The story of my life in a few pictures.

This really summarizes what people think, who ever thought about it really hit the nail on the head.

Click on photo to enlarge. 

Ottawa habits

Ottawa is since 1867 by Royal decree from Queen Victoria the Capital of the Dominion of Canada and it can be said that since then the population of Ottawa has fought the notion that it was a Capital of a nation.
Quebec City, Montreal, Kingston and Toronto have all been at one point the Capital of Canada, even Aylmer which sits across the Outaouais river from Ottawa almost became the Capital.

The city by its own Mayor's admission has been stuck in small town thinking, parochial pursuits, unable to think big like other world capitals. Politicians come to Ottawa because Parliament is here but they do not live here, their families and interest are elsewhere. Even those politicians from the region are often from rural stock and take little interest in the city itself. Ottawa remains a sleepy town, expensive to live in but firmly stuck with its blinkers on.

People will tell you that it is a great town to raise a family in or that it is an interesting place or that its great for winter sports, they mean the skating on the Canal or cross country skiing in the Gatineau park across the river. But it you press them to explain further, you will find the conversation will drift and then turn to the weather, in fact the weather in Ottawa is one of those topics which is discussed with passion.

The mayor today in an interview said that he had changed his thinking, he use to be prudent and hesitant to make any decision on any topic, this by his own admission. City Council dithered about everything including garbage collection and snow removal. But now that the city stands at one million people it was time to think big and go for risk taking, though the mayor re-asserted that he still would be prudent, no revolution in thinking here. He is hoping for massive Federal Government funding for projects which have been debated for the last 40 years and have never gotten off the ground. He seems to think that this is about to change. How or why, he does not say, obviously the mayor has not read the plans of the Federal Government who is about to slash budgets overall. Like many politicos in town this sort of talk is cheap and easy, if nothing comes of your great plans you can always blame someone else.

People in Ottawa are said to be on the whole friendly, but there is a core attitude of very unfriendly even rude behaviour about town. You will find that a lot of people have difficulty saying good morning when they come to work or meet people or show any kind of interest in people around them.  These are the same people who work or live right next to you, but cannot bring themselves to the simple courtesies of life. They will say, I am not a morning person or I need my gallon of coffee before I can be social. It seems that the attitude can be described as, it is better to ignore people than to acknowledge them, sort of zoning out everyone, I don't want to be here mentality. Recently I even heard several people say that emails are not even answered let alone acknowledged, it's the I am too busy attitude or the sender cannot help or benefit me so I will just ignore him or her. Everyone wants to live in their own little space and just ignore everything around them.

I always found Ottawa to be a very cold and impersonal city despite official efforts to present it otherwise in touristic brochures. If you removed the Parliament buildings and the handful of museums there would be very little to speak of beside urban sprawl, which is Ottawa is now greater than Toronto a city of 5 million people. Would Ottawa fit in Dante's Divine Comedy, probably.

What I will miss from Rome

Leaving Rome after 4 years in the Citta Eterna is difficult, the only other cities in my various postings abroad I had regrets about leaving were Cairo and Warsaw. Cairo had a special feel in 1991 when I left and to this day when I think of Egypt I always feel nostalgic, there was a certain elegance to the city and our lives there at the time, memories of Mountolive perhaps, our penthouse apartment on the Nile, to see this magnificent river pass under our balcony with Cairo at our feet and to our right the eternal pyramids of Giza in the distance in the setting sun was truly magical.  Warsaw was another city, full of elegance and style in the only way the Polish people know how to do it, full of dignity, pride and sense of history. What a great place it was then in 1999, what friends we made.

Statue of the Bersaglieri soldier Piazza Porta Pia

Porta Pia known in antiquity as Porta Nomentana

                               Piazza Repubblica

                                    the opera house of Rome

a good after theater restaurant in front of the opera house

via Genova leading to the gardens of the Quirinale Palace

Leaving Rome is a similar experience, so many wonderful memories, so many delights and experiences which will remain with me for the rest of my life. Like this morning seeing the white transport helicopter of the Pope flying him and the Papal Court from the Gardens of the Vatican to his Summer Palace at CastelGandolfo where he will remain until September escaping the heat of the city.

Via dei Serpenti leading to the Colosseum which can be seen at the end of the street.

the private family home of the Italian President on Vincolo dei Serpenti.

the full moon over the dome of the Church of San Rocco by the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus.

the museum housing the Ara Pacis of Augustus, with his great text Res Gestae Divi Augusti which is the funerary inscription of the deeds of Augustus and the basis of jurisprudence today.

I will miss our box at the Teatro del'Opera di Roma and our attendant who always unlocked the door to our box or the summer evening open air presentations of the opera in the ancient ruins at the Baths of Caracalla. The Accademia Santa Cecilia concerts at the Parco della Musica and the very nice lady who would always reserved a taxi for us for after the show and who knew us by name. The many wonderful restaurants in Rome where we were regulars like Stella Maris and Checco e Lina Le Petit Bistrot or on via Borgo Pio at Il Mozzicone were we would go for comfort pasta like the best Carbonara in Rome, this is were we ended up when our dear old Reesie died 3 years ago. We could always count on a table. We also discovered many great eateries in Italy, often in small towns or villages, thanks to Gambero Rosso and le Guide Michelin. Being able to discover and taste the fine wines of so many regions including Sicily while the waiter explained the food specialties of the area.

The incredible choice of Men's fashion in stores, so much variety and so much style. I am so glad I took full advantage of it to renew my wardrobe. I will also miss my barber Franco and his colleague Mimo, sharing him with the President of the Italian Republic. How many people can say that or that is shop is below the President's private home on Via Dei Serpenti, steps away from the Quirinale Palace. I will also miss our butcher Armando on Via Alessandria, our having my morning espresso at the Australian bar served by Sandor, Massimo and Germana, excellent coffee, not to mention Judy's cooking at lunch time. All the wonderful people we met and of course our friends in Rome and the Canadian Club of Rome, www.canadianclubofrome.blogspot.com

an old street in Rome near the Tiber, a residential district.

the bridge King Vittorio Emanuelle II crossing the Tiber to the Vatican with the dome of St-Peter in the background.

On the more mundane, things like our fruit seller on Viale Regina Margherita or the Esso station attendant at Piazza Galeno with whom I chatted each time we walked Nicky and Nora, talking about results of cricket matches in Asia. The old 1950's vintage trams on line 3 or 19, riding them across town. Being able to walk over to the Villa Borghese park on a hot day in Rome when the sun is like hot lead and just enjoy the shade and quiet of this great park. The cashiers at our local CRAI grocery store on Via Alessandria. Or the ladies selling wine at the Enoteca on the Piazza Regina Margherita, who always had good advice and a little discount for the wine I purchased. Many people in the service industry are themselves expatriates, guest workers from Bangladesh, India and Egypt, all making a life for themselves amongst the Italians. Italy today, I discovered, is a cosmopolitan country with little to do with the Italy of the movies.

We are thinking of coming back one day, renting a small apartment, not in Rome, no, but possibly elsewhere like in Pesaro on the Adriatic, for a vacation.

our building entrance on Via dei Villini, an oasis of greenery.

On the rooftop of the Minerva Hotel, Rome
But now it is time to think of departure and goodbyes and renewal.

Egypt

In the last few weeks change has swept a part of the world where change did not seem possible. First Tunisia, a small country on the North African Coast. Regime change came fast, much faster than any thought possible, faster than any invading army could do.  In Tunisia a dictator once the ''good friend'' of many governments in the West, ''notre ami Ben Ali'' as he was described by the French government, became a tyrant the day those governments who had found him useful, no longer thought he could be of any possible use. So many despots in Asia, in Latin America, in the Middle-East and Africa have known the same fate, a friend one day and a useless tyrant the next. As long as they did what they were told and protected trade, all was well. Saddam Hussein was once a good friend, the ally against Iran, until that fateful day in 1990 when he invaded Kuwait.

Egypt is now in turmoil, though being the biggest, oldest, most populous of all Arab countries, not being really Arab since the Egyptians think of themselves as a distinct people, with a national history going back to the beginning of Civilization, once a great Empire, Egypt is a very different story.  Their President has been part of the national scene since the fall of the Monarchy in 1952.  As a young man in the army, he attached himself to people like Sadat and Nasser. He was there when Nasser died of a heart attack and Sadat succeeded him. Again he was on the podium the day Sadat was killed and assume the mantel. He has become the intimate of many heads of State, a good friend, someone they found reliable and provided stability for the region. Protecting investment and trade and a buffer for Israel. You do not abandon such an old friend and this is why so many governments in the West have been very reluctant to ask for his departure. The exception, the British PM, but then again is it wise for England to be so bold, they have a long controversial story with  Egypt, often seen in Egypt as would be colonial masters or aggressive power as during the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956.

What I find interesting about the crisis in Egypt is the response of Western Governments, on the one hand all important trade could be disrupted like the shipping routes through the Suez Canal, not a good thing, but how do you say this publicly without doing a double speak on democracy and human rights when you are one of those governments always hectoring the dictators.  Yes you might say democracy and the aspiration of ordinary people is important but not to the point of upsetting trade and investors. It is as if the aspirations of the Egyptian people are less important than those of Europeans or North Americans, Equality and Democracy yes, but some people are more equal than others. Its the old North-South Dialogue, the have and have not, developed and developing.

Mubarak says I cannot go, there will be chaos, really, there is chaos now. The ruling party has been shaken and all the other countries of the region have taken notice. Their despots are worried, notice how Colonel Khadafy next door in Libya is quiet. What the region does not have and cannot provide to its people is a dignified life, jobs, public services, like clean water, decent housing, health care, good schools, safe food and opportunities. When your population is 80% under 30 years of age, it is difficult for any old dictator to satisfy the young, having so little to offer.

In the West, we are scared of Islam and Islamist, thinking if dictators are swept away, for sure Islam will take over. That is a very simplistic analysis and insults the intelligence of the populations of countries like Tunisia and Egypt and all other Arab countries and our own intelligence. You have to be a simpleton to believe such idiocy, unfortunately it is still an argument found and reported in the media.

Then the other concern is if Mubarak who was present when Egypt made peace with Israel and inherited the legacy of Anwar Sadat, if he should go what then. Maybe the next fellow will not follow the same policies. So far all the actors involved on the scene and who are around Mubarak have not shown any signs of departing from the established peace treaty, why should they. Let's not forget that Egypt lives from tourism and also receives billions in foreign support to maintain the peace with Israel. It is very unlikely that any new government in Egypt would renege and change course, it would be too costly.

The Government in Israel has reasons to worry, unwise policies and aggressive attitudes of the past 60 years may come back to haunt them. But then again the poverty of all its neighbors and the enormous need for improvement at all levels would occupy any new government trying to satisfy the needs of a young population. The priority would not be Israel or a new war but instead how to satisfy the enormous  expectations of any regime change in the Arab world. Israel and the conflict would be quickly forgotten and put on the back burner.  Look at Tunisia, since the change of regime in that country a few weeks ago, the population has been enjoying the new freedom to simply do and say what you want without fear. They are looking at economic improvements and a new horizon.

Let us not forget that any people ruled by a dictator is just as deserving of the liberties we enjoy. Let's not deny them those same rights and opportunities because they happen to live in what we believe to be less advanced countries or because we want to protect our lifestyle, trade and investments before human dignity. 

More of Palermo

I thought I would show a few more pictures of Palermo, of the people, the food, the streets, so picturesque and on a human size. Buildings are 5 to 6 floors high no more, pedestrians have the right of way and everything is within walking distance so no need for a car. People know their neighbours. Restaurants and shops are family owned. The big box stores are all on main street and nowhere else, no shopping malls, you shop where you live. Fresh produce markets are located in all neighbourhoods and you can get everything you need.
This is not to say that Palermo is without social problems, there is poverty and the Mafia still has a hold on business but that hold has been shaken and is not as before, young people have a different approach and think differently. Sicily is well worth a visit and a beautiful one it will be.
All photos here have been taken in Palermo, be its ancient church steeple or the market at Porta Cardini or marathoners in front of the Opera house Teatro Massimo.