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something the size of a rhino, at the back of the courtyard, and when Guido took a place in front of it, microphone in hand, we held our collective breath. I nabbed a seat right in front, perched on the edge of a bench shared by Piero, his niece, and his 14-year-old grandnephew, Lorenzo. We knew this was a surprise for Piero, and one that had been three years in the making. After a few words, Guido pulled the curtain aside… Shining in the light of the moon was a snapshot from history come to life: an Alfa Romeo van customized from scrap to be an exact twin of La Marzocco's original espresso van, built in 1959. That first van was crashed a decade later, and it mysteriously vanished—two grainy photographs of it were all that remained. As a surprise for Piero, the company's honorary president and a hero to countless coffee professionals the world over, the staffers at La Marzocco Italy bought an old, broken down Alfa Romeo from eBay in 2009, and commissioned the Association "Ali Storiche" of Varese, Italy, to recreate the iconic van. Outfitted with a showcase of La Marzocco vintage machines, all from the time period in which the original van was built, this bus is true to the first down to the paint job. I leaned over to see Piero's face as the van was revealed, and shock turned to amazement turned to disbelief. "Non è possibile. Non può essere possibile," he repeated in a whisper: "It's not possible. It can't be possible." After being assured by his old friends and collaborators, Kent Bakke and John Blackwell, that it was indeed possible, Piero got to his feet and approached the van, running his hands over the exterior. He was lost in conversation with the mechanics for the next hour, hopping into the driver's seat and examining every detail. It was a moment those in attendance will never forget. Three days later, I was marveling through the leather market with Lizz in Florence. We'd popped south to Tuscany after the OOTB event came to a close, and after one harrowing day navigating the mammoth that is HOST. We were in Tuscany to visit the La Marzocco factory and to relax a bit, eat some great food, soak in the magnificence of this birthplace of the Renaissance. We were at Peretola, however, Florence's tiny airport, all too soon: Lizz racing for her flight to New York via Madrid; me headed to Amsterdam for a connection back to Portland. We gripped each other fiercely as we said goodbye, as we recalled the past week, what we had been privileged to share. La Marzocco's Out of the Box remains the most special kind of family reunion I've been a part of in this industry. This family of artists and thinkers, humorists and nerds, bookworms and engineers; we're all so different, but there's something exactly the same about each and every one of us. www.baristamagazine.com 49