconic sights his parents had before: the Chrysler Building on Wall Street; Central Park with New York’s art deco silhouette behind that; in Manhattan after dark, dining out in each other’s arms.
Radio City Music Hall’s classic neon sign hadn’t changed. The skating rink outside Rockefeller Center—ditto.
They even visited some places the couple had missed before: the West and East Villages.
Once the project was finished, Alessandro posted the recreations online. He creates content on Instagram and aspires to be a professional photographer and journalist after graduating from college.
The Trincheros usually shy away from attention. But the world soon noticed their honeymoon redux, and millions of viewers were inspired by their marriage.
A few simple snapshots had fulfilled a much greater purpose than intended. Alessandro says his parents rejoiced but were surprised that they’d sparked so much interest.
“Seeing their reaction to it was quite intense,” Alessandro said. “There were a lot of reach-outs from different television stations in the U.S. and a bunch of TV programs, which was crazy.”
Throngs of people were now keen to hear the secret to his parents’ happy marriage. After seeing them together his whole life, Alessandro shared a few things:
One, patience.
Two, little things count, like bringing home flowers for Mom.
Three, communication—even if it means over-communicating.
“You wouldn’t think that’s a healthy thing, but they very often over-communicate and tell each other exactly how they’re feeling and why,” Alessandro said, “which I think is lacking nowadays.”
