“Travels to a Different Time” : 9/10 August1973: Ljubljana and Bled, Yugoslavia: My Crusty Left Eye and Big Feasts

9August1973: Up early at 7 am to a breakfast of stale rusks with Bulgarian jam, yesterday’s left-over pineapple juice and some grapes. After a glorious hot shower hit the main drag. This is a beautiful city. It is like a Nordic small-scale Venice with numerous canals. I ran into a wandering American with a backpack looking for a room so I sent him in the direction of the student dormitory. I returned to the residence and made a stupendous meal of scrambled eggs, ham, Fructal cherry nectar, cake and grapes. I am building up some reserves and taking full advantage of the kitchen. It was a fantastic lunch and I was very full. A simple meal but one of the most enjoyable meals I have had in Europe. Like a lion after the kill it was time for a nap. Woke up with a sore under my eye that was bleeding. I cleaned it up and put some anti-biotic cream on it. Went out to store and bought some supplies for a big hot meal which again was scrumptious. Had a hot shower read a bit and early to bed as I am off to Bled tomorrow hoping I will not have trouble finding a room as from my last visit I know it is a popular holiday destination for Yugoslavs. Even Marshall Tito has a summer home here.

10August1973: Sort of a restless night as poor Robert may have the bubonic plague. At least the sore is not hurting anymore but woke up with a “crusty eye”. I will give it a day more before they amputate. Breakfast was leftover pork and rice and some bread and jam. Then a hot shower and I left like 5 gallons of water on the floor. Not sure what happened but perhaps I can blame it on loss of sight? I paid my bill having to wake up a sleeping porter to do so. I went to the bus station to take the 100 bus to Bled and it stopped at every dinky station as it was a municipal bus. I found a room in the youth hostel and headed out to the lake for a swim. I bought a piece of cake and a Fructal juice for lunch.  I read The Herald Tribune in the lobby and an American girl named Lynne arrived and what a coincidence. Her sister worked for Overseas National Airways like my sister. We had a long chat and she went out for a walk. I ate some canned beans with sausage in them for dinner and a Belgian couple gave me their leftover buttered spaghetti and we talked about the film industry. I went out with the Belgians to a discotheque and was back at midnight waking up the Frenchman I was sharing the room with. At least I was not puking all over the place like Wild Bill in Ios.

“Travels to a Different Time”: 8August1973: Zadar and Ljubljana, Yugoslavia : Spectacular 8 Hour Bus Ride: A Kitchen to Myself

Up at six in the morning and there was some moisture in the tent. Dew? Had leftover grapes for breakfast and had an ice-cold shower (no choice). I went to the campground store and bought some stale rusks for breakfast. I went into town and bought a bus ticket to Ljubljana. Loaded up on food for the 8-hour trip. What a spectacular trip up in the hills with deep gorges and gushing streams. We are taking a break up in these beautiful hills and I hear Neil Young singing about Northern Ontario. Surreal! We arrived in Ljubljana at 6 p.m. so it was too late to make it to Bled and the tourist office sent me to the University where I could stay in a residence. It is a huge residence with its own kitchens. Eggs and beans for a delicious dinner. Boy even loads of hot water. What a great hot shower. Off to bed. I must stay a day here.

“Andrij The Orphaned Ukrainian Rescue Dog”

Chapter 1 “About Myself”

My name is Andrij. In Ukrainian that means “warrior”. I am sitting with a group of women and children seeking to leave our city of Kiev. I am cold and hungry. And I am so terrified I can’t stop shaking.  Loud explosions are coming closer. Women are crying and some children are screaming. They are boarding a bus to take them out of the city but no one knows where they are going. I hear them saying “Poland” and “Romania”. I think these are other countries where there are no rockets and bombs.

What is going on down the street? There is a helicopter on fire and it has crashed with an enormous boom to the screams of the crowd I am in. There is the smell of burning petrol. I want to run away and be safe but something tells me I am safer here. I do not know anyone in the crowd. I am an orphan in hell.

There are soldiers coming with yellow and blue armbands and they are shouting for us to run over to the next street as there are buses waiting for us. We crowd on the buses and I hop on. Where am I going? I don’t understand all these explosions and bombs near us. We are not soldiers. We are proud Ukrainians running for our lives. I hear several people refer to these brutal attacking Russians as “dogs”. I am not offended but if I was able to fight the Russians I would be fighting them.

Sorry I should have given you more information about how I am on this bus now. I was a happy dog living with my master Anatoli and mistress Boyka with their children Danilo and Daryna in a big flat in Kiev. Anatoli and Boyka owned a small brewery. I came from the countryside from a relative of Anatoli. I am two years old. I am a mixed breed but do not know of what. Three days ago Anatoli took me out to the park for our afternoon walk and we were knocked off our feet by a massive explosion. Our apartment complex was in a state of flames and rubble. Boyka, Danilo and Daryna could not have survived. Anatoli let out a scream of pain and fury. It was awful to see him destroyed. I could not believe what happened but people were shouting “Bastard Putin”. Anatoli took his machine gun that was given to him by soldiers at the corner and I followed him and hopped on a truck with armed men and teenagers. It only worsened.

RKS Wine: Massive Overstock of Liano 2018 Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon

Considering this wine from Emilia-Romagna has been out in Vintages at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for almost a year and there are still over 13,000 bottles of it in LCBO stores it might be fair to say it is not moving all that well. Could it be indicative of poor quality or overbuying by our fearless retailer? The LCBO is anxious to move it out as they are offering a staggering discount (for them) of $5.00 a bottle. Dearest monopoly “We aren’t worthy” refrains from “Wayne’s World” are rising throughout the province.

The wine has aromas reflective of its 70% Sangiovese and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. The strong cherry aromatics are courtesy of the Sangiovese but the blueberry is courtesy of the Cabernet Sauvignon. At times the nose reveals some creaminess yet at another moment there is some firmness. A bit of a chameleon.

On the palate tannins are a notch above moderate. There isn’t a gush of fruit sloshing around but you’ll note that blueberry and cherry from the nose is also on the tongue and cheeks. A well-structured wine that should be decanted for an hour prior to serving. I am tempted to say this needs another couple of years in the bottle. It is not one of those sipping wines and calls for food and I’d say a T-Bone steak would do both the wine and steak proud. A good but not an amazing wine. In the EU at the producers website the wine is selling for 25€ so the $22.95 LCBO price is a good one.

(Liano 2018 Sangiovese Cabernet Sauvignon, IGT Rubicone, $22.95, Umberto Cesari, Castel San Pietro Terme, Italy, 750 mL, 13.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 89/100)

RKS Film: The Hellenic Film Society USA Presents “Too Much Info Clouding Over My Head”

On my last trip to Greece pre pandemic, whenever that was, I was on the island of Samos near the Turkish Coast probably too close given the rantings of Erdogan, the Turkish Grand Vizier, seeking expansion of the mythological Ottoman Empire by conquering Greek islands in the Northern Aegean. I was there for close to two months and after a great meal on the water it was back to the room to catch a Greek movie on television. Most of these were vintage 1950’s and 60’s films. I can pick up about 50% of the dialogue and as far as comedy is concerned dialogue is not that essential as Greek comedy in those times was very physical and overtly satirical particularly towards the upper classes. I fell in love with the ribald comedies and there was a noticeable pattern to these comedies. Greek cinema has certainly become more sophisticated and by chance or fate I linked up with The Hellenic Film Society USA for my fix of Greek film and I just can’t live without it. Having spent a couple of years of my life over 5 decades of visiting Greece and being married to a Greek perhaps I have a slight insight into the Greek character. I notice that there are commonalties in language and outlook of characters. And understanding much Greek I can see the subtitles as not being totally accurate as with Greek there are many terms that can’t be translated into English. This film has English subtitles

In “Too Much Info Clouding Over My Head” a 2017 film one sees that Greek comedy has moved beyond the ribald into a much more sophisticated comedic level way above that seminal “Manoulis and the Commandos” I saw in the 1970’s in a Greek theatre in Montreal. Yet there are scenes in the film that have a throwback vibe of slapstick to them such as the Chinese beer commercial.

Vasilis (Vasilis Christofilakis) is an anxiety ridden film director in Athens who by most accounts is a failure. His film of three years ago “Gay Nazi Cyborg Zombies” was a terrible movie that showed for a week and made no money.  He can’t seem to do anything right and you might be correct saying he is a bumbling fool rather like Alfie in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall”.

He is making a movie “Night of the Shooting Stars” a pretentious period piece about a love trilogy but he can’t raise financing hoping for a grant from the Greek Film Centre which seems impossibly slow in coming. So his producer Betty plans three events so he can raise money for his film.

One is a Chinese beer commercial that goes terribly wrong but from a comedic standpoint is outstanding. A satire of the idiocy of commercials.

A second plan is to act as a photographer at a charity event dealing with fish. Vasilis also bumbles that one after witnessing a roast lamb (sacrosanct in Greek cuisine) being served at the event he has flashbacks about his pet lamb as a child disappearing around Easter realizing it was his pet that he just ate. He has a panic attack and rushes to vomit in a vase where donations are deposited and knocking the hostess into the swimming pool. A nice lampoon on the lambduggery of charity events.

The last attempt to raise money is directing a fading 1990 actress in a Chekov play. The play is a success but in an interview after the play he insults the actress and falls face first into a chocolate cake. Betty, his producer, is furious with Vasilis as he has failed to raise a penny so she walks out and is replaced by Goldy (Kitty Paitazoglou) a quirky waitress who he bumped into and sent her flying with food and got her fired. A satirical look at the vanity and self importance and irrelevance of most actors and actresses.

And as a subplot Vasilis thinks he has testicular cancer and squirms about for half the movie annoying everyone to no end. You’ll be chortling over this (and possibly squirming) even though testicular cancer is nothing to be laughed about.

I should stop here and say there is so much going on in this film most of it satirical but some of it serious and tragic although not in the classic Greek sense.

The ending liberates Vasilis and shows however bumbling Vasilis may be his faux pas are part of a cosmic rescue package for his soul. Long live “Gay Nazi Cyborg Zombies”.

Directed by Vasilis Christofilakis.

The film can be seen starting March 4-March 13th for $8 (USD) and is not geoblocked. For further information see www.hellenicfilmsusa.org

You can see the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL1B7lJljHY

Winner of three awards at the 2017 Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 7August73: Zadar, Yugoslavia: Hooked on Dalmatian Smoked Ham and Beans For Dinner With the Frenchmen

As it was another hitchhiking day and lifts are hard to get in Yugoslavia up at 6 a.m. for a swim at a spectacular beach. I suspect this will be my last ocean swim for 1973. The lineup at the store to buy breakfast supplies was long even for food challenged Yugoslavs. I got a ride after a two hour wait with a real fussbudget but he provided lunch of good old Fructal juice and Dalmatian smoked ham on fresh bread. I am hooked on this smoked ham. Why oh why did not I discover this Croatian delight earlier. We continued on despite ten near crashes. He left me outside Sibernik. 4 hours waiting in the blazing sun for my next lift to Zadar where I pitched tent and was invited by two Frenchman for a plate of hot beans for dinner.

RKS Wine:  This Evodia is a Bit of a Mystery

A bit strange that this is a Spanish wine that is “elaborated and bottled” for Altovinum in Perpignan, France. And the label has no classification of what category of wine this is. It strikes me as a French hypermarché wine. The Liquor Board of Ontario Vintages catalogue states it is made by a Spanish co-operative but that marker does not appear on the label. One of life’s mysteries.

On the aromatic side of this 100% Grenache wine there is rich black cherry, cacao powder, kirsch and some brooding almost overripe strawberry. Laid back tannins make this an approachable sipper. Ripples of blackberry, red plum and a hint of black pepper. A perfect harmony of fruit and acids. Supermarket or not this is a very good wine which performs very well at its discount bin price.

Light enough to be sipped on the waterfront of Cannes or Marseille on a hot summer afternoon or if that is geographically challenging anywhere in the world where summer takes you. I often try and match a wine with food especially if it requires it. This wine is perhaps enjoyed on its own. Grenache is often more powerful but it could be that grapes grown at 2,400-3,000 feet on 100-year-old vines tame the wine and make it so amiable. An example how a wine can hide its 15% alcohol.

As summer will be arriving shortly in North America and Europe a good hot weather red wine due to its low tannic nature and its smoothness and its versatility for poultry, lamb, beef and grilled octopus. Great for entertaining with nibbles year-round. It will not improve in the bottle so best to consume by the end of the year.

(Evodia 2019 Grenache, Catalunya, Spain, $14.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 23914, 15%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 91/100).

If you draw comfort from a Robert Parker rating he clocks in at 90.

“Travels to a Different Time” : 5/6August1973: Dubrovnik and Drevnik Yugoslavia: My Thoughts about Germans: Is it Time for Forgiveness?

August 5th:  Up early and avoided the barking of the beanshaved man and plaintive complaining of the maid. A breakfast of Fructal cherry nectar, orange jam and bread. Read until noon and off to the beach until three. Met a guy from Vancouver and since I had no food left ate at the hostel cafeteria. Walked around with the Vancouver guy and he had 4 ice creams to my two. Stopped in for a beer and headed back to the hostel.

The author’s father is the 4th in the back on the left. His father told him half of these men died in the Battle of Britain

August 6th:  As will be on the move enjoyed a long hot shower which I think deleted the meagre hot water supply. Went to the store to buy food for a huge breakfast. Sometimes you just don’t know when you will eat again. Hitchhiking sucks in Yugoslavia so after a couple of hours picked up by a bunch of young Germans in a VW van. We got along so well they asked me to go to Hvar with them but as I have already been there I stuck to my mission to get to Bled again and then up towards Germany. They left me off at the ferry and I hitched further north with a guy from Alsace and we both had tents so set up tents at a campground and went to a spectacular beach for a swim. We had a beer before heading back to the campground and he prepared supper which was quite good.

I have been thinking about how I see Germans. I was born ten years after the Second World War ended. My uncle was shot down in France and killed by German pilot. My Dad flew in the Battle of Britain and many flyer friends of his were killed in combat. Do I have anything to forgive? I am not sure but I will say generally speaking Germans of my vintage are friendly and I get along well with them just like the Germans that just picked me up. They had nothing to do with the war so there is nothing to forgive. Some of the older generation are not so friendly but then again how many of their friends and relatives were killed in the war. Assuming I have some right to forgive I might say I can forget and co-exist but forgive not yet. I remember the German POW I met last year very close to where I am now. He was forced to join the army. Let’s just say life can be more complicated than you think or are required to think. Having been recently in Greece and now in Yugoslavia the German army committed many atrocities which must be fresh on their minds. They have more to forgive than I.

RKS Poetry: Putin Feces

“Putin Feces”

A sadly isolated Putin
sits lonely and disconnected with dreams
of glory of an irrelevant Russia of the past
bombing to pulverize Ukrainians to pieces
leaving Russian historians to analyze your feces
hoping your turds will be in a mausoleum with your beloved Stalin
too bad the oligarchs and their greed did you in
as you ride the horses bare chested
in the river of Hades

Robert K. Stephen

Photo Alexi Nikolsky/AfB Getty Images

RKS Wine: Bargain Basement Cistus from Portugal’s Douro

If you follow Portuguese wines price is not necessarily linked to quality. You can score some ageable and high-quality wines under $15. And they keep sneaking into Ontario at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Yes one does like to support the local wine industry but given the low cost winners from Portugal do you vote for quality or nationalism?

The 2019 Cistus is $12.95 and it is from the Douro stubbornly clinging to mostly indigenous grapes resulting in stubborningly high quality wines. The wine is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca.

On the nose raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and dark chocolate all held quite close to the chest. I think it is fresh baked raspberry pie that dominates the inner nose of this wine. On the palate you are facing a full-bodied wine that is tightly structured. A broad-based attack of blueberry a hallmark of Tinta Roriz. Pussycat tannins. A moderately long finish you might think but it fades ever so slowly so I change my mind and say a long finish! Fermented in stainless steel which permits the blueberry to shine and 20% of the wine was matured in oak barrels. Although this would suit beef it might very well suit a vegetarian Greek bean soup you can find the recipe for here https://miakouppa.com/2017/11/13/fasolatha-with-tomato-%cf%86%ce%b1%cf%83%ce%bf%ce%bb%ce%ac%ce%b4%ce%b1-%ce%bc%ce%b5-%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%bf%ce%bc%ce%ac%cf%84%ce%b1/

Drink by the end of 2023.

(Cistus 2019 DOC Douro, Quinta do Vale da Perdiz, Torre de Moncorvo, Portugal, $12.95, LCBO # 22146, 750 mL, 14%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 87/100).