I knew that it was going to be a blessed day when Dan Awesome-Hair Zanes got on the subway and sat a seat away from me. We got off at Grand; he stayed on.
Off at Grand and a quick cut through China Town where we inhaled all those fascinating China Town things... Two favorite moments: 1. An old woman crossing the street and defiantly shaking her cane at a van that cut too close, and 2. The decision of a jewelry store to decorate with a giant puffer fish -- because nothing says fine jewelry like a bloated, dead sea creature:
By the time we reached our destination we had already had a crackerjack day, and it was just barely 10am. Our destination today was Little Italy, where we wanted to check on the festivities for the Feast of San Gennaro.
Usually I am all for nighttime activities. Disneyland, I say over and over... and over, is best at night. Take a swim during the day, hang out at the hotel, and then hit the park when the tacky is wrapped and softened by velvety darkness and everything twinkles. Perhaps this Italian street fair, too, is improved at night when the carnival rides are going and the sidewalk cafes are lit with flickering candles.
But this morning had its own charm. The kind enhanced by the kinship that comes when you smile at somebody getting ready for the day. We experienced Mulberry Street with just a few other wanderers, and watched tray after tray of cannoli being brought out to the satellite stands.
Our first stop was to get cannoli... Only everybody but me abandoned the cannoli ship when they saw the "cheesecake pops." Therefore, the cannoli stop ended up being a cannolo stop (did you know that cannoli is plural? I did not until today).
Next we went into my favorite kind of store. It had a sign that said it was the oldest gift shop in Little Italy, but friends, gift shop does not bring the proper picture to mind. It was crrrraaaaammed with statues of saints, egg cups, Jesus magnets, plastic dolls, maps, kitchen timers, sink strainers, etc. etc. etc. And everything was coseying up to everything else with a nice fine dust on top and stacks and stacks of papers and boxes underneath. There is something deep within me that forces me to buy something from such places (which freaks out my husband -- it's a fine line between British-library-esque clutter and being a participant on Hoarders). But he was at work, so I settled on a poster of Mulberry Street taken in 1900. I saw a faded version hanging up, and when I told the aged proprietor that I would like a print he knew exactly what random box in the middle of the store to go to (under a stack of papers and another random box) to retrieve it. I thought that I could not be happier, but then he went to the antique register on the counter and used it.
Had I been thinking clearly I would have lit a candle for that shop. It hurts to acknowledge that such shops are going the way of the Dodo Bird.
Because The Sister had done her research we knew exactly where to find The Church of the Most Precious Blood. Outside in the back they were selling icons/relics, so we picked out Saint Gennaro charms for $1/each. The gold ones are prettiest...
But the silver one (which was $4) has THIS on the back:
Does a Third Class Relic entitle me to Third Class Blessings? I'm 100% okay with that -- I'm very content with my life, so just the tiniest of nudges... We found out that had we purchased a statue we could have asked for the priest to put a special blessing on it. The Girl got a little medal/tag with St. Francis of Assisi on it for her stuffed animal dog... Except when we got home and took off the price sticker we saw that it says, "Bless This Cat." She is sure that her dog would not approve, so we found a chain and she's going to wear it as a necklace.
The inside of the church is lovely in the way that flickering candles in large colonies waiting to be lit and clumps of artificial flowers and bright paint and a small waterfall and perfectly round halos and old wood and an enormous original bronze Michael Angelo statue of Moses (until I read the banner I thought it looked like King Neptune... but to my credit knew that wasn't accurate) and stained glass and enormous bright gold candlesticks and rotating portable fans always is. I could have stayed for a long time. The kids took out their clipboards and wrote down details that they noticed. I hope they wrote down the people praying. The cannoli and pasta are great, but I also want them to savor the feelings and beliefs.
After a lunch of pasta we found the church on the opposite end of Mulberry, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. This one is not as cheerful, but is mellow and lovely. The kids wrote a list of observations. They will be comparing and contrasting for an upcoming writing assignment.
The one thing that we missed out on by not going in the evening was being able to go into the Italian American Museum -- which is showing a film on the feast every evening at 6:30pm through the 23rd. During the rest of the year it is open only on weekends, so it will be a good reason to head back to Mulberry Street (we can show The Dad our favorite sights). Today we enjoyed looking at the displays in the window. There used to be a Queen of the Feast, this is from 1930:
We came home happy. We are tired and all nursing colds, but like Judd the Red Chicken said right before making some stilts out of Costco nut containers, "It's good to remember that good places are so close."
I put the poster on our front door -- like a window into Old New York; a reminder of that shop. I want to remember to enjoy the city every day we leave our apartment, because it is a good place, and it doesn't hold still for long.
Giorno Benedetto!
