Mom’s last day. I woke at 7:30 and phoned Balkan Airways to find out that the next flight to Sofia Bulgaria was leaving Athens in 5 minutes so I’d have to wait until tomorrow. I then rang Overseas National Airways about getting Mom back to North America. We went downstairs and tore savagely into our breakfast. The waitress brought 3 helpings of toast and even then I wasn’t full. Upstairs to brush the teeth and off to Athens Airport. Great confusion at the Overseas National Airways counter. Is the plane going to Dallas or Los Angeles? Who knows where Mom will end up! I went to the roof and after two hours saw her plane take off to goodness knows where. Good-bye and good luck! I finally found a nearby airport hotel which I had a two-kilometre walk to get to as no taxi driver would pick me up. The long hair and knapsack made me the victim of hippie discrimination. My money is as good as Mr. and Mrs. Straightlacer’s. The hotel was $7 and it included breakfast and dinner. It was a very nice room. I wrote three postcards went to the beach and watched the sunset over the beach and came over to the hotel for a good dinner. I sat out on the hotel balcony for a bit and came back to my room and crashed out. Bulgaria here I come.
“Travels to a Different Time” ; 23July1973: Paros and Glyfada, Greece: A Cauldron of Emotions and the Dutchie Gets Pissed! Will Curiosity Kill the Cat?
Well our last full day in Greece for 1973. A great morning swim and most likely my last in such beautiful waters as I head behind the Iron Curtain. After our morning swim a hot shower then breakfast of oranges, rusks and honey. We left for the docks at 11:30 and Michael the Dutchie was starting to drink beer and lots of it. We waited for 4 hours for the boat. Ferry schedules are rather unreliable in Greece! Mom’s temper is boiling and she is becoming angry with the poor Greek sailors. I just let it roll off my shoulders. Michael the Dutchie just keeps packing away beer. We arrived at Piraeus about 9 p.m. It was a nice trip as we had a couple of guitar players on deck class. We had a can of sardines, bread and grapes for dinner on board. After a long search we ended up in Glyfada a beach suburb of Athens at a nice hotel called the Riviera. Mom is super cranky I am getting a bit anxious about my trip behind the Iron Curtain. Yugoslavia was communist but a liberal communist country. Bulgaria is hard core communist. My goodness why am I heading into the wilds where so few Westerners go. What troubles will my sense of adventure get me in? I am going ahead with this and most likely because so few are willing to wade into hostile communist territory. I think about how curiosity killed the cat.
“Visionary Gardeners”: “The Northern Garden”
The Canadian television series “Visionary Gardeners” is a five-part series premiering March 7, at 9 p.m. ET on Vision TV and it runs for 5 weeks in half hour segments. It features avid Canadian gardeners with their own vision of what a garden is. You may think the series is about them and their gardens and that is true and of course that is interesting particularly if you are gardener. But these episodes may help viewers develop their own ideology of gardening. After all doesn’t a vision necessitate an ideology?
In “Northern Garden”, which airs on March 14th at 9 p.m. Adrienne Clarkson former television personality and Governor General of Canada and John Ralston Saul a writer, philosopher and intellectual muse about their small but dense urban garden in Toronto.
It is becoming apparent to me that passionate gardeners are likely to have a coherent philosophy and ideology surrounding their gardening. I can’t divulge Clarkson’s or Ralston Saul’s philosophy of gardening as I’ll let you do that. It is interesting though that both had an exposure to gardening when they were younger. Clarkson was of humble background being the child of newly arrived immigrants where gardening for food was a way of stretching the tight budget. Ralston Saul and his brother used to grow fruits and vegetables they could enter in agricultural competitions. For Clarkson when you garden the earth is telling you something and can be an image for people into what paradise could be.
Ralston Saul is a proponent of a Northern Garden namely what has always grown in Canada and prefers perennials over annuals. He makes an interesting point that the English colonists to Canada acted as if they stood above the earth as if they could tell it what to do.
The beautiful cinematography continues in episode two. If you can’t catch it on Vision TV you can watch it free for two weeks after each episode airs at http://www.visiontv.ca. Note that it is only available for streaming on devices in Canada at the moment.
“Visionary Gardeners” is from Ian Toews and Mark Bradley of Victoria, British Columbia based 291 Film Company.
“Travels to a Different Time”: 22July1973: Paros, Greece: Roosters, Rotten Peaches and a Changing Greece: Hitchcock Movie in an Open-Air Cinema
This morning it was not only screaming mothers but roosters crowing that awoke us. I went to the market to buy some oranges and peaches for breakfast. I bought three oranges for 30 cents and the vendor said he had “fine fine” peaches. They were badly bruised. He must take me for a chump. Using my limited Greek I said his peaches were rotten and walked away. It was oranges, rusks and honey for breakfast then off to the beach for three hours to return home for a lunch of rusks, canned sardines and watermelon. The Dutchies and us packed up getting ready for our trip tomorrow to Piraeus. We walked to a restaurant and got a table before a line up of people started. We had an unhurried meal and the staff was trying to get people in and out of the restaurant quickly. In Greece of 1971, they wouldn’t even serve your dinner until 7 and you could have a relaxed meal. Are there dollars in their eyes? It is even getting more difficult to find a room. The Greeks seem ruder and more impatient. We had a tasteless pastry at a café for dessert and went to see an old 1940 movie called Rebecca at an open-air cinema. It was a great movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier
“Travels to a Different Time” : 19July1973: Paros, Greece: Screaming Kids and Mothers Wake us Up Again!
In Greece I have been woken up by motorbikes, church bells, flies and donkeys braying. But on this island it is screaming mothers and children. Up early to catch a bus to what we have heard is a charming little village. The 9:00 bus never materialized so we had a lemonade and coconut cake for breakfast. It was a 20-minute ride in an oven. We took a walk along the main drag of this small town and bought two pairs of leather sandals for $8. We also bought our ship tickets back to Piraeus. Mom lost her hat and as much as we looked we could not find it. We took the bus back to Paros and I had lunch and Mom a cold beer. Our beds were unmade. I had a siesta until 5 and we went with Susan to the beach for the swim. After a few hours on the beach we headed home.
“Travels to a Different Time” : 17July1973: Ios and Paros Greece: Our New Dutch Connection: The Magic of a Frisbee
On the bus to the boat to take us to the island of Paros we met two Dutchies Michael and Susan. We sat down as the sun was rising to have some Delphi apricot juice. We got along with the Dutchies by the time we were all herded on the boat. After a stop on the island of Naxos we reached Paros The only room available was for 4 so we ended up sharing it with the Dutchies. We settled in and all of us headed to the beach and I taught Michael how to play Frisbee. He caught on quickly. The locals and tourists have never seen a Frisbee before so there is a crowd that always gathers to watch. It is a great way to meet new people and breaks down the barrier of language. On the way home I bought some Papadopoulos cookies and the Dutchies a bottle of wine. We all went out for souvlaki and had a walk after that boating meal.
18July1973: Paros, Greece: Roasting on the Beach: The Dutchies Fall Ill
Poor Michael woke up with a stomach-ache. We picked up lunch supplies and took a putt putt boat to the beach. There are many small beaches separated by rocks so it is like having a small private beach. That crystal clear water and sand! We could put aside the bad start to the day as all were woken up by screaming Greek mothers blasting their children for some transgression. We fried under the blazing sun getting burnt. Still have that Canadian pasty skin. We played Frisbee in front of a sizable crowd. We had a lemonade at a cafe after taking the putt putt home. The sun must have fried my brain as I felt like nodding off. Susan had a bad headache. Headed home and Mom washed some clothes. We went out for a beer before dinner and saw the Dutchies who were feeling better. The dinner was good but a crabby waiter was annoying. We had watermelon for desert and came home feeling the burn.
Golf and Your Mental Game: Is Your Racing Mind in Its Overcomplicated State Ruining your Golf Game?
Is your mind racing to and fro when playing golf? You are playing a game and your mind should be on the game from moment to moment as if you focus on your game from moment to moment you are at your best in terms of concentration and focus. If your mind is judging each shot with a cascade of good and bads are you focusing on the good and bads instead of the game in the present moment? If your mind is judging your performance you are missing the game which you know is the next shot not the last shot! Are you so caught up you fail to notice the wind, the sun playing tricks on your vision and the humidity that is zapping your energy and slowing down your ball. It seems like there is a conspiracy in your mind to divert you from your game and the beautiful environment you are golfing in. Is your mind in the game here and now or is it trapped by what just happened on the last hole you were playing? Perhaps you should focus on the here and now instead of 5 minutes ago. My goodness will you destroy your game if you focus on the mist hovering over the 4th hole that is dancing with the sun. There is more to life than golf. Look and enjoy what is unfolding in front of you. Get out of your game to get into your game!
“Travels to a Different Time” : 15July1973: Ios, Greece: Grab the Buns While They Are Hot!
Interesting I was reading a book and one of the characters was explaining her day in Greece in the late 1960’s. Get up have breakfast and walk to one end of the village to get bread for breakfast and lunch. Read. Have a nap and walk to the other end of the village for wine and then out to the only restaurant in the village for dinner. This is an accurate portrayal of life of a tourist in a small Greek village. It is like that in Ios except we had swimming added to the mix. As that hippie said a couple of years ago on the boat in Greece you live in the moment. Life slows down. Eat, sleep and swim. Not complicated but very complicated with a totally different rhythm. I have a feeling this idyllic life is not going to be the case in Bulgaria. Today we were up at 11:30. Wild Bill has left thank goodness. We had an early lunch of a mess of scrambled eggs and hunks of fresh baked bread with that great Ios honey. We played checkers until three when the furnace like conditions were less oppressive. We walked down to the village below at 3 and plopped down in the sand beside a couple from Vancouver. The girl went to school with my cousin Jane! Small world. I played Frisbee in the water with her husband. On the way home we saw a kid taking some buns into a bakery so we bought a couple and they were just baked and delicious. We went to our favourite restaurant by the windmill and had dinner with the Vancouverites. We had an ice cream at a local cafe and watched some amateur talent festival on television. Simplicity or just an entirely different way of life?
16July1973: Ios, Greece: On the Verge of a Tourist Explosion
These hippies may be scorned by Mr. and Mrs. Straightlaced but what they have done is launched a beachhead like on Guadalcanal except they are not US marines but kids looking for a slice of undiscovered heaven. They abound in big numbers here and mark my word tourism is going to explode on this island and when that happens the hippies will discover a bit of paradise elsewhere. Like there were 75 people this morning waiting at the bank. Rooms are scarce and you have to wait to get a table at a restaurant. After the bank I bought some breakfast including a carpussi (watermelon). Greek watermelons are the best in the world. They are sweet and juicy and often we put it in the ocean to chill it down and eat the whole melon on the beach. Sometimes we put a couple bottles of beer in a mesh bag to cool them down. How long before they build a Sheraton Hotel here?
RKS Wine: Israel the Trip That Never Was
I have been invited to two press trips to Israel. I suppose someone appreciated my reviews of Israeli wines available in Canada or perhaps my reviewing some great Israeli films. The first one was a wine and food tour but I was already booked for a wedding in Greece that conflicted me out. The second was organized out of the Israeli consulate in New York and as I write about travel it was more of a travel trip such as seeing some key touristic sites. Three days before the trip I was rudely disinvited as the organizers thought I was American and the tour was starting at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv where the Americans were all arriving on the same flight. Talk about being jilted. So while these feet may not be walking in Israel these lips have not forsaken Israeli wine which ranges from excellent to mediocre just like any other wine producing country in the world. Canadian consumers are frightened by the unknown and that is what Israeli wines are in Canada. What a pity.
One of the best wineries in Israel is Galil Mountain Winery. I must have reviewed a dozen or so of their wines and most were in the 80’s and low 90’s in terms of score.
So we try a Galil Mountain Red. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. On the nose there are some notes of black cherry, blueberry, dates and milk chocolate. On the palate the tannins are moderate. There are rather stern notes of cherry, spice and blueberry. While the nose is inviting the palate is somewhat stern and stiff hiding its marvels perhaps for food and never having gone on that wine and food tour my knowledge of Israeli cuisine is very lean. I would suggest beef brisket or Mami Ribs. The palate does not deliver. Galil Mountain can definitely do better, much better but this is most likely their entry level wine and at $26.95 and simply not competitive quality wise in its price range.
(Galil Mountain 2018 Red, KP, Upper Galilee, Galil Mountain Winery, Kibbutz Yiron, Israel, $26.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 5477866, 750 mL, 14.5%, Robert K. Stephen A Little Birdie Told Me So Rating 86/100).
RKS Film: “Visionary Gardeners”: “Seeds and Time”
“Visionary Gardeners” is a new 5-part television documentary in which innovative Canadian gardeners share their gardening stories will be premiering across Canada on Vision TV over 5 Monday nights beginning March 7, 2022, at 9 p.m. ET.
I review wine, hotels, restaurants, travel destinations and many things in between. In all these genres there is a creative soul creating a dream or fulfilling a vision. I appreciate and sense the passion. For example, having taken several media trips to cover wineries here in Canada and in Europe a consumer will see a bottle of wine and it goes down the hatch but having talked eaten and drank with owners, field workers, blenders and marketers there is far more than wine in a bottle. There is love and passion creating a product as there is love and passion in gardening.
So when I saw the first episode of “Visionary Gardeners” called “Seeds and Time” I see not so much mindful gardeners but visionaries creating their gardens with a passion and their own ideology. And their ideology is precious and should be heard.
Being an urbanite in Toronto I have a small backyard I have been cultivating over the last couple of decades. I would not consider myself a gardener but I till and prepare the soil and spend hours weeding. I grow herbs with great success understanding what works in clay soil and what works in pots. And throughout the cold months I enjoy with pride my herbs particularly the 20 bags of pesto I made with my sweat. I have other plants but my basil, oregano, savory, thyme, tarragon, lemongrass and chives are my gardening passion however inglorious as that may be. But that straggling passion enables me to connect with former punk rocker Paul Spriggs who climbs Vancouver Island mountains to collect seeds and grow them in rock gardens at sea level. Then there is David Young in Georgian Bay who recreates original vegetation on massive slabs of glacial rocks. They have deep thoughts on their passion and how it connects them with nature. Intriguing. As for me getting hot and sweaty so I can use my herbs in my cooking throughout the year may not be so philosophical but my pastas with homegrown herbs is my connection with nature and I am damn proud about it!
So pardon my diversion but watch episode # 1 and in half an hour you’ll get a couple of lifetimes of passion distilled Coles Notes fashion.
So you say you are not a gardener? But aren’t we all gardeners of some sort metaphorically as we plant seeds in our life and watch them grow? I love my spaghetti sauce with herbs more than caviar. Why? Because I made them with my own hands.
I have many readers ex-Canada which means they can’t access the series just yet until out of Canada distribution deals are struck. At least for Canadians following each episode will stream free for two weeks after the episode airs on television at www.visiontv.ca
You can see the trailer for the series here https://www.visionarygardeners.ca/news/world-premiere-on-visiontv
Not a gardener well the cinematography so far has been stunning!
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