La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
Cause tonight I’ve gotta look my best, Lulu’s back in town. Lulu arrived Thursday for a visit and, even in the continuing rain, it was a brighter place. We had lunch together at Mercado Victoria. San Geraldo headed home after lunch. Lulu needed to settle in for a bit, so we went our separate ways for explorations of the Jewish Quarter and the Roman bridge. I wanted to see how much higher the water had gotten. Note: In the UK, people mostly say got and not gotten. In the U.S., the correct conjugation is gotten, which is how it used to be said in the UK (in my grammatical defense).
It was only drizzling when I started my walk but was raining steadily by the time I arrived home. Thursday night, when we met Lulu for dinner, it was a downpour. We went to La Fabbrica, the Italian restaurant we love so much (click here). Lucia, host/server, was working and gave us enormous hugs when we walked in. It made us wish we could go every night. We tried over the months but kept landing on the days they’re closed. The food was exceptional and the company was, too. The restaurant was busy, which was so annoying. We wanted Lucia to pull up a chair and visit. I grabbed some quick photos of her when we were leaving, but they’re all awful and a blur, so I’ll try again next time. Lulu and I had the most exquisite salads, pictured below (on a large dinner plate), and San Geraldo had an excellent pizza (which was supposed to be part of my breakfast the next morning, but I forgot).
We had lunch in our neighborhood Friday at El Comado de la Sultana, another favorite place. The photos of us were taken there. I think Lulu should buy a place up here, so we can see her more often. She agreed, although I think she was only humoring me. Sadly, she’s already back in Fuengirola. She wrote right after the train left the station. There are usually a couple of trains heading to Málaga near the same time. She texted that she had gotten (there’s that word again) on the wrong train and was a bit concerned. I knew it wouldn’t be a problem, but I told her we’d visit her in jail. Below, you can see what it looked like from the terrace after Lulu left. Today, it’s not raining, yet. There’s more to come this afternoon.
Porque esta noche tengo que lucir lo mejor posible, Lulu ha vuelto a la ciudad. Lulu llegó el jueves de visita, e incluso con la lluvia continua, el lugar estaba más luminoso. Almorzamos juntas en el Mercado Victoria. San Geraldo se fue a casa después de comer. Lulu necesitaba descansar un rato, así que cada una se fue a explorar el barrio judío y el puente romano. Yo quería ver cuánto había subido el agua.
Solo lloviznaba cuando empecé a caminar, pero llovía sin parar cuando llegué a casa. El jueves por la noche, cuando quedamos con Lulu para cenar, llovía a cántaros. Fuimos a La Fabbrica, el restaurante italiano que tanto nos gusta (haz clic aquí). Lucía, la anfitriona/camarera, estaba trabajando y nos dio un abrazo enorme al entrar. Nos hizo desear poder ir todas las noches. Lo intentamos durante meses, pero siempre caíamos en los días que estaban cerrados. La comida era excepcional y la compañía también. El restaurante estaba lleno, lo cual era muy molesto. Queríamos que Lucía acercara una silla y nos visitara. Le saqué unas fotos rápidas al irnos, pero todas son horribles y borrosas, así que lo intentaré la próxima vez. Lulu y yo comimos unas ensaladas exquisitas, como la de abajo (en un plato grande), y en San Geraldo tuvimos una pizza excelente (que se suponía que iba a formar parte de mi desayuno de la mañana siguiente, pero se me olvidó).
El viernes comimos en nuestro barrio, en El Comado de la Sultana, otro de nuestros sitios favoritos. Nos sacamos las fotos allí. Creo que Lulu debería comprarse un piso aquí arriba para poder verla más a menudo. Aceptó, aunque creo que solo me estaba siguiendo la corriente. Por desgracia, ya está de vuelta en Fuengirola. Escribió justo después de que el tren saliera de la estación. Normalmente hay un par de trenes con destino a Málaga casi a la misma hora. Me escribió diciendo que se había equivocado de tren y que estaba un poco preocupada. Sabía que no sería un problema, pero le dije que la visitaríamos en la cárcel. Abajo, pueden ver cómo se veía desde la terraza después de que Lulu se fuera. Hoy, todavía, no llueve. Habrá más esta tarde.
• Ensalada Asiatica con papaya: verduras frescas cortadas en julianas, con brotes de soja, cacahuetes, menta y albahaca, aliñada con naranja y salsa dulce-picante.
• Baño de hombres. Jason Momoa no estaba dentro. Me quejé con Lucía.
• Esto se llamaba tarta de queso con coulis de fresas frescas. Lulu estaba confundida. En finlandés, kuli significa pene.
• Había un espejo junto a mí, pero no junto a ellos. Yo podía vernos a todos en el reflejo. Ellos solo podían verme a mí. Les pareció confuso.
• Lulu siempre trae el sol.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
What handsome people you hang out with. And your desserts are so rich, I can’t manage more than a couple of helpings.. Boud.
Boud:
Handsome is not a requirement. The cheesecake was excellent and lighter than most cheesecakes I had. I shared it with SG and could have had one to myself.
Those mirror photos are terrific! And you picked the perfect song for this post.
Debra:
I sing the song every time I hear Lulu’s back, and I loved the song to begin with. I had a great time with the mirror and my other two subjects.
You made a jolly evening out of a miserable, wet day, with good company. That’s all that matters! Jx
Jon:
Exactly. What a great time.
Everyone is looking bright and well. Enjoy!
David:
When we spend time with Lulu, we forget our problems.
A ray of sunshine for sure! Looks like a good time was had by all.
Jim:
Lulu makes the world a better place.
I am convinced that you gentlemen choose your friends on the basis of extreme attractiveness.
Well, I suppose like attracts like.
What a great song, and perfect for the moment.
M. Luna
M. Lunasuspiro:
I promise you we do not choose friends by their looks. Everyone is beautiful when we’re together.
Oh, I much prefer seeing/hearing gotten… thank you 🙂
What a nice visit for all of you! Sorry to see that all of you in Spain and France are getting constant rain. Here, you know, we’re getting constant news of the latest fascism… I wish the winds would blow that trouble away.
Judy C:
Gotten is grammatically correct anyway. We get the constant news, too. I’m taking a one-day moratorium from reading anything. My mental health needs a moment. The visit was uplifting and too brief.
Lovely group of friends. I love the mirrored ones.
One day the rain will stop and maybe you can send it here; we are under another fire watch because of the lack of rain.
Oy, it’s always something.
Bob:
A fire watch is very rare for your area, isn’t it? Wish I could send you the rain. It’s at it again this morning.
Fire watches are rare. The first one I’d ever heard of was a couple of weeks ago when we had the grass fires at the houses next to us and it was headed this way!
Climate change shmimate shmange.
Bob:
That’s what I thought!
Let us not forget Inhofe of Oklahoma who brought a snowball onto the Senate floor to prove planet warming was a hoax.
Great that you got to get together with Lulu! Did she sing “To Sir, With Love”? (OK, different Lulu, I know.)
Those are “Star Wars” characters, right? I am so out of it culturally.
Steve:
Oh, Steve, you make me feel so with it. Of course, if I really were with it, I’d use a different term. These are characters from Game of Thrones. Jason Momoa played Kahl Drago (and he was kind of hot). Emilia Clarke played Khaleesi. She was kind of hot, too, but not my cup of tea. Lulu did sing, but it was an old TV commercial in Finnish. (I started the whole thing by singing a D-Con TV commercial ditty from the ’70s.)
That salad looks delicious and what a fun photo op!
Kelly:
As you can tell, we had a good time.
Lulu looks like a fun, happy person to hang out with, Scoot. Like sunshine, good friends can brighten up any rainy, cold day!
Tundra Bunny:
Lulu is a bright spot in our lives.
I thought there was some kind of difference in tense between “got” and “gotten”, though I can’t say exactly what that difference would be.
Kirk:
Gotten is the past participle of get, commonly used in American and Canadian English. It was used in Great Britain as far back as the 1100s and, after the 1500s, it became less used there. Most Brits now use got as the past participle of get.
Y’all are having too much fun! 😉
Walt the Fourth:
Never.
Lovely photos of you all. As a Brit, I would have said ” the water had risen”
Was there anything else with that salad.? I would have wanted some grilled chicken or some type of protein!
Frances
Frances:
Even better. I would say the water had risen, too. I suppose the protein came from the bean sprouts and peanuts. Normally, I like the addition of chicken to a salad for the same reason. But I don’t think it would have suited the flavors and textures of this one.
such lovely smiles! I don’t see many around these parts anymore.
Urspo:
When I think about those parts, I never smile.
Lovely Lulu. You all look happy. It’s fun to explore new restaurants with you.
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
We try to eat at home more regularly now, but we’re trying another new place (for us) this week with some visitors. And, yes, lovely Lulu.