“Travels to a Different Time”: 27August71: On the Way Home: Hey Buddy Can You Spare Some Food? Cocktails With Captain Stinky Davis: Bad Call from Fritz?

We woke up to a phone call from Fritz and like Heidi getting a phone call from her boyfriend and crying after that call Mom started blubbering. I am confused as what to do. Of course, I wish her the greatest happiness but she can’t seem to move beyond my dead Dad. She loved him so much. She must be confused too. So I take back my notation about her “blubbering” as that is cruel word to use. Strangely I could use some advice from Dad but due to his death I find myself having to face the world without him. On the other hand has life dealt me a rotten card? I would have never had this opportunity to travel if he had been alive. Again I feel guilty about these thoughts but reality is reality and I can’t ignore how I feel. On the plane at noon heading to Bangor, Maine for a crew change and refuelling. It will head back to Oakland to pick up a load then back to Europe. I ended up sitting in the middle of two Texan brothers. They gave me most of their lunches and snacks. We landed in Bangor Maine and sister Barbara was there ready to head back to Europe tomorrow, I went for a swim and after we went to Stinky Davis’ room where I had some snacks and the adults drinks. Davis is a captain for Overseas National Airways and his nickname “Stinky” is rumoured to be because of alcohol on his breath. We went out with Barb and a few of the crew for dinner in this bleak town. After experiencing such great architecture in Europe, it is strange returning to North America which appears ugly and barren. It takes at least 1 week to get used to. Next day we take Greyhound back to Montreal. Strange for me to say I am beginning to feel like Europe is becoming my second home. Returning to it is not strange but rather a sense of relief about being back where I feel comfortable. 6 months in Europe living much like a local does that to you. How many 16-year old’s have traveled like me?

Photo Aldo Bindini

“Travels to A Different Time” : 27August1971: Good-Bye Deutschland Und Fritz

We were up at 8 rather groggy and feeling greasy and disgusting in our revolting middle of the morning Frankfurt hotel room. We are feeling filthy and just want to get out of here. We phoned Overseas National Airways in Frankfurt and snagged a flight to Bangor, Maine. A refuelling stop for a flight that was heading on to LAX. Crappy seats and I was in the middle of two Texans. I was lucky to get most of the Texan’s meal and his brother’s. We arrived in Bangor, Maine at 2 p.m. and took the bus from the plane into the crew hotel in Bangor and my sister Barb (the stew) was to arrive shortly! She arrived and it was great to see her. There was a perfecto swimming pool and I had a few laps to do and we had a party in Captain “Stinky Davis’s” room. Lots of booze and food. I ate like a king. “Stinky Davis” has a Stinky in his name as rumour has it he likes to drink and the alcohol fumes lead to the name. Confidence for your pilot! “Stinky”. Before we left our grungepit room in Frankfurt Fritz called Mom and she started sobbing. After our party we took a bus from Bangor, Maine back to Montreal. After being away for 3 months living like impoverished hippies my standard breakfast of bacon and eggs with milk means very little to me. I think I would be happy with bread and jam and a beach or menacing East German border guards. I am caught between two worlds. As we arrive in Montreal to our home I wonder if there is something like “home”? In the last two years of travelling I have spent 6 months away from what I thought was home. Is my home now a home amongst Europe? I am getting mixed up about what is home and what is humanity. Mom is mentioning Spain next year and I am stating my case for liberation!

I will soon return to school which is a private school in Montreal with the elite of families sending their children there but these boys are ignorant about life and the world beyond their mansions. Do I have an advantage of understanding life and culture? These boys are so ignorant beyond words. They will remain so for the rest of their life. And me some eccentric having spent 6 months in a world these brats have absolutely no idea about? Corrupted by a sacred bond with humanity?

What does 1972 hold? What does life hold for me? My journey is just beginning. And although it has been blighted by a few tantrums by Mom I must say she is completely adventuresome and my Auntie Maime!

Photo Aldo Bindini

“Travels to a Different Time” : August 26, 1971: Frankfurt: Put on the Wrong Plane! Just Get Me Home!

When you have your mind set on coming home you are like a bird dog on a scent. After showing our tickets for our trip to Oakland we were directed to get on a bus on the tarmac to take us to the airplane at 1 a.m.  We see our Overseas National Airways airplane. But wait we are driving past it! We get on the plane but something is wrong. We have been put on an Atlantis Airways flight! As the Germans say Shaisa! We were escorted off the plane in a big kafuffle causing a 45-minute delay. The Overseas National Airways people got an earful from us! We ended up taking a taxi back to Frankfurt and had trouble finding a room which we did but it was gross. Exhausted we collapsed in our beds at 4 a.m. Up at 10 where I went out to get some food for breakfast. After breakfast Mom went out to buy a new suitcase and me a Munich Olympics bag and some Adidas running shoes. We went out for dinner to a cafeteria in the train station for a lousy meal. Off to bed for hopefully the last sleep in Europe for 1971.

Photo; Aldo Bidini

“Travels to a Different Time” : 13 August1971: Margaret Mary Stephen Letter to Mother-in-Law Ida Francis Stephen: Thoughts on East Germany and Berlin: Freedom is the Most Precious Thing We Have

We travelled from Basel, Switzerland to West Berlin. Just before we entered East Germany soldiers came aboard to process visas. Then a few miles later another group of soldiers looked at our visas and passports. Clearly one group does not trust the other. I was asked to remove my glasses so they could get a better look at my face. They saw Robert’s middle name was Kennedy and snarled in contempt “Robert Kennedy Schwein”. They threw his passport at him and walked out. Welcome to East Germany. They had locked the doors to the train and searched every dark corner with flashlights. The border guards were heavily armed and behind them more soldiers with machine guns.  We saw very few people in East Germany and the houses were very drab and looking as if they all needed repairs. A final search by soldiers heavily armed at a deserted train station in East Berlin. At night we went to see the Wall and there was a big wreath noting 10 years since it was constructed. It was terrible to see the East Germans patrolling the Wall with police dogs in a bright spotlight. I hate police dogs more than ever now. We were advised it was best to fly into West Berlin but we wanted the experience of traveling by train and seeing a bit of East Germany.  Freedom is the most precious thing we have and if anything Robert realizes how fortunate we are to live in a free country where you may go where you please. I wanted him to see the concentration camps where Jews were slaughtered in World War 2 but staying with Germans made that a bit awkward. Robert said when he returns to Europe he will visit a camp. You can’t travel without learning.

“Travels to a Different Time” :August 25, 1971: East and West Germany: Heidi Has a Sobbing Fest: My Escape From East Germany

Summing up today it was a bit of excitement and disappointment. Heidi, Mom and I had an early breakfast then Heidi’s boyfriend called and for some reason Heidi broke out in sobs. Such a nice person must endure tears and sadness. What did Michael do wrong? With dry eyes we were out the door and in Heidi’s Beetle to Frankfurt to catch a flight back to the United States. It was a pain to get into East Germany which calls itself the German Democratic Republic (DDR). What a joke that name is. A country that imprisons its own citizens with a wall is not democratic. Finally we got our visa to enter the DDR to get to Frankfurt. The roads in the DDR were atrocious. Heidi pointed out a few cars with their hoods open on the road. Often it is the only way East Germans and West Germans can meet with fake car breakdowns. Again I say the DDR is far from democratic. Finally at the West German border more DDR bureaucracy to deal with. I am sure there is much to see in the DDR but travel for tourists is rigidly controlled like it is in the USSR. It was good to be back in West Germany and the autobahn is a beautiful, well constructed and maintained road. We stopped for petrol and phoned the Overseas National Airways (ONA) office in Frankfurt and found out there was a flight to Oakland leaving early next morning. New York would be better but why not California? Another destination to explore for a few days. We had a picnic at 6 p.m. and then the long drive to Frankfurt. I had to speak to Heidi who was driving so she didn’t doze off. We arrived at the airport at 10 p.m. and said sad farewells to our good friend Heidi. The ONA counter said there were seats to Oakland leaving at 1 a.m. Hello California! Good-bye Europe!

Reflections of Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog: Spam on Guadalcanal

“Stacks of crates and cartons gave us cover while we crept quietly along, searching for canned fruit, baked beans, spaghetti, Vienna Sausage-even prize of all prizes, Spam, Yes, Spam. Perhaps the processed pork that everyone called Spam was the bane of Stateside mess halls, but on Guadalcanal, Spam was a distinct delicacy. Often we would risk a bullet in the back for Spam, softly looting a case of it at the foot of the very stack upon which the sentry sat, like mice filching cheese between the paws of a sleeping cat.”

“Helmet for My Pillow From Paris Island to the Pacific” Robert Leckie Bantam Books 2010

“Travels to a Different Time” :August 22, 1971: West Berlin: Breakfast Disaster and The Passport Goes For A Trip!

Up at 10 to make breakfast which was a disaster and even poor Heidi groaned. Michael came over at 1:30 and we were setting off to The British Officer’s Club for a swim. Mom said she couldn’t find her passport. Have you ever lost your passport in a foreign country? Mass panic. We turned our luggage upside down and went through the sofa but no passport. You could make a fortune with a passport. Heidi then saw it lying on the ground some seven stories below. The danger of napping out on the balcony!

Passage of the Day: The Sensation of Pain and Your Thoughts and Feelings

“If you are willing to turn toward the pain, accept it, observe it, and not run from it, it can teach you a great deal. Above all, you learn that you can work with it. You learn that pain is not a static experience: it is constantly changing. You come to see that that the sensations are just what they are and that your thoughts and feelings are something apart from the sensations. You come to see that your mind may play a large part in your suffering, and it can play a large role in freeing you from suffering as well. Pain can teach you all of these things.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn “Full Catastrophe Living” Bantam Books

RKS Film: “The Automat”: The Rise and Demise of Horn & Hardart

“The Automat” is a documentary about the rise and demise of what was America’s first chain restaurant Horn & Hardart. But is it also about how its inclusiveness and high-quality foods influenced the perceptions of many Americans.

Do you go back that far to remember what an automat is? It is a restaurant where all the dishes are in a little box with a window. Pop your coins in and open the window and take out your dish. I have a foggy memory about this style of restaurant and seem to recall eating at one HH restaurant in New York and some automats in Europe. They were born in Germany and the concept was fine tuned in Philadelphia and New York with the first HH restaurant opening in 1912 and closing of the last in 1991.

Unlike the fast-food restaurants of today that purvey poor quality and often unhealthy food in barren and antiseptic settings HH had luxury to it with beautifully designed restaurants and served a wide variety of quality dishes. Working women flooding to work in New York could feel safe eating there. African Americans, like a young Colin Powell could eat there segregation free and it inspired him to create an inclusive US army. Ruth Bader Ginsberg ate there as a young girl and her anti-discriminatory beliefs were partially shaped by the inclusiveness of HH which had automats in New York and Philadelphia. Immigrants felt very American at HH and could eat for a modest price all without having to converse in English. Howard Shultz the CEO of Starbucks relates a story of how as a 10-year-old boy visiting Radio City Music Hall in New York then going for a slice of apple pie to HH. Fascinated by the food in the little compartments shaped his vision of Starbucks and he has a picture of an HH restaurant hanging in his office.

Much of this documentary is narrated by comedian Mel Brooks a huge fan of HH who soulfully describes his trips into New York to visit HH where with a Brooksian sense of humour he adds a huge dose of sincerity about HH. The documentary could have easily fallen into the “so-so” fact laden documentary but Brooks and a restaurant historian, the well-known actors, bus boys, former HH executives and family members assembled by director Lisa Hurwitz make this a “WOW WOW” documentary and it slides around your consciousness like a bowl of HH creamed spinach.

HH was in many ways a reflection of the industrialization of the United States emphasizing speed and efficiency but never sacrificing quality. Just to hear some of those interviewed wax about their favourite dishes is enough to make you want to time travel.

Why the demise of HH? It might very well have been the explosive growth of the suburbs as urban based life migrated to the suburbs. It was also the rising cost of food causing HH to raise its beloved coffee from 5 to 10 cents. Eventually fast-food restaurants plunged a dagger into HH’s heart. Many neighbourhoods where HH restaurants were located began to decline attracting vagrants.

You are in for a satisfying ride with this documentary. You’ll move from fascination, inspiration and humour into chagrin with the loss is not so much about a restaurant but a way of life. In today’s wall of fast-food sub mediocrity we could use an automat or two.

You can catch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWNkIsLEny4

The documentary rolls out starting February 18th in Canada but keep an eye out for in your locale.

RKS Film Rating 96/100.

RKS Wine: 2021 Was Not a Great Year for Bordeaux

A spring frost and mildew was not very kind to Bordeaux in 2021. Yields seem to be down as much as 30%. And the quality? Time will tell. Should you stock up now? There seems to be enough flow from previous harvests so stocking up would not seem necessary. Pick with care the 2021’s or bypass? Even in rotten years there are often shining examples that can emerge as adversity can sometimes be a boon for some producers creating a distinct wine.

We try a 2016 from Château Grand Colombier for a reasonable price of $17.95. On the nose it is playing the Bordeaux game of holding its fruit close to its chest. Aromas of black cherry, cassis, blueberry and a titch of coconut. On the palate there are moderate tannins and about as much fruit as a nun who took a wrong turn and ended up in a casino and is being asked to place bets at the at the roulette table. The wine seems a bit “thin” but will it open up with more age but with 5 years under its belt it remains tight. Roger Voss of Wine Enthusiast gave this wine a 91 rating two years ago saying the “wine’s poise and balance between fresh acidity and structure promise further ageing”. I can’t see that has happened.

It is not a flawed wine but its tightness in my view is permanent. You can still enjoy if you like firm and disciplined wine. But it is best suited to food particularly beef. Now if you have any duck fat around and want to roast some potatoes and carrots in it this is your wine!

Drink now.

(Château Grand Colombier 2016 AC Montagne-Saint-Émillion, $17.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 21090, 750 mL, 13%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 87/100).

We move to a Château Cilorn 2018 which is 100% Merlot which to me means lushness and plushness sort of like Dean Martin singing at The Sands in Las Vegas. On the nose at least there is some decadent hints of richness that Merlot is so proficient at invoking. However, as its French it seems more restrained than most California Merlots. There is a seething mix of blackberry, cassis and black cherry controlled by that French reticence. On the palate it has moderate tannins. There is a certain smoothness but no creaminess. A good presence of blueberry, Nestle Quick chocolate powder and tiny just picked strawberries. Typical of Bordeaux treatment of Merlot. Think of it as a teenager in California at a Grateful Dead concert wanting to let loose but there is an obvious looking narc pacing about looking for a bust.

It may be that some ageing will let this prudish wine relax and strut itself. Only time will tell. Why not take a gamble and store away in a cool place and try it in 2024. Years ago Bordeaux reds were often “green” and built for ageing instead of immediate accessibility. Could this wine be carrying on that tradition?

(Château Cilorn 2018, AC Bordeaux Supérieur, Claymore, Lussac, France, $18.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 21092, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 88/100).