| End of September |
Added: 25/10/2010 |
I had to fly to Tel Aviv for a family wedding (as well as scout out the liquor scene in Israel, where we supply Hapsburg Absinthe to the Airport duty-free)… it was a wedding with a difference ~ outdoors under the Mediterranean stars on a Friday evening, with the bride & groom singing to their 350+ guests on acoustic guitar , accompanied by appetisers including scampi salad and bacon twists … unusual fare at Jewish weddings ; but hey, these are ‘artists’ who do their own thing & long may the freedom continue to do your own thing … something you won’t find elsewhere in the Middle East … just try serving a pork pie in Jeddah or Damascus !
Having left a crispy London Airport at 12°C at near midnight , it was quite a wake-up to arrive at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv at 5.15am local time, already 25°C & predicted rising to over 36°C at midday … now that’s what I call global warming !
During the day I took a trip inland asking to see the famous / infamous security wall separating Israel proper from that known in Israel as ‘The Territories’. I have visited Israel plenty of times but had never seen the wall ; not the wailing wall of the ancient Temple, but the one all the world is talking about and decrying as unjust and unreasonable … I thought I should make up my own opinion and see it for myself.
Passing very slowly through a checkpoint past the outskirts of Tel Aviv, we entered the barren stony area known as Sumeria, and you could feel the increase of tension … soldiers manning their posts carrying automatic weapons nervously examining vehicle contents, in a zone where young men are encouraged to visit the next world (early), to meet their promised 120 virgins ,and take a few infidels along at the same time. The soldiers know you can’t fight an idea like that with AK47’s and show considerable respect for their adversaries, fingers on triggers at the checkpoints.
My first sight of ‘The Wall’ was a surprise, as it wasn’t a wall at all, but a wire fence with electrified cables on top. We then saw the actual white wall which seemed half the height of the wall surrounding London’s Holloway prison. I commented on the unimpressive height and was told that the wall around Gaza was much higher than this, given the greater danger from the Hamas-controlled territories, to the West Bank state of Palestine presently controlled by the more benign Palestinian Authority.
I saw a clean white wall with some climbing plants and was assured the other side of the wall was far from clean white, but covered in graffiti depicting the evil Zionists on the other side. With my British passport I could have visited Palestine proper, but I was persuaded otherwise. However I have met many Brits who have visited Bethlehem & Nazareth & said they wouldn’t have missed the experience for anything.
My driver drove at maximum speed around the perimeter wall and said he was not permitted to stop anywhere in the vicinity of the wall. The road running alongside the wall is a kind of shooting gallery for the Palestinian freedom fighters / terrorists depending on which side of the wall you stand, where regular fatalities occur from pot shots at the passing cars.
When we drove past, all was silence in this baking hilly barren landscape. The Arab villages obvious on the distant hillsides with their beautiful domes and minarets proclaiming ‘their right to be there and exist’ … I wondered what Allah makes of all the killing done in his name. How easily the Old Testament, New Testament and The Koran is used by self-proclaimed religious zealots to justify the insanity and the killing … Peace in the Middle East will require another great Mahatma Gandhi like figure to step forward and galvanise the people to accept peaceful co-existence and isolate the killers on both sides … I wish, but I doubt that Obama is that figure.
We drive back SW into Israel proper through the checkpoint away from the dusty biblical landscape, into a modern 21st century city with skyscrapers, traffic jams and falafel bars at the busy intersections and the tension is gone.
In the evening, we watch the sun drop as a huge fiery ball into the Mediteranean, and pre pare to go out for dinner. My host booked a table for our party of 8 overlooking the old Arab Port of Jaffa, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. This is a restaurant called ‘The Old Man & The Sea’ (Ha’zahen ve Ha’Yam), owned and run by the Taoud Family … the father came to Israel from Gaza about 20 years ago (before the Intifada which effectively stopped most of the movement of Palestinians into Israel) and he married a local Jaffa Arab girl to set up and run one of the most famous fish restaurants in Tel Aviv.
I commented that (unlike almost all Israeli restaurants & shopping malls etc) there was no security guy at the door checking for guns / explosives, & was laconically told, “… who’s going to blow up an Arab restaurant ? … “ ; sadly the same logic doesn’t seem to apply in Baghdad or Kabul.
An old portly Arab man wearing the traditional red headdress and tassles over long white flowing robes walked into the restaurant accompanied by 4 Arab women wear Hijabs, which no doubt prompted one of the English guests to comment how surprised many Brits (with their image of Israel fed to them by Al Jazeera newscasts), would be to see Jew & Moslem eating peacefully sitting side by side in Israel, in an Arab restaurant. Try telling that to the TUC congress delegates spouting Hamas propaganda to whip up Israel embargoes among the members … if only they came to see for themselves … but then the Middle East is all about … if only …
Israel is very far from ideal, but the irony of the British Trade Union / lefty democrats supporting the hard right regimes over the border with their obvious zero tolerance / zero freedom of speech, torture and repression of any and all opposition is truly paradoxical. Try being ‘different’ or speaking your mind in Gaza, and as the bible oft says, ‘your days will be numbered ‘ !
Perhaps one day if the Iranians, Syrians, Americans and the British Trade Unionists would just mind their own business and stop playing their imperialist political war games , and leave Palestinian and Israeli to figure it out for themselves … Jew & Arab might be able to return to living side by side in peace as they’ve done for over 2000 years … maybe just maybe ??
Oh and by the way, it WAS heart-warming to see rows of Hapsburg Absinthe in the James Richardson duty-free at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. Hapsburg absinthe also sells in Lebanon,and throughout the United Arab Emirates of Abu Dhabbi, Sharjah, Dubai, etc . We look for an importer in Egypt and Jordan to complete our personal journey of Middle East peacemaking through trade !
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| Mexico trip blog - What we only have to do, to get you the best Tequila in the world! |
Added: 02/08/2010 |
It’s October 2nd 2009 and I’m booked on BA 243 (London Heathrow to Mexico City), flying out on Oct 7th with the anticipated thrill that I’ve upgraded from World Traveller Plus to Club Class using my spare points, and then I get a telephone call from Senor D****l, an ex Mexican Ambassador to Paris ... ” Dale I strongly recommend you delay your visit, as my Sister who lives near Guadalajara, tells me there’s an outbreak of Dengue fever...”. My Wife looks up google and sure enough it’s confirmed in The Guadalajara Reporter
... Dengue Cases Reported FRIDAY, JULY 29 2005 18:00
The Jalisco Health Secretariat is urging state residents to be vigilant against dengue fever, a viral disease spread by mosquitoes, after three cases of the classic strain were recently reported. In the first six months of the year, public health officials reported 1,311 cases of dengue fever nationwide. While the classic strain is most common, 228 cases of the hemorrhagic strain, which is more severe, were recorded. Dengue fever is fatal in fewer than five percent of cases when the patient receives proper treatment .
I cancelled my tickets & all my appointments, & moved them on 4 months to February 2010 (to the dry season and not many mosquitos). Two days later the Diplomat calls me back to say, “...the fears are exaggerated and just spray plenty of anti mosquito with high % of deet, and you should be OK ! ...”.
I book new tickets & fly out ! Dear Reader, you see what mortal risks we take to ensure your on-going supply of the greatest Tequilas in the world !
You’re thinking why fly to Mexico ? ... what’s wrong with the telephone ? I can’t really answer that, other than to explain that it’s not Carlos’ way. If you want to talk to Carlos, you have to personally go to the distillery ‘La Altena’, about 2 hour drive NE of Guadalajara in the zone known as Los Altos (the Highlands) to the town of Arandas, and see him face-to-face. After over 20 years, I no longer even question it ... that’s just how it is . If I weren’t talking about the best Tequila in Mexico, I really wouldn’t bother... but once you’ve seen how & where El Tesoro de Don Felipe is made , you would understand.
Most of you never will visit ‘La Altena’, so I’ve recorded some of what I saw at my last visit, to give you an idea of what is really involved in the making and offering of this Tequila ... a drink that transcends normal commercial business & is now produced by Carlos in homage to the memory of his dear Father, Don Felipe, who’s goal in life was simply to make the best Tequila in Mexico ; and that’s what Carlos has devoted his life to do.
It’s certainly NOT the prettiest bottle, and far from the most attractive label, but what’s inside the bottle ...
I arrived at Mexico City Airport to the usual confusion... would my suitcase be automatically forwarded onwards to Guadalajara, where I was flying with Mexicana ? One of the baggage handlers said I had to remove it from the circling carousel and take it to the check-in desk, and another said to leave it, as it was ticketed to go direct ... then why was it circling in front of me ? ... I took the lazy (and correct) option of leaving it, and it DID arrive with me at Guadalajara... round 1 to me !
In contrast to Mexico City, Guadalajara was warm and humid, and disconcertingly had plenty of mosquitos flying around ... (thoughts of Dengue returned !).
I caught the usual airport taxi to Hotel Tapatio, where I have stayed for the last 18 years twice a year. The rooms are 4 times the size and 1/3 the price of a room downtown. The hotel is perched on the top of a hill overlooking Guadalajara, and so at night, it looks like the view from an aeroplane over the city, with millions of twinkling lights. It’s a VERY Mexican hotel and you find few foreigners there, so speaking Spanish helps... I’ve often been told, that it’s a favourite with local business men, to be found there with their secretaries, as it’s 30 minutes out of town and the corridors & restaurant are very dark !
Next morning after a huge breakfast of ‘Huevos rancheros’ with salsa verde (green spicy sauce), corn tortillas and frijoles (refried mushy beans), and café de Olla (sweet coffee with cinnamon and cloves), I was ready for the two hour drive from Hotel Tapatio in Tlaquepaque, to Arandas in Los Altos, where arguably the finest Agave is grown and two of the greatest Tequilas come from, Tequilas El Tesoro de Don Felipe / Tapatio, & Tequila Siete Leguas (interestingly, made by a relative of Carlos). Lunch doesn’t happen until around 3.30 – 4pm, hence a good stoke-up 1st thing is advisable.
Carlos’ driver was supposed to collect us from the Hotel at 10am, so at 11am, after allowing for ‘Mexican mean-time’, (something the Gringos don’t really understand), I phoned the distillery just to check he is turning up, and was relieved to hear that the Driver is on his way ... In past years I have turned up to find Carlos was ‘not available’ , but instead 3 bottles of his finest and rarest were in my hotel room as ‘compensation’ ! You can never be sure of what’s next ; this is MEXICO !!
The journey in the truck was rough and long, actually extended by 2 hours as a petrol tanker had turned on it’s side and we had to turn around. Terrifyingly, the whole zone stank of high octane gasoline and instead of running for their lives, a long line of trucks just drew to a halt, turned off their engines and casually prepared to wait for the road to re-open and continue on their journey. The fumes in the air, seemed to indicate just one careless cigarette, and a mini Hiroshima would have been re-visited on 150 lined up vehicles... We left at 11am and arrived at 3pm, and after a quick coffee, made our way to the agave plantations to chop a few Agave Pinas and take a video for the web site and U tube...
Etc etc, Dale
More next week!!
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| the 'Recessjk ]
eating our way out of the 'recession blues' ... | Added: 5/1/2009 |
We're all 'recessioned out' ...
Ugh what a year ... we're well stuck into the 7 lean years... but instead of Pharaoh, it's Gordon Brown & I'm SURE he doesn't know what he's doin' ! Great Britain Ltd is quite broke and borrowing from whoever will lend, but for some weird reason, Captain Brown thinks the way to get back on top is to spend like there's no tomorrow and INCREASE the indebtedness ! GB is now in the worst position of ANY of the G8 countries and so our liquor tax has gone up AGAIN... Why has he increased tax on alcohol twice in a year ... can't be to counter inflation, as there isn't any inflation ... actually we're entering DEFLATION. Relentless duty increases are on top of the collapse of sterling, making all imports up to 40% more expensive, as well as the obvious effects of the recession on demand... a true triple whammy! The bright side of the cloud ? With competitors going bust at record rates, there'll be more for those of us left standing after the cloud of recession has passed... some bright side !! Took my Lady Wife out for dinner the other night (actually she's a Lawyer & she took me)... went to 'The Green Room' in West Hampstead... run by Kelly & Laurent. The walls are whitewashed and there's no green at all, but the food is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S ... at least 3 of the 4 dishes we tried were memorable. The wild mushroom and rocket risotto, with parmesan slivers was sensational. So too was the salmon terriyaki, and the spinach was so amazing we sent down to ask how the Chef seasoned it ..."Sorry Monsieur ... Chef doesn't want to give up his recipe !...". Eventually we learned that he added grated nutmeg ! Wow, who would ever think of grated nutmeg on spinach... a genius. One of the few restaurants we have visited and would REALLY want to re-visit. Any negatives ? I wish we could get table cloths back on to restaurant tables like in the olden days ! Polished / varnished wood is nice enough, but a crisp clean white , pink, pale-blue linen table cloth is worth another £3 on the bill. We're two staff lighter, we've cut back hard on advertising and exhibitions,BUT we're still in business! In sheer defiande, I guess we may go out for dinner again NEXT week too (especially if Arsenal stays in the UEFA Cup) ... Oooh to Oooh to be, oooh to be a Goooooner ...
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