La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
Last night we went to a new, for us, restaurant. It’s a cool place called Kon-Q Club. The food was good but it’s clearly a popular night spot for trendy people. Not us. We went there because Lucia and Jaime who both used to work at La Fabbrica are working there now and they told us to come visit. When I made the reservation, I gave my name and asked if we could have one of Lucia’s tables. Of course, I was told. We arrived to learn that Jaime had worked during the day and Lucia had the day off. The reservation was under the name of “Lucia Mitch.” Pleased to meet you. Although we took a taxi there, we walked the 22 minutes home. I think my camera did a great job with shots of the flowers (and olive tree) at night.
We braved the National Police again today and had not one single issue picking up San Geraldo’s new national identity card. Different person, although my “friend” from yesterday was there. Once we were called, it took a couple of minutes. We then went to lunch and returned home feeling like we had been gone for two days.
Recently, while reading news online, I somehow stumbled upon an article about a former neighbor of my family’s in Brooklyn. I went through school with the eldest of her three daughters. At the age of 92, several years ago, this woman had been honored by the City of New York for lifetime achievements. She appeared to have a very generous spirit in her later years. Her life history was detailed, a fascinating story of terrible tragedies and great successes. She was divorced and, I was told by my mother, made a number of passes at my father over the years. Of course that wasn’t mentioned.
Another fascinating detail that was left out was the fact that, long after her daughters and I had all moved away, she was kicked out of the co-op for running a bordello from her penthouse apartment.
Anoche fuimos a un restaurante nuevo para nosotros. Es un sitio genial llamado Kon-Q Club. La comida estaba buena, pero claramente es un local nocturno popular entre la gente moderna. Nosotros no. Fuimos porque Lucía y Jaime, que antes trabajaban en La Fabbrica, ahora trabajan allí y nos invitaron a visitarlos. Al hacer la reserva, di mi nombre y pregunté si podíamos sentarnos en una de las mesas de Lucía. Por supuesto, me lo dijeron. Al llegar, nos enteramos de que Jaime había trabajado durante el día y Lucía tenía el día libre. La reserva estaba a nombre de “Lucia Mitch”. Mucho gusto. Aunque tomamos un taxi, caminamos los 22 minutos de vuelta. Creo que mi cámara hizo un trabajo excelente con las fotos de las flores (y el olivo) de noche.
Hoy volvimos a desafiar a la Policía Nacional y no tuvimos ningún problema para recoger el nuevo documento nacional de identidad de San Geraldo. Era otra persona, aunque mi “amiga” de ayer sí estaba allí. Una vez que nos llamaron, tardamos un par de minutos. Luego fuimos a almorzar y volvimos a casa con la sensación de haber estado fuera dos días.
Hace poco, leyendo noticias en internet, me topé con un artículo sobre una antigua vecina de mi familia en Brooklyn. Fui a la escuela con la mayor de sus tres hijas. A los 92 años, hacía varios años, esta mujer había sido homenajeada por la ciudad de Nueva York por su trayectoria. Parecía tener un espíritu muy generoso en sus últimos años. Su biografía era detallada, una fascinante historia de terribles tragedias y grandes éxitos. Estaba divorciada y, según me contó mi madre, le había intentado ligar a mi padre varias veces a lo largo de los años. Por supuesto, eso no se mencionó.
Otro detalle fascinante que se omitió fue que, mucho después de que sus hijas y yo nos mudáramos, la echaron de la cooperativa por regentar un burdel desde su ático.
• Me encanta el edificio y la estatua. El Union and the Phoenix se construyó en 1927 para albergar una antigua compañía de seguros con ese nombre. No me había dado cuenta hasta ahora de que él vuela en silla de amazona. Durante la Guerra Civil Española, una de las sirenas de la ciudad se ubicaba allí para avisar de los bombardeos.
Click the thumbnails to enlarge.
Haz clic en las miniaturas para ampliar.
OMG I love that statue!
And dealing with IDs when you’re a foreigner is just a pain!
Also congrats on your new restaurant name!
XOXO
Sixpence
Sixpence:
The ID process has always been a bit frustrating. But having done it for more than 14 years, we’d expect it to be easy now. Córdoba has set a new standard.
“running a bordello from her penthouse apartment”– a long and dedicated record of public service indeed!
wickedhamster:
That’s what I thought. So unappreciative! The rest of the bio was a bit creative from what I knew of her, although her start in life was truly horrific and she overcame it.
Glad to hear picking up San Geraldo’s card was uneventful. Maybe next time check with Lucia to see when she’ll be working. But even so, they would probably seat you elsewhere. I love the olive tree and I have one of those pink trumpet flower vines which are really just a gangly shrub.
ellen abbott:
I thought the guy on the phone understood me when I asked for her table, but he didn’t even understand that. I should have been more specific. I probably didn’t use the correct Spanish phrase.
Your former neighbour sounds like a real live wire!
Debra:
She was always a bit much, even before the bordello years. Fascinating how her personality got retranslated for the award bio.
Obituaries are hilarious when you knew the person. One woman I encountered in two different contexts was universally disliked, classist, bit of a brag about her family, not sought after, in fact asked to leave several amateur music consorts, had a wonderful obit. All about how active and loved she was, sought after etc. I wonder if it was a case of okay we’re safe from her, so may as well be nice!
I’m glad you’re doing better in your police encounters. I wonder if Senora Unfriendly doesn’t like furriners! Boud
Boud:
It’s a real problem if Señora Unfriendly doesn’t like foreigners (and I think she doesn’t). That office is the Foreigners Office!
Bingo! She hates her job and the customers become collateral damage.
Clearly your former neighbor knew how to service her community and good on NYC for recognizing her, unm, work.
Glad your second time with the police went a bit smoother; what a surprise.
And that olive tree is gorgeous.
Bob^^^
Bob:
Yes, she was a service to the community. There are so many old olive trees like that around town. The trunks are incredible sculptures.
Hilarious how a small ‘detail’ like that was missed about her!! lol
That splash of orange in the floral photo is just perfect!…….trumpet vine maybe?
Jim:
It was bad enough they didn’t mention that she had the hots for my father. Yes, isn’t that orange a great addition. I thought it was flame vine.
Wouldn’t it be great if instead of obituaries being all about lauding the deceased, they were seen as the place to finally tell the truth? Oh my god. They would be so much more interesting. In the case of your former neighbor, I honestly think her obit buried the leed and in fact, did not even mention the most interesting thing about her! What a waste.
Your photos are terrific, as always. One wonders why the man was riding sidesaddle? Is that the proper way to ride a phoenix?
Ms. Moon
Ms. Moon:
If SG had his way, genealogist that he is, he would rewrite all obituaries to tell the truth. I’ve read some really juicy ones over the years written by family members who didn’t hold back.
You’ll love this: I googled “Do you ride a Phoenix sidesaddle” thinking there would be some fun responses. The first answer I got was “No, you don’t ride a Phoenix sidesaddle. They’re fictional!” But someone else said, “A phoenix is too small to ride.” It does seem like his legs would restrict the wing movements.
Oh dear. Well. There you go and now we know.
Riding anything side saddle doesn’t feel secure.
Kelly:
I’ve never tried either way, but I’ve been told riding side saddle is much more difficult.
So glad that SG got his card with a minimum of hassle! I wonder if the life time achievements included running that bordello!
Michael:
The article mentioned in detail all her accomplishments. Some were clearly embellished from years earlier when I knew her. But, either they didn’t know about the bordello or they decided it wasn’t something to honor. You know, it wasn’t charitable work.
“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl…” No whore like an old whore, I’d say!
Jx
PS Fabulous olive tree!
Jon:
But that was 30… 50 years ago when they used to have a show.
A naked man riding a phoenix. Something to keep an eye out for the next time I encounter a pile of ashes.
Kirk:
I hadn’t thought of that. Just imagine. We’ll all be out waiting by the ashes.
So glad you got the card without a repeat of the previous day’s drama. And of course that awful woman apologized to you, didn’t she, with heartfelt emotion while seeking forgiveness for her behavior on a bad day? No?
The flowers and tree came out well. Spain likes its big “statement” statues on top of buildings, doesn’t it?
Can you link the article about your neighbor? I’d like to see it!
Steve:
Even worse, that awful woman was nice to everyone yesterday. It really pissed me off. SG thought maybe she was spoken to. She made no eye contact with me.
Sounds like in that line of work, she made friends in high places. I think olive trees are neat.
David Godfrey:
Not high enough apparently. She still got booted.
That photo of the cupola and statue of the Union and Phoenix is sooooo incredibly crisp and focused… it’s amazing that you were able to get that kind of photo from down below. Wowser!
Hey, oddly, the thumbnails show a photo of Moose or Dudo (sorry, still can’t tell), but it’s not actually up in the body of the post!
GREAT NEWS about SG’s id card and how smoothly it all went 🙂
(Regarding the table at the new restaurant… could be that the person taking your info didn’t realize, right at the moment when on the phone with you, that Lucia wasn’t working that day?)
Judy C:
Oops, that photo of Moose was going to be included. Then I decided to save it but I forgot to remove it from the thumbnails.
I did think he didn’t realize and put Lucia’s name before mine so they’d know to seat us in her section. The hostess thought it was my name. I think you and I were right!
I was surprised by that photo as well. That was on my iphone camera with no adjustments needed. I guess the light was perfect.