美国国家公共电台 NPR In Buenos Aires, Crowds Line Up For A Taste Of Sweeter Days

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

To Argentina now. When you stand in the center of Plaza¹ del Congreso in downtown Buenos Aires looking at the Capitol dome², there's a ghost of a building just to the right. It's a deteriorating³ art nouveau masterpiece closed for decades and now in the middle of a multiyear restoration. It opened to the public for just a few hours recently. NPR's Bob Mondello was there and sent back this postcard.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁴: The crowd started lining⁵ up hours early, two and three abreast⁶. And when the doors finally opened, the line stretched almost three blocks. At least half the visitors appeared young enough that they could never have been inside the extravagant⁷, long-shuttered cafe known as the Confiteria del Molino, never have passed under the windmill above the entrance to gaze at the "Don Quixote" windows inside, more than a thousand square feet of stained glass that make the marble and mahogany ground floor look like a cross between a cafe and a cathedral, a place of such storied romance it even inspired a tango.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GRICEL")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing in Spanish).

MONDELLO: Jose Maria Contursi, a longtime patron of the Confiteria, wrote here of his hopeless passion in the tango "Gricel." The love of his life was married. And for 22 years, he drowned his sorrows here at the del Molino until, one day, word reached him that the woman he loved was now a widow. They were reunited here, married at long last.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GRICEL")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing in Spanish).

MONDELLO: So there's history going all the way back to 1916, when the cafe opened on July 9 across the street from the recently completed Congress to mark 100 years of Argentine independence. The building above the Confiteria, finished the following year, was a marvel⁸ of its time, illuminated⁹ by electric lights, that windmill on the roof spinning slowly, topped by a cupola that rose to more than 200 feet, making the Edificio del Molino one of the tallest structures in the city, a landmark¹⁰ and gathering¹¹ place for more than half a century.

And then, sadly, neglect, decay, vandalism.

GUILLERMO GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: Guillermo Garcia is with the federal commission that's restoring the del Molino building. It was declared a National Historic Monument in 1997 but has sat empty ever since. Now the Argentine government is returning the building to its former splendor¹², and the plan is to reopen the ground-floor cafe...

GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: ...With its original menu. That'll please Bella Frizmann, who positively¹³ bubbles as she remembers coming here as a child in the 1930s for teatime treats with her father.

BELLA FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: Pastries¹⁴, sandwiches and an imperial dessert with caramel.

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: Clearly, it made an impression, which may be why a bit later, her boyfriend, a soldier, chose this spot...

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: ...To meet on a day she still remembers...

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: ...The 26 of March, 1950. She thought he wanted to talk about problems he was having with his regiment¹⁵. But her girlfriends all said, no way. Dress up; this is going to be serious.

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: They were right. He was waiting there at the door. And once seated inside, he said something clumsily formal to the effect that, our closeness is required.

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: It was a marriage proposal, and she accepted.

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: So there's history. The history of the del Molino building is being refreshed. All the things Bella remembers - marble, stained glass, golden chandeliers - are being buffed and polished.

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: On the main level where today a string quartet is playing amid crumbling¹⁶ plaster, there's still lots to do. Workers found more than 15,000 artifacts from plaster molds to old menus and are now reassembling them as if they were a 3D jigsaw¹⁷ puzzle. Upstairs, they've already got a smoking lounge and a ballroom¹⁸ gleaming from the balcony for the orchestra to the herringbone-patterned dance floor. They'll be part of a new cultural center, says Garcia, next year, when they get that windmill turning on the roof...

GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: ...By fixing the original motor. This one-day glimpse of the Confiteria del Molino, he promises, is just a taste. And the crowds suggest that that taste is whetting¹⁹ appetites for pastries and for old-world ambience.

When we come back next year and it is open, will you go with us?

FRIZMANN: (Speaking Spanish).

MONDELLO: "We'll do that."

In Buenos Aires, I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GRICEL")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing in Spanish).

1 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

2 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

3 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

6 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

7 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

10 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

13 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

14 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

15 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

16 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

17 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

18 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

19 whetting   

v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的现在分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等）

参考例句：

• A battle is coming; the two armies are whetting their swords. 两兵就要交战了，双方都在磨刀霍霍地备战。 来自互联网
• The smell is really whetting my appetite. 这味道真吊胃口。 来自互联网