Scotland!

Referendum day has come and I am listening to the BBC World Service running commentary on what is happening. It is odd really listening to this event taking place, shows how little I knew of Scottish politics in the UK.  It appears that the turnout is high or very high more than 88% in rural and suburban areas whereas in the Cities the turnout is much lower around 75%. Scotland is hoping to have as high a turnout as in the Quebec referendum of 1995 which was 93.5%. It looks likely they will achieve that given the importance of the vote and the question. The big story tonight is how incredible the voter turnout has been. Usually during British general elections the turnout is around 65% the numbers tonight are very high in comparison.

The population of Scotland is small at 5.2 million Scots, somewhat smaller than the population of the City of Toronto. This does not count all the Scottish diaspora around the world, who cannot vote in this referendum. Scotland is portrayed as more left leaning and liberal than Britain. Because of its small population it cannot influence Parliament in Westminster and has little say in the budget. Scottish Labour is seen as unable to disassociate itself from the free-market and austerity policies of the moment, which makes it unpopular. By tomorrow the results either for or against independence, one thing appear certain the old certainties of the past will be dead and gone. The consequence for Cameron and the Conservatives are huge, it would probably mean the government will fall and Cameron will have no choice but to resign. As for Labour it will also be a shock and their future will be also uncertain. No Prime Minister wants to be remembered as the one who lost the Union. However watching the vote results come in Scotland appears divided, there are strong opinions in either camp.

Either way Britain tomorrow morning will be a different country. What I like about the coverage is how there is talk now even before the final results are in of change and how Westminster needs to change, respect for the aspirations of the Scots. It will be interesting to see how this evolves between now and 2016. What is also impressive is the level of respectful dialogue between people on either camp, except maybe for Ukip. There is none of the insults and bad language and immature attitudes we so often find here in Canada when there is differences of opinion after elections.

I would agree with commentators that Canadians and people in Quebec all have a lot to learn on how to run a referendum on such questions, much more mature and respectful in this case.

Roma arrival

Today we travelled from Ottawa to Montreal to Rome. We were all packed and prepared to leave. Met with the dog sitter, puppies were a little confused with the luggage and this person who appeared to be now in charge. So they of course wanted to be cuddled and petted, we obliged and gave them little biscuits, which always helps a lot. We did take a lot of arrangements for their well being. Taxi took us to the Bus depot in Ottawa, a place I do not recommend, it is derelict, Grey Hound should be ashamed, it has not been updated since 1980 and looks it. They make a parody of security measures none of which are implemented and this after a string of gruesome and deadly incidents on their buses. The trip on a broken down bus to the P.E.Trudeau Airport (formely Dorval) Montreal took two hours.

The airport in Montreal has changed a lot in the last 10 years, I remember Dorval as it was then known in the days of the DC8 when flying anywhere was a luxury and exotic. It had one restaurant the Kebec and the menu was prime roastbeef and a huge buffet. People would come and have a huge festive meal prior to their flight. It was very nice and the food was wonderful. The airport today is many times the size it was then, we went for a bite to eat at the U Bar, the light changes from blue to red to white with the music, the food is good and they have good wines. Our flight on Air Transat left on time. This is the second time we take this airline, they brought us back from Rome in 2011. Good service and a pleasant flight, they do not serve a full meal on the evening flight which takes off after 9 PM, a good idea since most people do not have the stomach for a full meal late at night. The light also in the cabin is shade a light blue which is very pleasant, then it turns to soft pink, more relaxing to help you sleep. There is an attention to small details, including the bread buns and at breakfast nice hot cinnamon buns, good coffee and the fruits were very fresh.

The flight was wonderful and we arrived at Fiumicino-Rome Airport 90 minutes ahead of time and got our luggage in 10 minutes, unheard of really. Shaving that much time on a flight is wonderful.

 The view from our room at Baylon Suites in Trastevere.

 On the old bridge from Trastevere to the Isola on the Tiber
which has been used as hospital island since antiquity. The temple to Aesclepius has been 
replaced by the basilica to Saint Bartholomew (skinned alive).

Ponte Rotto (broken bridge) next to the Palatine bridge.

Looking towards the Gianicolo Hill 

It was wonderful to see the Pines of Rome, those great big umbrella like trees everywhere you look.

When we arrived at our B&B we had a shower and then slept for a few hours. Around 4 pm we went out for a coffee on Piazza Piscinula at Bar Marcucci, the waiter recognized us and greeted us like long lost friends, it was such a pleasure. The coffee Espresso and a Tramenzino (white bread sandwich with white cheese and ham toasted hot).

Next to the bar is a small 4 century AD Church San Benedetto in Piscinula currently housing the statue of the Virgin of Fatima. The statue has been brought to Rome for a few days and is said to be miraculous. It is guarded by a Confraternity who wear highly polished riding boots and a uniform of a penitent knight. The Virgin statue is only a painted plaster statue not very nice looking but of immense importance in the RC Church. The Pope himself blessed the statue in St-Peter's square and thousands of pilgrims came to see it.

We then crossed over to the Rome side of the City by using the antique bridge over the Tiber river and walked into the old Jewish ghetto at the Portico d'Ottavia and the Teatro di Marcello area. The swallows by their thousands were circling above as they do in Rome at this time of the year. It is an incredible spectacle to see at sunset. We had dinner at the Old Taverna of the Ghetto, a favourite of ours. Jewish food in Rome has nothing to do with the European Jewish food known in North America. In Rome most recipes date from Antiquity from the time of Herod and as the Roman Jews say ''We have been here for 3000 years so we got stories to tell. We also went to see two renovated temples in the Forum Boarium near the Arc of Janus, one is the Temple of Virtue Virilis and the other of Hercules often called Vestale temple because it is round but there is no connection at all. The temples have been under renovation for at least 25 years and the final results are beautiful, considering that the building are at least 2200 years old.

 Temple of Virtue Virilis

 Temple of Hercule 

Fountain of the Tritone and the Church where is located the Boca della Verita

Fountain of the Turtles

Prior to our dinner we walked in the old ghetto to the Fountain of the Turtles my favourite and on Piazza Campitelli we went into the Church of Santa Maria al Portico della Piazza Campitelli. There is a shrine there to the patron Saint of Pharmacist, San Giovanni Leonardi.
The bells of the church were pealing as it was the end of Vespers. On Sunday night most churches are open for Vespers and at this time of the year only the immediate area where the service is held is lighted, the rest is in total darkness. I had a scotch and water at a Pub prior to dinner, love it for $7 dollars you get 2 oz of single malt scotch, now that is a drink. Served with 3 small pieces of 70% dark chocolate, goes very well together take my word for it.

Scotch single malt and 70% chocolate

After dinner we walked back to our B&B and will try to recuperate now.

busy days and nice evening

Since I retired I started to work as a volunteer at the National Gallery of Canada. It has been a lot of fun, very nice people and so many interesting things to see and learn from. Our group is trained by the Education dept of the NGC so that we can be more informed on the programs of the museum and how to attract more people to our National Museum.

Recently I have been asked to organized cultural afternoons, for the last 50 years the volunteers have organized programs in French and in English presenting a variety of knowledgeable speakers on Arts and Culture. I have finalized the French language program for the Season 2013-2014 entitled Mercredis culturels starting in September. I am very happy with the results and am now working on the program for the Season 2014-2015.

For details on the NGC go to www.gallery.ca or in French, www.beaux-arts.ca





Also this week we went to one of the many offerings by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, they have a variety of programs on food and wine,  cooking, cocktails, etc... All very well done in there large studio like kitchens on site in their larger shops, very sleek and modern.

The Chef was Jan Sunstrum from Manotick which is just outside Ottawa. The Sommelier was Janet Unhola who was knowledgeable and very pleasant.

We started with New Potato and Leek Cakes in Blue Cheese Sauce, the wine served was a White Burgundy Montagny 1er Cru 2010.

Then we had Roasted Rack of Lamb in Lemon Salsa Verde, the wine served was Chateau de Puisseguin Curat St-Emilion 2010, a big red at 14% alcohol. Very good and went well with the lamb.

The Salsa Verde is an old Italian classic served with steaks in Tuscany. It has Parsley, capers, 3 fillet of anchovies (these are the white anchovies in lemon juice not the dried up cured thing found on pizza) Anchovy is a lovely little white fish sweet tasting. Lemon juice and zest and 2 cloves of garlic chopped.

The dessert was White chocolate and ginger crème brulée served with a Greek wine Muscat of Samos
chilled.  This wine was wonderful and well paired with the dessert.

We bought some of the red wine and some of the dessert wine.

On the way out I could not resist buying a bottle of single malt 12 year old Scotch, Auchentoshan from the Lowlands, aroma of toasted almonds and caramelized toffee and a smooth finish.

I also bought some other wines this week, a remark had been made that we were somewhat low in the cellar on wines. We must always have a reserve just in case of emergency. So its best to buy by the case.

A French, A Greek, 2 Americans, an Austrian Grüner Veltliner.

Single Malt Scotch currently on offer at home. A habit I picked up in Rome of all places.

And for those of you going to Italy, the famous Carabinieri police, known for their style.

Events

Well let's see, this weekend we had a lot of fun. First was the Scotch tasting evening paired with Indian food. I am not a Scotch drinker and until very recently knew little or nothing about Scotch. However through a friend who has a wonderful website, see
www.whiskeywineandwords.com, I have learned quite a lot about Scotland and Scotch. We only drink single malt and she likes to introduce you to music and poetry to accompany the tastings, food is also a big part of it. Who knew that India is the biggest market in the world for Scotch and that Indian food is a natural to drink with a fine Scotch either neat or with a bit of water, beer is definitely not recommended with Indian cuisine despite North American popular belief.

The event was held in E.U.R. a neighborhood of Rome built from 1935 for the World Expos Rome 1942 which never took place due to the Second World War. The buildings are modern, stark and monumental surrounded by vast parks and lakes, to showcase the achievements of the Fascist Regime. Today it is a neighborhood of multinational companies and immigrants, the completion of the construction on the different buildings took place between 1955 and 1962. You past by the area on your way in from the airport.

Sunday, we went to the Rome Marathon, which covered much of central Rome, with over 15000 participants. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Summer Olympics 1960 and at those games, an Ethiopian ran barefoot and won, wearing jersey no. 11. Well this year an Ethiopian won again the Rome Marathon and he too ran barefoot. Ethiopia and Italy have a very old history in common, well over 2000 years and there is a large Ethiopian community in Rome and Italy.

We went to support our friend Vincenzo, who had prepared for months for this marathon of 42.1 Km. The route was spectacular, starting at the Colosseum crossing the Roman Forum, Piazza Venezia, along the Tiber River all the way down to the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls then back along the Tiber crossing over to the Vatican and again along the Tiber and re-crossing at the Milvio Bridge along the Flaminian road passing by the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus and the Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustean Peace) down the Corso through the Borghese gardens, Piazza Spagna and back to the Colosseum for the finish. We were tired after walking much of it and went for lunch at Valentino on Via Cavour, a family run restaurant, very good value for money. An exciting day and so much fun.

This coming week 2 days off for my birthday, I decided to have a catered dinner at home for 8. Then we have Easter which will be in Rome, our friend Jack is visiting and then off to Palermo, Sicily for a few days vacation. So much excitement!

Scotch Whisky night

In Italy there are lots of wine tasting courses from the very exclusive to the every day mundane in any Enoteca. There are also lots of cooking courses where you usually learn to make pasta and ravioli etc.... However in Rome we have Rachel Rennie, who took it upon herself to give courses on the finer points of Scotch. Rachel is from Glasgow and is knowledgeable in all things related to Scotch, she brings a real passion to her presentation. So as part of one of the many activities of the Canadian Club of Rome CCR, we had a course in Scotch tasting at our place for a small group of members. Now Will decided to go out since he really does not like Scotch and went to see the movie Avatar. I am not a great Scotch drinker myself and until now really did not know very much about it. Rachel called her course ''An Island Tour'', and selected scotches from Jura, the Orkneys, Islay and Skye. She first told us how Scotch is made from malted barley. The barley is soaked in water to begin the germination process and then dried slowly. This conditions the starch in the barley for conversion to sugar and then to alcohol. It is then aged in oak cask which have been once previously used for Sherry or Bourbon, this gives its distinctive style. For the last 200 years this has been the process but what of before that time, well people simply drank it straight from the still. Before the liquid is put into a cask, it has the transparent look of water and smells of perfume. Because sherry and bourbon casks are used this is how you get the pale or dark coloring of scotch.

When drinking scotch if you add a drop of water, it will release even more of the flavours, however if you pour scotch on ice then all the flavors are locked up.

She accompanies her discourse with songs and poetry by Poet Laureate, John Masefield (1878-1967), all very lovely and fun. We also had food to accompany the tasting, French bread to cleanse the palate, Deer paté with one scotch we tasted, hard white cheese with another, pickled herring and smoked trout for the others. Very interesting and shows how scotch goes with food. We also had shortbread, though sweet it blends very well.

In the end I really liked the Talisker from the Isle of Skye 10 years old, which has a smokey taste from the peat used in making it. I also liked the Laphroaig from Islay aged in small quarter bourbon cask.

I did not like the Old Pulteney 12 yrs from Wick, too strong a taste, I found it coarse, nor did I like Isle of Jura again too strong tasting.

On 25 January is Robert Burns birthday, so we celebrated the poet with this fine evening. Learned something and had a good drink. One last point, we also learned that you do not say, are they wearing kilts which is incorrect, but rather I am wearing the kilt or they are wearing the kilt.

See the web site: www.whiskywineandwords.com