• About

Larry Muffin At Home

~ Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Larry Muffin At Home

Monthly Archives: January 2015

Architecture, Art and Cityscapes

31 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Architecture, art., artists, chaudiere falls, Europe, Ottawa, vestiges, windmill

When you travel you get to see a lot of interesting architecture in various cities, from works of stone or steel or urban design. Some cities plan and study how they will built and develop, often taking specific steps to ensure uniformity and beauty. However most cities go about in a haphazard way with no thought to the future or looks. City Hall and Developers work hand in hand, the city wants tax revenues, developers profits, so a design, cookie cutter is presented to the City and is approved. Ottawa is notorious for this type of development by accident. It sometimes has to be dressed up with pseudo fancy words and notions which do not hold up to scrutiny but that really does not matter. Developers will say that this is what people want, they will mention green space and throw in the word ”vibrant” or ”cutting-edge” these words are very popular in Canadian Cities, though the final result is mediocre at best and will not age well but that does not matter since the developers and the City Officials have moved on. A good example of this is the planned Windmill project, a forest of condos for the very rich over a national historic site at the Chaudiere Falls in the centre of Ottawa. The promised green park will occupy about 5% of the area. It will be a mostly gated community and difficult to access.

I often like to stroll in a City I am visiting or lived in and admire simply the architecture, just walk the street and look at the buildings, do they have an history, do they belong to a period in architecture, who was the owner, why was it built. Same thing for streets what did they connect to. Monuments are also interesting, their history is not always known, too old and forgotten. A park is also a great place to explore, why was it built and what can you find in terms of elements urban planning. Many parks in European Cities or in Latin America were built to allow people to escape their small apartments and simply walk or sit.

In North America, with the wide expanses of land and homes with big gardens, City parks were not a priority or if we design one nowadays it has to be for kids, why would adults want to sit in a park.

Here are some great buildings, with character and architectural features telling a story.

532945_10204864968116995_1553282082377962877_n

Street view in Old Quebec City c.18th century

9360437358_e29e31808d_b

Berlin Mitte (central) architecture c.1900, buildings that survived the bombing of the Second World War and were restored.

7765554272_3c33cf3490_b 7rck-123-a51f 5023613995_8b7f15afa3_b 11P1020085_zps9da4d7e1

So many beautiful streets and buildings in Berlin, restoration and reconstruction has been steady since 1991.

But other Cities like Rome also have architecture on a human scale.

unnamed-4

Rome by the Forum of Trajan with its Pines

10931254_851437541587568_5383640902144373282_n

From this rocky hill where Pericles convinced the Athenians to built the Acropolis, by paying extra taxes, he told them it was their sacred duty as Citizens of a democratic State.

You do not have to go to a museum to see beautiful things just look around you.

Berlin_Tiergarten

Tiergarten, Berlin an immense garden, once a private forest for the King of Prussia in the heart of the Capital.

91297954

New statues of bathers boy and girls on the river Spree behind the Lutheran Cathedral, Berlin

Italian Presidency

31 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

It was announced that the Italian Parliament has elected the 12th President of the Italian Republic. Italy is a Republic since 1946, the Monarchy was abolished by referendum after the Second World War. I served in Italy as Consigliere presso al Quirinale from 2007-2011 when President Giorgio Napolitano was in Office. A funny little fact, we shared the same barber on Via Dei Serpenti in Rome.

600px-Presidential_flag_of_Italy.svg

Flag of the President of the Italian Republic

Not to be confused with Prime Minister of Italy, who heads the Government.
The President of the Italian Republic (Italian: Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy and, in that role, represents national unity and guarantees that Italian politics comply with the Constitution. The president’s term of office lasts for seven years. The last (11th) President of the Republic was Giorgio Napolitano, who was elected on the fourth round of legislative balloting, on 10 May 2006 and elected to a second term on the sixth round with 738 votes, much more than the 504 necessary for a simple majority on 20 April 2013. On 31 January 2015, Constitutional judge Sergio Mattarella was elected President of Italian Republic.

images-1

Sergio Mattarella and his predecessor Giorgio Napolitano

Qualifications for office

The framers of the Constitution of Italy intended for the President to be an elder statesman of some stature. Article 84 states that any citizen who is fifty or older on election day and enjoys civil and political rights can be elected President.

Those citizens who already hold any other office are barred from becoming President, unless they resign their previous office once they are elected.

The 1948 Italian Constitution does not have term limits although until 2013 no Italian President of the Republic had run for a second term of office. On 20 April 2013 incumbent President Giorgio Napolitano, holder of the post since 2006, agreed to run for another term in an attempt to break the parliamentary deadlock in the 2013 presidential elections and was duly re-elected that same day. He made clear, however, that he would not serve his full term, and retired in January 2015.

Election

The President of the Republic is elected by an electoral college comprising the two chambers of Parliament–the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate–meeting in joint session, combined with 58 special electors appointed from the 20 regions of Italy. Three representatives come from each region, save for the Aosta Valley, which appoints one, so as to guarantee representation for all localities and minorities.

According to the Constitution, the election must be held by a secret ballot, with the 315 Senators, the 630 Deputies and the 58 regional representatives all voting. A two-thirds vote is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting; after that, a simple majority suffices. The election is presided over by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, who calls for the public counting of the votes. The vote is held in the Palazzo Montecitorio, home of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event.

The President assumes office after having taken an oath before Parliament and delivering a presidential address.

Presidential mandate

The President’s term lasts seven years; this prevents any President from being reelected by the same Houses, which have a five-year mandate, and grants some freedom from excessive political ties to the appointing body.

The President’s term may end by:

voluntary resignation;
death;
permanent disability, due to serious illness;
dismissal, as for crimes of high treason or an attack on the Constitution.
Former Presidents of the Republic are called Presidents Emeritus of the Republic and are appointed Senator for life.

In the absence of the President of the Republic, including travel abroad, its functions have been performed by the President of the Senate.

Role

Standard of the President of the Republic.
The Constitution lays out the duties and powers of the President of the Republic, to include:

In foreign affairs:
Accrediting and receiving diplomatic functionaries;
Ratifying international treaties, upon authorization of Parliament (if required according to Article 80 of the Constitution);
Making official visits abroad, accompanied by a member of the government; and
Declaring a state of war, as decided by Parliament.
In parliamentary affairs:
Nominating up to five senators-for-life;
Calling the Chambers of Parliament into extraordinary session and dissolving them; and
Calling elections and fixing the date for the first meeting of the new Chambers.
In legislative matters:
Authorizing the presentation of proposed governmental bills to Parliament;
Promulgating the laws approved in Parliament; and
Remanding to the Chambers (with an explanation) and asking for reconsideration of a bill (permitted once per bill);
Appertaining to popular sovereignty:
Calling referenda.
In executive matters and as to official protocol:
Naming the Prime Minister of Italy after elections, and appointing Cabinet ministers on the advice of the PM;
Accepting the oath of the government;
Receiving the resignation of a government;
Promulgating laws by decree, which are proposed by the government alone. These measures, unless acted on by Parliament, expire after 60 days;
Naming certain high state functionaries;
Presiding over the Consiglio Supremo di Difesa (Supreme Defense Council), and commanding the armed forces; and
Decreeing the dissolution of regional councils and the removals of presidents of regions.
In judicial matters:
Presiding over the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (Superior Judicial Council);
Naming one-third of the Constitutional Court; and
Granting pardons and commutations.
In practice, the President’s office is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial. The Constitution provides that nearly all presidential acts must be countersigned by a member of the government (either the Prime Minister or an individual minister), as most presidential acts are only formal, and real political responsibility is upon the government. Many of the others are duties that he is required to perform. However, pardons and commutations have been recognised as autonomous powers of the President.

Succession

According to Article 86 of the Constitution, in all the cases in which the President is unable to perform the functions of the Office, these shall be performed by the Speaker of the Seante.

In the event of permanent incapacity, death or resignation of the President, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies shall call an election of a new President within fifteen days, notwithstanding the longer term envisaged during dissolution of the Parliament or in the three months preceding dissolution.

Residence

The President resides in Rome at the Quirinal Palace, and also has at his disposal the presidential holdings of Castelporziano, near Rome, and Villa Rosebery, in Naples.

Diplomatic Immunity, the myth!

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Clement XI, diplomacy, diplomatic conventions, Farnese, France, Italy, Louis XIV, Papacy, Rome

This is a much misunderstood topic, everyone thinks that diplomats can get away with murder because they have Diplomatic Immunity. Not so.

Diplomatic immunity or immunity simply put as always existed in every society throughout history on all continents. It is a concept that is necessary when two groups of people wish to settle a dispute or simply speak on a common topic of interest. One party will send to the other party a message, the messenger must be granted safe passage to travel, present the message and return home without being molested. That was or is the original concept, of course we can think of example in history where one ruler not happy with the message he was receiving killed the messenger or as a reply to the other ruler sent the head of the messenger. Poor messenger! We know that Julius Caesar received embassies from the various people Rome was at war with at some point. The emissaries and their persons were respected and went unmolested.

In other cases, passing through a foreign land an envoy would seek safe passage, this was necessary when the ruler of that Country was not neutral in a dispute and might decide to kill the envoy for political gain.

Immunity is given by a receiving State to an envoy who comes in Embassy and in return the Sovereign expects the same for his envoy, in other words you have reciprocity. It is seen like a Sacred agreement and has taken on with time an Aura of Civilized behaviour amongst parties.

Italy

Map of the Papal States surrounded by other Kingdoms and Principalities.

Louis XIV sent an ambassador to the Holy See, which in the 18th century was a State covering much of what is today Central Italy, to resolve a dispute with the Pope over the appointments of Bishops and the naming of Cardinals in France and the activities of the Jesuits. Always a sore point with all kings and emperors. The Pope would appoint people the King did not like and he would have none of it. His Ambassador’s was given a clear mandate to negotiate with the Pope and would press the point with the Papacy in Rome by enlisting the help of the Roman population and other Nobles favourable to the French cause. Most Romans and people living in the Papal States tried numerous times to overthrow the Theocratic rule of Popes.

1024px-San_Luigi_dei_Francesi_-_Facade

San Luigi dei Francesi in central Rome next to Palazzo Madama (Italian Senate). The church has 2 Caravaggio and many other great paintings.

The concept of diplomatic immunity changed with time and customs and was refined. At the time of Pope Innocent XI the immunity given to the Ambassadors in Rome was defined by the Vatican. Rome was ruled like a Theocratic State and the Romans lived in terror of the Papal Police. The French knowing they could pressure the Pope on some point would deliberately go out of their way to challenge the authority of the Pontiff. The French Ambassador declared that his King did not recognize the limits put on the French Embassy on drinking and revelry around the area of the Palazzo Farnese site of the French Embassy. The Ambassador went so far as to declare that his immunity extended as far as his eye could see. Usually diplomatic immunity extends only to the building and residence occupied by the Ambassador and staff and his person. There is no such provisions under as far as the Ambassador’s eye can see. This was pure fantasy and invention. However you have to appreciate the point, from the Office window of the Ambassador, you look out straight into Piazza Farnese and down the Via dei Baullari into the Mercato Campo de Fiori and then all the way down the street into Piazza San Pantaleo passing in front of the Holy See Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura. Meaning that anyone living in this very large area was covered by the immunity of the Ambassador and the Papal Police could not intervene. So the French wooed the population of Rome with parties, music, food and wine poring from the large basins in front of Palazzo Farnese. The Pope was livid that his authority would be challenged in this manner. But the French Ambassador had his orders and he was doing what he was told to do by his Sovereign.

The Pope decided he had enough of the Sun King’s ways and his arrogant Ambassador. So one morning the French Ambassador arriving for Mass at St-Louis des Français or in Italian as the church is known in Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi, found the doors closed.

The parish priests informed the Ambassador that the Pope had excommunicated him over night without the customary courtesy of informing the Ambassador of His Most Catholic Majesty, in other words the immunity enjoyed by the Ambassador was lifted. The Ambassador who represented at the time the most powerful Monarch in Europe was most upset. He immediately dispatched a messenger to Paris to inform his boss Louis XIV, the story has it that the message reached the King in 3 days. An incredible feat for the time and many horses died of exhaustion completing this trip. The Sun King lost no time in reacting, he imprisoned the Papal Envoy and declared war on the Pope, moving his army into Papal territory and threatening to come to Rome to settle scores. The Pope was alarmed and immediately dispatched a special envoy trying to repair the damage done by his actions. Louis would have none of it, he demanded that 3 senior Cardinals come in person to Paris to apologized on their knees for the grave insults made to his August person. The Pope obliged meekly restoring the immunity of the French Ambassador and lifted the order of excommunication.

Thus confirming the principle for all other Sovereigns to see that the person of an Ambassador is Sacrosanct and inviolable. An Ambassador is the personal representative of his Sovereign and his government. Even in the case of war between States, Ambassadors are allowed to return home safely. For this reason the principle of protecting an Ambassador and his Embassy is the responsibility of the receiving State and is a guarantee of good intentions in having diplomatic relations with the other nation, a point of Honour in other words between Heads of State.

Immunity today is defined by the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963. It covers Ambassadors and the diplomatic staff of his Embassy, the Chancery building, the Residence and Official cars. But immunity is given by the receiving State and is not automatic. A diplomat accredited to a country must always behave as a guest would in someone’s house and be very respectful of all the Laws and Regulations of the receiving State. Must never give offence and never do anything that would bring shame or embarrassment to his Ambassador or Government. Pay all his parking tickets and always be polite and courteous with any Official he meets and avoid saying anything which could be seen as a criticism or negative remark on the country where he is. Never engage in disparaging remarks about the Head of State or government of the Host Country. Consular staff are protected under a different Convention 1963 and it is not as extensive as the Diplomatic Convention of 1961.

2088252811_Original

The stories of people misbehaving and claiming they can because they have immunity, is pure nonsense and should not be taken seriously. Immunity is a serious matter and you have to live up to it.  As a diplomat you do not want to be associated with colleagues who misbehave or present when they misbehave so as not to be tainted with their mischief. You can be sent home by your Ambassador for any failings to live up to your commitment to respect and behave according to your status as a Diplomat, no one wants to be sent home with the negative consequences for your career that it implies. It is also important to explain to your kids and spouse that they do not have any immunity at all, they are dependents not diplomats. So they have to walk the straight and narrow. In my career I have seen colleagues sent home because their children misbehaved, meaning doing something which came to the attention of the Police and the Chief of Protocol. Employee-Parent gets called in to the Ambassador’s Office and told you have 48 hours to pack and leave. I do not know of any Ambassador or Government who will tolerate being embarrassed by employees or their family. Relations and briefs between States are too important to be jeopardized by a person who does not understand their role and status. The world of diplomacy is a rarefied one, you are not an ordinary person nor a tourist, you are an agent of your government and must behave as such at all time 24-7. You may meet with business people or ex-patriates or group of citizens of your country but you have to be mindful that they may do as they please but you live under very different rules.

 

 

Oswiecim

27 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

auschwitz, Birkenau, Nazi, Oscwiecim, Poland

You have heard of the village of Oswiecim in Southern Poland about 40 minutes from the ancient Royal Capital of Krakow. Today it is more commonly known by its German name as Auschwitz. I visited this village and the Death Camps about 5 times while in Poland. I did not know much about it at first, no more than the average person did through the usual media reports, movies and history that has been repeated so many times about the Holocaust. I went many times for official reasons to attend ceremonies or because our visitors wanted to see it. It is not a place you want to visit more than once.

280px-Oswiecim-rynek

Oswiecim, Southern Poland, today 

Oswiecim was an ordinary Polish village with a small Cavalry school, the school was closed at some point and then the buildings became a trade school which was in turn closed. The area is covered by forests, it is swampy land and it rather picturesque.

On my first visit on 02 August 1998, I went with several Diplomatic delegations to attend a commemoration ceremony for the SINTI people who were Gypsies (Roma) marked for extermination. Some 23,000 were imprisoned at the larger Auschwitz II Camp Birkenau. Heinrich Himmler, the Head of the SS wanted to study them, they apparently belonged to an Aryan tribe and he wanted their habits and lifestyle studied, the Sinti were housed in Birkenau which is the large industrial extermination camp, Auschwitz I is very small in comparison. After the study was concluded, Himmler had them all gassed in one night. There was one survivor at the ceremony I attended, this gentleman survived because he was sent to another camp the day prior to the mass execution.

Before we attended the ceremony, my colleague suggested I might want to look at the Auschwitz I camp first before going to Birkenau which is 5 minutes away by car.

The buildings are all brick and are built in that style found in Poland, it was a school and the buildings are neatly arranged. It does not look at first like anything special, just old buildings. The electrical wire double fence still rings the whole place and of course the infamous entrance way with its sign above ”Arbeit macht Frei”.

24AUSCHWITZ1-master675

Auschwitz I with its brick buildings.

We walked around and saw how the camp was organized, the house of the Commander and his family, I could not imagine having your family living in such a place but it was very common amongst SS Guards. The small gas chamber next to the house and the crematorium and the still standing gallows from where Camp Commander Höss was hanged in 1947 by the Polish Government. Different buildings and different purpose. The site after being approved by Himmler was refurbished by the SS  just after the invasion of Poland and first opened in May 1940, it was used to house and kill the Polish Intelligentsia, Polish Resistance Fighters and Russian prisoners and Resistance fighters from many other European countries, Priests and Nuns also. Later Jews will also form a contingent of prisoners. Some 70,000 people will die at the Auschwitz I Camp.

There was one building in particular I will never forget, it was the Camp Tribunal, if you can call it that, given that the only sentence was death. Prisoners were brought in and a quick trial took place, mostly to humiliate and degrade the person, this was common for political prisoners, the inmate was then made to strip naked, taken to the outside stone courtyard, where they knelt and were shot behind the head. Prisoners assigned would then drag the body with meat hooks to the crematoria, the ashes were simply dumped outside.

In this building, in the administrative room, which had been old school room, were on displays all the insignia prisoners had to wear, different insignia indicated to what class of prisoner the person belonged to. I suddenly realized that the list of people who did not fit into the political agenda of Nazi ideology was very long. I could have been on that list and found myself in that camp. The criteria could be racial, ethnic, religious, political, medical, sexual orientation, general, etc… It was not restricted to Jews only, they were one part of the whole population.

In Poland, the first victim of the Second World War, some 7 million Poles died, Poles were a special target, Poland was to be wiped out completely and systematically, it cities totally destroyed, nothing was to be left standing, Warsaw suffered that fate amongst many Polish cities. Russians and other Slavic people also where targeted for extermination. Opponents, resistants of any stripe, persons belonging to an opposition or a labour union, journalists, teachers, people suffering from a physical or mental handicap also exterminated. In Germany hospitals were emptied, families received an official death certificate with an invented cause of death. Catholic Priests and Nuns were not safe either, despite the fact that the Nazi Regime was Atheist, the old rivalries of the Thirty year War between Catholics and Protestants were playing out again, in Bavaria a Catholic stronghold repression was vicious.

caption

Courtyard where executions of Political Prisoners took place against the wall at the back. On the right are the steps into the building where death sentences were pronounced. The boarded up windows on the left was to prevent prisoners from seeing what was happening.

Here I was now in a place where evil had reign supreme, I could still feel it and this camp was what evil looked like, unabashed and proud. I remember feeling sick with dread, I could sense the presence of the ghosts of those tormented souls who had perished. I walked into the gas chamber, though abandoned, I could smell the fear and death as if etched in the concrete walls.

Auschwitz I also has very good records of the inmates, each person on arrival was photographed, many with smiles on their faces, they had no idea what was going to happen to them. Little library cards recorded in details their lives and who they were. Why keep such records if you intend to exterminate them all, what madness was this and how could anyone, every day for several years work at killing people systematically. Killing a boring ordinary task, though some enjoyed it and kept thinking of ways to torture inmates, that too is documented. I suddenly understood that humans are capable of great evil which boggles the mind and becomes incomprehensible.

We proceeded to Birkenau for the Commemoration ceremony to the Sinti people. This camp was built on the ruins of a small village called Brzezinka, the ground is swampy. Birkenau or Auschwitz II is immense, cheap wood barracks lined up. I could not quite believe the size of the camp, it was surreal, it opened in November 1943. This is the camp where the trains entered through the infamous gate tower. Where Dr.Mengele worked, he and his acolyte decided on the spot who would die now or be worked to death or who would be subjected to horrible pseudo-medical experimentation. The camp was divided in neighbourhoods, all fenced in from each other. Most prisoners at Birkenau were Jews and Gypsies with populations of Russian prisoners, there was also a section for Czech and Slovak families. This is were one million people perished.

At this point I was rather stunned by it all and could not think clearly. I was thinking mostly of all those people who were put to death without mercy, their crime, they did not fit into the Nazi World Order. There was no human emotions involved, we were in the cold mechanization of death as a means to achieve a political goal enshrined in an ideology of hate which became acceptable because it was presented to the masses in Germany as well meaning and reasonable to ensure prosperity.

Of all those visits to these two camps, my thoughts and prayers always returned to the people who perished and those who survived to tell their tale but also live with the horror for the rest of their lives. The total numbers of dead is not that important, what is important is to remember that these people were just like you or me, ordinary people with jobs, families and friends, from all walks of life, from many countries, princes and paupers, of various religions and beliefs. What the Nazi destroyed was Europe, culture, education, humanity, a whole way of life. They also introduced into the world an evil we still live with today, that evil was not destroyed in 1945, it lingers, if the war in the former Yugoslavia 1991-1995 is anything to go by and so many on-going conflicts.

On this anniversary of the liberation of the inmates of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Russian soldiers in January 1944 let us remember all those souls whoever they may be and those who also perished in all the other Nazi Death Camps. As human beings let us reflect on what it means to live in Peace, understanding and the value of human life.

Burning-candles-in-the-dark-

Banner photo

26 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

I changed the banner photo from a view of Dresden to a view of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, with the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Of all the palaces I visited in the world this is the most fantastic, built by the Moorish rulers. Washington Irving who was a US diplomat in Spain, lived in this palace and wrote his famous book about it. The book is very accurate and a delight to read. The gardens of the palace are also spectacular and well worth several hours to see and appreciate.

Diplomatie

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

BBC, Cold war, diplomacy, Farnese, Fire, Iraq, Kuwait, Nuclear weapon, Oil, Rome, Saddam Hussein

Diplomacy is probably one of the most misunderstood job in the world. You know there is a meme showing 6 pictures of one topic. One is What people think I do, Another is what my mother thinks I do, what my father thinks I do, what my friends think I do and finally What I really do. Diplomacy is like that and it is difficult to explain what you actually do because it is a job requiring much preparation for an assigned task, background knowledge, lots of reading, good writing skills, analysis, logic, and a sense of what might happen with a dose of intelligence work and the most important assets discretion, judgement and patience.

dubauct1

Canadian Diplomatic Uniform prior to 1950. Windsor coat.

I was often asked to write a short report on a situation, usually this report would then be vetted by my immediate superior who would often return it marked in red ink asking me to change this or that or develop a point further, he would also edit the text.  I would then redo it and re-send it to him. He in turn would send it to the Ambassador to have a look, if the ambassador agreed it would in turn be sent to Headquarters to the head of our division and distributed to all other divisions concerned in the Foreign Ministry. One great prize of any dispatch was to be selected for the overnight dispatch paper which was sent to the Minister and Deputy Minister. That always made the Ambassador smile, the report had been noticed and he would make a point of mentioning it at Morning Prayers (meeting with diplomatic staff at the Embassy).

You also have to develop contacts and know people in various segment of Society in the country where you are accredited. Gain their confidence, so they may speak freely with you about a file or a topic which might come to some interesting developments. Knowing the country well and its population, the tensions amongst groups inside the country or the government, who was a raising star or about to be dropped from government or politics was also important. You could not rely on the media international or local since they usually got it wrong. What you had to find out was what the local government thought and who was a well informed and reliable source.

Each one of us kept jealousy our list of sources close to our chest. My superior who was the Head of Chancery (no.2) had some good senior sources and high level contacts but that did not mean that he would get the juicy bit. A more junior person might be able to learn something and then we would put our information together to write our report and get the concurrence of the Ambassador. I was lucky that I never had a political appointee as Head of Mission. They can be more of liability than anything else, so the no.2 is the real head of Mission, the political appointee on a swan song can go out and eat cake and kiss babies. I would find it difficult to trust such a person since they often saw their job very differently, another stepping stone in their career.

British-embassy-Washingto-010

Diplomacy is also a very structured world, top down, the Ambassador is the Captain of the ship. You do not bring to his attention matters that can be resolved by no.2 or no.3 It is very dangerous to hit too high and find out that the reaction is not what you expected. The same with the Foreign Ministry of the country you are accredited to, the way it works is as follows; the ambassador is the one who represents his country, no one else, the Foreign Minister of the receiving State and the Chief of Protocol will speak with him or with no.2 Head of Chancery. All the diplomatic staff are part of the suite (embassy) of the Ambassador. It is the ancient concept when a Sovereign would assign a brief to a person naming them ambassador to represent them and deal with this brief successfully, the ambassador would select people to help him and work under him, his suite and would go abroad with them.

An example of this would be Cardinal Alphonse-Louis du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, the older brother of the other more famous Armand-Jean du Plessis Cardinal Richelieu of France the powerful Prime Minister of the King.  He will go to Rome as Ambassador of King Louis XIII, unlike his younger brother, he is remembered as a pious, honest, modest and good man with a fondness for chocolate which he believed help relieve bad temper. He will put up his Embassy at the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, he will rent the building from the Pope.

palazzo-farnese-studio-ambasciatore

French Ambassador’s Office at the Farnese Palace, Rome (today)

In diplomacy, discretion and patience are huge assets to have in your personal character. Often a brief will take years to resolve and many people will work on it. Sometimes it will be your life’s work, though it is more rare nowadays to spend an entire career on one file. Though being a specialist of a region, knowing the language, the culture, history and it’s people is a great asset. The Russians or Soviets as they were then known knew their region very well and often spent all their career on one country or geographic area. The British are also very good at developing people and their knowledge base.

The difficulties at the personal level are often great, the Foreign Service requires that you travel and live abroad in a culture that is often unknown to you or at least foreign to what you would know at home. Your accompanying family, spouse and children will have to put up with the brunt of this foreignness. Your spouse is at home, working abroad is almost impossible, so the spouse’s role is to keep the home and deal with everyday issues, in terms of shopping and food preparation and managing servants if you have any. There is precious little support from the ex-pat community and or the Embassy, your spouse has to be a flexible, self-starter and patient person. Your kids will have school issues to deal with and often no activities after school, except to stay home and amuse themselves the best they can. Which is fine for children under 12 but for teenagers this can become a huge problem. You are at work and very busy, have long hours and very often functions to attend at night, which may or may not require the presence of your spouse. Those diplomatic functions can be deadly boring but must be attended nonetheless.

Your discretion is also very important, during a career you will come to know things, secrets will be shared with you, it is important that those confidence stay secret, meaning that you cannot at night share with your family around the dinner table. That can be a great burden when the secret is a dangerous one with terrible consequences.

I am thinking here of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962. I was recently in the Canadian War Museum in gallery 4 which is dedicated to the theme of the Cold War 1945-1989. I had older colleagues during my career who had lived through those events, the Atomic Clock was at one minute before Midnight, compared with today we are at 3 minutes before Midnight, meaning that an Atomic Attack was then that close with the MAD effect (Mutual Assured Destruction) which is still in effect today. Imagine coming home and not being able to talk about a possible Nuclear Attack. Not one word, you know everyone would die, there would be no survivors. You have to pretend all is ok, a very difficult situation.

This type of situation thankfully never happened to me but I faced other situations which required quick thinking, staying calm so others would not panic. Like that morning in Cairo when the ground war started between the Allies and Iraq in February 1991 to liberate Kuwait. The invasion had occurred in the night of 2 August 1990, we all knew at the Embassy in July 1990 that Saddam Hussein President of Iraq was preparing to strike. He needed a diversion after the 10 year of bloody war against Iran which solved nothing and ended in a stalemate. Saddam needed to show his strength and picking on Kuwait was very easy, a small State with little military strength, the Kuwait National Guard was 12,000 men strong, on the other hand Iraq had an army of 1.6 million men and massive equipment of all sorts.

Saddam Hussein was a USA Ally in those days, Ronald Reagan and Donald Rumsfeld had courted him and Saddam believed that the USA Government would not mind a military adventure in Kuwait as long as the oil flowed and the contract were not disturbed. The US Ambassador April Glaspie, the first women US Ambassador to an Arab country,  met with Saddam Hussein and declared that the USA had no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts, such as the dispute with Kuwait on the border question. Saddam took that as a sign that the USA would not interfere.

In January 1991, once the 34 Nation coalition had positioned their troops to attack Iraq, the beginning of hostilities against Iraq was now imminent. CNN  had purchased exclusive rights to report the conflict from Baghdad and Peter Arnett was the CNN Correspondent. All other news outlet, in this exclusive deal worth millions of dollars, had been totally excluded by Iraq, to their great anger, Arnett was very much disliked by his fellow correspondent. He in the meantime bought an incredible amount of rare Oriental Carpets many from Iran for bargain basement prices, which he intended to sell after the war. There was an embargo on Iranian carpets so they had a very high value on the open market.

Arnett’s reporting, as I remember it, was sensational and over the top, war as a spectacle. The BBC World Service did a much better job and was far more balanced.

However since most Egyptians listened to CNN including President Mubarak, there was a wild wind of panic in Cairo and every one wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Rumour had it that Cairo would be bombed by Iraq with scud missiles. A fantastic story which made no sense what so ever but you cannot reason with a mob.

So on that morning, our guards suddenly reported that a crowd was gathering at our Embassy gates in the Garden City neighbourhood of Cairo. I was at work, my office was at the back of the building, so I went to the front to see what was happening. The crowd was growing by the minute, it was fairly quiet and orderly. The guards were handing out Consular Registration Forms to anyone claiming to be a Canadian Citizen.

351933366_21a58525d7

View of Garden City neighbourhood in Cairo near the Canadian Embassy in 1991

This is a time before the computer or the internet when Citizens were asked to register in person with their embassy if they were staying for more than a few days and wanted us to contact them in case of emergency. The way to register was very inefficient, forms had to be filled out and in turn we compiled them. Most people did not fill out the forms properly and would not advise us when they left the country. We had 500 Canadians on the paper registry. However that morning more than 5000 persons came to register all at once. We did not have enough forms for such a crowd and the minute the guards ran out of them, panic ensued, the huge crowd became agitated and it was scary, we could not ascertain who they were. They were not Canadians but Egyptian Nationals who had no faith in their own government to help them in time of war. Canada seemed like a good option at the time to most of them, we also had flimsy iron gates and such a crowd could easily tear them down. The British and the American Embassies had massive walls so they were ignored by the crowd. We had to call the Egyptian riot police, who arrived en force and started to clear the street but it took some time. They were armed with long bamboo sticks, a sharp blow inflicts pain and moves a crowd but is not lethal. We in turn had to promise to look into every application presented to ascertain if these people were Canadians. It turned out some had gone to Canada as students, others as tourists and most had no link to Canada but saw an opportunity in the mob action. It was clear that if the crowd had succeeded in tearing down our gates, there would have been violence and injury. The next crisis the handing out of gas masks to the Canadian staff, luckily we never needed them and the war was over in a few days, the Iraqi army melted away but they did set on fire every wellhead.

burning-oil-wells-kuwait-wired_18apr13_getty_b_620x413

Kuwait, some of the 700 well heads blown up by the retreating Iraqi army in February 1991 burning some 6 million barrels of oil per day. The last well head fire was extinguished in November 1991.

We can live in Peace

19 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Arabs, Canada., criminals, Europe, France, islam, media, Muslims, Paris, Peace, politicians, Prophet, terror

After the events of last week in Europe, France, Belgium and Germany involving what I call criminal elements bent on terrorizing society to advance their personal point of view, we heard politicians and experts speak but not convincingly.

Politicians and their experts like to use words like Islamists, Djihadists, terrorists and so on, this is done to give the public an easy target. The politician can then propose more security measures, convincing you that you should allow for less freedoms so they can enforce more and more draconian laws. The so-called experts, nowadays are a dime a dozen, simply repeat the same nonsense, much of it third person anecdotes or use the air time to push the book they just wrote. What really upsets me is how much erroneous information is out there, much of what we hear falls in the category of old wives tales or historical stereotypes. In the old Roman Republic 2700 years ago, there were threats to the survival of Rome and politicians constantly asked for more power and money to solve the problem. The enemy was as exterior force bent on destroying Roman Republican values. Julius Caesar asked for dictatorial powers to solve the problems brought on by the Civil War he had engineered, some people thought it a good idea, though a party in the Senate did not and we know what happened on the Ides of March. Closer to us in the 19th century and 20th century many Nationalistic groups carried out attacks against governments and heads of State.

In 1917 in Russia, the terrorists were called Bolcheviks, in Germany at the same time you had the Spartakist, in 1924 in Croatia there was the Oustachis. in the early 70’s Black September did some spectacular attacks, Germany and Italy had the Red Brigades terror groups. All this to say that various groups at times of troubles will push an agenda based on terror of the masses, the political class always answers in the same way, first minimizing the events and then asking to be given more power for security reasons. After September 2001 the media claimed loudly that the world had changed forever, really, forever? Airports now have so much ”theatre of security” that flying anywhere is unpleasant, each passenger being treated as a potential terrorist, including the 8 month old baby who just pooped in his diaper.

Now we are told by our politicians and the media, the new terrorists are home-grown, it could be your neighbours kids, according to a recent article in the Ottawa Citizen. The kid next door is probably an Islamists or Djihadists, better keep an eye on those pesky neighbours. It would appear that logic has deserted us all together.

The parallel with the books of George Orwell are there for all to see, we are told by the powers that be who is the enemy. In Ottawa and in Montreal we had 2 incidents in October where members of the Armed Forces were killed by so-called Muslim extremists, home grown radicalized youths. I do not buy it, in both cases, they were young men with mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse issues and apparently recent converts to Islam, whose lives where spinning out of control. One was convinced the Devil was going to kill him and heard voices, the other had a life of failures and rejection, no work and estranged from his family, parents divorced and absent from their lives for many years. Both were killed in action and no one claimed them as being part of a greater conspiracy. Though our Prime Minister immediately proposed more powers for himself for the sake of security.

With the events in Paris and the 17 people killed by 3 criminal youth, the media and the politicians again united to vent on the current and present danger these ”Radicalized Islamists” quite the mouthful when you think of it, are out to get us.

What I profoundly find irritating is the fact that most journalists and their friends the experts and police spokespersons know next to nothing of Islam, use non stop clichés and easy images, claim that what is going on in Nigeria or Syria could very well happen here or be exported to our shores. This is truly grasping at straws since none of them wish to appear as not knowing what they are talking about. Ignorance and misunderstanding is spread around and no one bothers to examine more closely the situation or facts or more interestingly the total failure of our Intelligence Services who have ballooning budgets.

In my experience living and traveling in the Middle-East for many years, I never encountered angry Muslims or radicalized or fanatical Islamists whatever you may wish to call them. My work did take me in the field and out of cities, I met rich and poor, young and old, men and women. I also realize that hostility often comes from perceptions, I remember Western women being enraged because they could not enter a Mosque wearing tank tops and hot pants. Same women would have said nothing when refused entrance in a Christian Church for being inappropriately dressed. I heard often in conversations Westerners mocking Arabs, the phrase was ”If they worked as hard as they pray their countries would not be a hellhole”. However I never heard similar statements from Muslims about Westerners, despite the irritating and condescending attitudes they encountered.

As for Europe, the negative attitudes and the marginalization of segments of the immigrant population by natives is nothing new. In many European countries with a long Colonial past, discrimination and racism is part for the course even towards those who were born and bred in Europe. Attitudes are somewhat better in Canada but again we must beware of myths on multiculturalism and diversity which often hide deeper sociological problems.

All this to say that the Muslim population is very diverse and spread around the world in many countries and continents. I know a lot of Muslims, some religious others not. They are funny, generous, kind, respectful, adaptable and do not try to impose their values on others. They too are appalled by acts of terror and afraid of these radicals just as much as anyone else. They also rightly point out that you can call yourself a Muslim or anything else for that matter, but it is wrong to hijack a religion to commit crimes against people.

I know from my reading of the Koran and the Hadith (sayings) of the Prophet that violence is not the way of Islam and the message is one of peace, charity, faith, generosity towards others and good deeds. I am also reminded that Islam comes from Judaism and Christianity, we share all the same prophets, Jesus included and Mary is venerated as the mother of Jesus. This is why when I hear or read stories where Islam is painted as the religion of terrorists, I find this totally wrong and frankly ignorant of established facts. I also do not accept as anti-Muslim arguments selective choosing of some passages of the Koran to attack Islam as a Faith. You can do the same thing with the Bible if you choose certain passages to denigrate Christians.

As for those who commit acts of terror, to me they are criminals pure and simple. They can claim all they want to be acting on behalf of Islam, God or the Prophet, any reasonable person will see that as a bold face lie. Politicians would do well not to give these criminals importance with titles or attributes.

Muslims live in Western democracy and have done so for a very long time and have integrated themselves very well into society, in Canada they represent about 1.5% of the total population. Yes, images of the Prophet are blasphemy and disturbing, but I too am disturbed when Christian religious images are used to mock in making an ideological point or insult a group in our society. Maybe people doing this should think of other ways to express their point of view within our established concept of Freedom of Expression as understood in Western Democracies. Insults are never good arguments and will not win you friends. Only through knowledge of the other can we dismiss arrogant youths and their ignorant beliefs or any other violent criminal groups like ISIS or ISIL or Boko Aram. As for a solution to the problem of violence inflicted on innocent people, vigilance can help and it is up to us denounce such acts as criminal doings and not accept the facile explanation of the Media or grasping politicians.

Khartoum, the Sudan

18 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Egypt, Gordon, Khartoum, Kitchener, Lufthansa, Mahdi, Omdurman, Sudan

During my posting to Egypt, I also visited the Sudan on a regular basis every quarter of the calendar year more or less. In those days we did not have an Embassy in Khartoum and we were accredited to the Sudan but not residing there. If we went to Khartoum we could, in case of emergency, go to the UK Embassy. Now the British had been in the Sudan for a very long time and they had a long colonial history, where as Canada had none whatsoever.

To me Khartoum was a place I had seen in an old movie, the scene where Gordon and the British are waiting for relief from Cairo and are besieged in their compound. In a desperate attempt to frighten the natives who are on a religious war path led by the Mahdi, Gordon dresses up in his parade uniform with all his medals and steps out at the top of the stairs armed with his sabre and a pistol. The sight of him did in fact stop the battle according to accounts, the natives were startled to say the least, however one warrior chucked a spear at him and killed him, all was lost.

Here is a little historical background to that bit of history. Since the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, the British military presence had ensured that Egypt remained a de facto British protectorate. Egypt also controlled the Sudan, and the administration of the Sudan was considered a domestic Egyptian matter by the British government. It was left to the Khedive’s government to administer. As a result, the suppression of the Mahdist revolt was left to the Egyptian army, which suffered a bloody defeat at the hands of the Mahdist rebels at El Obeid, in November 1883. The Mahdi’s forces captured huge amounts of equipment and overran large parts of the Sudan, including Darfur and Kordofan.

General_Gordon's_Last_Stand

The Mahdist forces backed their self-proclaimed Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad. He claimed to be the redeemer of the Islamic nation and enjoyed the support of many in Sudan who desired independence from their Egyptian rulers.

The rebellion brought the Sudan to the attention of the British government and public. Prime Minister William Gladstone and War Secretary Lord Hartington did not wish to become involved in the Sudan and persuaded the Egyptian government to evacuate all their garrisons in the Sudan. General Charles George Gordon, a popular figure in Great Britain and former Governor-General of Sudan in 1876-79, was appointed to accomplish this task. If you visit London UK go to St-Paul’s Cathedral and there you will see the Memorial to General Gordon next to that of Frederick Lord Leighton.

Going to the Sudan from Cairo is a two-hour flight straight down the Nile to Khartoum. Air Sudan had a terrible safety record, most of their flights were either delayed for days or cancelled, was not an option. So I could take Egypt Air, which is a reliable airline or Lufthansa or British Airways. But there was a rule, I needed to obtain from the Egyptian Authorities permission to board the flight at Cairo for the last leg towards Khartoum. Egypt Air wanted to protect their traffic monopoly and Cairo was just a pit stop for flights from Europe or returning to Europe from the Sudan. I preferred to  opt for Lufthansa for various practical reasons and comfort and would board at Cairo. I would also carry with my luggage all my files for a week’s worth of work, remember these are the days before computers, we were still using IBM Selectric typewriters, and would also often have several bags of diplomatic mail, which attracted a lot of attention upon arrival in Khartoum, though such mail is inviolate, meaning cannot be inspected by Customs authorities, the Sudanese government was still curious, though they knew they could not tamper with the bags.

KRT_830X370pxl_1

In 1989 a new government was in place in the Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir became President in a coup d’état. He is currently accused of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in Darfur and in the War in South Sudan. Darfur was an issue then and the bloody war in South Sudan was raging on, also Ethiopians and Eritreans were streaming by the tens of thousands out of Ethiopia, the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam was about to collapse and famine was yet again threatening the country.

It was estimated that over 1 million Ethiopians lived in the Sudan at that period. They were not welcomed and not well treated by the Sudanese, may horrors were visited upon this population by the Sudanese army. You had several reasons for this conflict, the Sudanese in the North saw themselves ethnically as Arabs, Muslims. Ethiopians are Orthodox Christians and belong to a very old people of a different ethnicity. The Sudanese in the South were Africans either Christians or Animists. The Government of the Sudan wanted to dominate and control them, slavery was an acceptable form of control on those population seen as inferiors. The Government in Khartoum also had very poor relations with Egypt because the Egyptians were the former masters historically speaking, a very complex situation which had nothing to do with logic and all to do with twisted Politics. In other words a lot of human misery could be seen everywhere. Also at that time the Sudan decided to ally itself with Saddam Hussein’s Regime in Iraq against the West.

Khartoum as a city then was dusty and had few remarkable buildings, except for the Cathedral now closed, the Palace of the British Governor now the President’s Palace and the Hilton hotel where the Blue and the White Nile met, that hotel is today called the Coral. Each time I visited Khartoum there would some kind of epidemic, typhoid, plague, etc…  I also needed to take my Malaria pills and have by yellow health booklet of numerous inoculations. The Hilton however was another planet, a modern building with its own power supply, water purification plant and armed guards once inside the compound it really was another world.

w161635_7692_khartoum-hilton-hotel_hotel

All the food of the hotel was brought from Europe on a daily basis and all meals were lavish buffets, of seafood, beef, chicken, mountains of desserts and fresh fruits. The bar had been closed for political reasons and so was the pool for pseudo-religious reasons. It was all surreal and typical of such regimes in most third world countries. There was nowhere else to stay in Khartoum, that was clean, safe and secure. The Sudanese government could also in a crude fashion monitor our presence.

At night there were few lights in the City and a curfew after 9pm. Tanks would appear and heavily armed soldiers manned several intersections of the city. Late at night you would also often hear machine gun fire. If you wanted to circulate after 9pm, you had to have with you 2 items, one a special curfew pass obtained only through special permission usually payable in bottles of Johnnie Walker Scotch to a so-called religious official and lots of Marlboro cartons of cigarettes to be given to the soldiers on the streets at check-points, they could not read the Official Curfew pass, only spoke Arabic and they were usually in a very dark mood. It did happen that you would get to a check-point and the soldiers were asleep, what to do, do you wake them up and get shot or beaten severely, you could not simply drive through, because that would create other problems, so often you would stop, somewhere on a very dark street and make noise so the soldiers would wake-up and offer them cigarettes. Marlboro always did the trick and you would get a smile out of them and a quick signal to move along. During my stay in Khartoum I would meet a lot of people and travel in the Sudan to Port Sudan and to Kassala. I would see the increasing presence of the Communist Chinese and their early investments, another way of cultivating allies in geo-political conflicts. I would also have a most memorable encounter in 1991 at the Hilton, but that will be for a later post.

Al-Qahira, Misr

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Cairo, dachshunds, Egypt, life, Mamluks, Nile, Salaheddin, Shepheard, Zamalek

I went on posting to Egypt in 1989 after completing my posting to Mexico, quite a change in geographic location, I was also responsible or accredited to the Sudan. Both countries have a long history. Egypt is the largest and most populous country in the Near East or North Africa and the leader of the Arab World until recently. Radio, television and movie production all came from Cairo, the oldest movie production studios are in Cairo circa 1938 and Egyptian culture dominated the air waves this also means that Egyptian Arabic dominated the Arab Speaking World. It is in terms of a spoken language not as pure as Classical Arabic spoken by Bedouins, often you will hear students of Arabic wanting to go live with the Bedouins to learn highly classical Arabic which is quite beautiful but so difficult to learn.  If you want a comparison Egyptian Arabic is like American slang if you compare it to British English in terms of vocabulary pronunciation. Grammatically Arabic is a complicated language and difficult to master unless you are a serious student. It is poetic language very florid and it follows very different rules in terms of how you formulate a sentence again in comparison to English which is relatively simple as a language.

The Cairo of 1989 was like New York a big, noisy, bustling town, it is truly a city that does not sleep, with a population of 9 million people compared to 2014, the population is now 14 million. Cairo is also a very old City, its foundation dates around 869 AD and architecturally it has many influences and you can clearly see the history of Egypt through the centuries in the buildings and palaces of the City. Various dynasties the Abassid, the Fatimid, the Ayubid, Umayyad dynasties and rulers built the patrimony of Cairo, always following the idea of a great Imperial City to reflect the long rule of the Egyptians over neighbouring countries and region. These Arabic dynasties ruled from Bagbdad and Damascus, later under Ottoman Turkish rule from Istanbul but Cairo being more populous attracted quickly more political clout. Mecca in the Hejaz in comparison is a religious centre and a relatively small new town.  Cairo also became a religious centre with great mosques and the Al-Azhar University with examples of magnificent Islamic architecture, truly marvels of art and with many connections to Mecca due to the migration to Egypt of the relatives of the Prophet after his death. The historian K.A.C.Creswell wrote a wonderful book on early Muslim architecture in 1958.

The night I arrived in Cairo was in early July, so fairly warm around 28 C. my plane touched down around 10pm, Cairo Airport was about 30 Km outside the city then, a big sprawling complex, welcoming all the major airlines of the world. The Embassy driver was waiting for me and took me to my hotel which was on the Nile about two blocks from our Embassy in Garden City. I immediately noticed the heavy traffic and people walking everywhere, Cafés full of people, lights, music and the stench of blood everywhere.

137222_Cairo_CityoftheDeadQarafa_1498

Mausoleums of Mamluk rulers on Moqattam Hill, Cairo

The stench of drying blood was very strong and as we came closer to the centre of the city it was unpleasant. We took the Moqattam Cliff road passing through the Cemetery of the Mamluks and then around the Old Citadel of Salaheddin turning down on to Qasr Al-Ayni road which passes along the Aqueduct (c.1311) to Fumm Al-Khalig on the Nile and turning again unto the Corniche. I asked the driver about the smell and he looked at me and said, Sir it is the great EID and people follow the tradition of slaughtering sheep as Abraham was commanded by God. I also noticed in the more popular neighbourhood that people would then smear the door ways of their houses with the blood of the sheep another biblical tradition.

looking-at-the-aqueduct

The aqueduct of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad stretches half a kilometre from the Nile to the Citadel. 

The meat of the sheep is then roasted and served up, first to any poor person you might know or beggar, this is an obligation and people respect it. When we got to my hotel the Semiramis Intercontinental which is next door to the famous Shepheard hotel, home of British spies and intrigue during WWII, it was around 11:30 pm. The street was absolutely packed with revellers, music, lights, it was like a carnival.

As I entered the lobby with my numerous suitcases, I must have had 4 or 5, they were taken by several Bellhops and then I was greeted by the most fantastic spectacle, there was a great wedding reception going on at least 300 people were singing and dancing, there was a great band dressed in Mamluk era costumes, drums and trumpets and a dozen belly dancers with candelabras on their heads. I was pulled into the Conga line and only dropped off at the Front Desk where the reception clerk greeted me with a smile and said ”Welcome to Egypt Sir”. In many ways the next few years for me in Egypt (Misr) would be like my arrival, one adventure after another, leaving me to this day with great souvenirs.

 

Travelling in Poland

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

cuisine, Food, Gdansk, Gorali, John Borrell, Kania lodge, Krakow, opera, PKP rail, Poland, Tatras mountains, Wawel, Zakopane

While living in Poland we travelled in the country, not as extensively at the time as we would have liked, mostly because in the 1998-2001 period the hotel infrastructure was still not as developed as in other Western European countries. But we had as I indicated in a previous post our Polish Hiking Group with whom we went to various places in Poland and then with PKP Polish Rail we would go up to Gdansk and down to Krakow. Sometimes we would drive but the lack of highways made traveling hazardous and we were forbidden from travelling at night. I remember driving to Zacopane in Winter from Warsaw but we did so all in the day time. The main danger at night were  animals, like cows, sheep or horses on the road. The roads were dark and poorly indicated and in case of accident help might not be available until morning.

Language was also a barrier then, once outside Warsaw, Krakow or Gdansk I am not sure how we would have managed, my Polish was good enough for Warsaw but limited.

When travelling in Poland you do notice the architecture of the Cities and villages, the country farms and the Manor houses or Dwor. In the North the style is influenced by the Hanseatic Trade League which dominated part of Northern Europe from Bruges to Latvia between 1267 to 1669, it had its own flag and style of architecture, laws and regulations. Since it re-grouped the merchant class, the Hansa had a lot of clout and influence, when in Gdansk (Danzig) you see this style of architecture.

Krakow on the other hand in the South is the ancient Royal Capital of Poland with Wawel Castle, its Royal Cathedral built-in the Italian Baroque style where the Kings of Poland were Crowned, it is also their resting place and that of National Heroes. During the Second World War many of the most important treasures of Poland were kept in Montreal and only returned to Wawel in 1959. The City boast many churches and Trade hall, it has that flavour of Old Poland about it.

Travel Photos - Poland

Wawel Castle, Krakow

33_5

Mausoleum of St-Stanislaus, Patron Saint of Poland

Often on weekends we went to visit a fellow from New Zealand who had married a Polish girl and was specializing in building a wine cellar and a small boutique hotel about 35 minutes West of Gdansk in the small village of Kartuzy in the Kaszubia region. This area of Poland is very interesting, it was old Prussia and much history happened in and around this region. Malbork is also not far and by coming from Warsaw by train we would stop near the old fortress.

John Borrell who is a former War Correspondent Journalist and his wife Anna opened around 1993 this small lodge hotel on a pristine lake, beautiful and peaceful. Since it has become famous, it now has its own vineyard and a Villa was also built near the Lodge. Kania Lodge and the wine cellar has won many awards from the New York Magazine, Wine Spectator and it is listed amongst the best 500 hotels in the world.  kanialodge.com.pl Total number of rooms-suites is 15. I know John Borrell and I had conversations years ago on what he wanted to do with his small hotel, with the help of his wife Anna, they bought much of the land around their property to ensure that the area would remain pristine and be encroached upon by developers. There was one small piece of land near the road at the top which he wanted to buy but the farmer who was open to selling the land, would not sell to him because he was not Kaszubian nor Polish. I do not know if he ever managed to buy this parcel of land finally. Nonetheless it is a beautiful property and quite relaxing for a few days of quiet.

Kania Lodge Poland

10710523_538999002898374_7301810901154041038_n

I remember the food at Kania Lodge was of very high standard, regional and using local produce. We just loved it at night being in the countryside you could see our Galaxy the Milky Way and the number of visible stars was amazing to look at.

But for a taste of truly old Poland you have to go to Zywiec, Nowy Targ and Zakopane and see the Highlanders or Gorali. About 1000 years ago Celts, Saxons and Slavs lived in the area. By 1200, Germans, Slovaks, Wallachians and Russians also settled in this mountainous area, Tatras and Pieniny Mountains. The Gorali culture has a distinct dialect, farming practices, architecture, dress, music, cuisine and mindset. Their ornate costumes of wool and flax are very regional in design, the men’s trousers bare the kind of military stripes once common to Hungarian troops in Orava and Liptov counties in Slovakia.

images-1

Polenez_Dance_Group,_Surrey_Fusion_Festival_2010_a

This is another area where we went hiking and though I do not ski, returned in winter. I do recall at the time that the main heating system was soft coal which gave me a powerful headache. Though I am told now that all coal heating has been replaced.

p1000448-photo_1337243-770tall

The Tatras Mountain area is very interesting to visit and the scenery is breathtaking. This is a vacation area for hiking, a good drink, conversation, book reading, if you are a painter you certainly would be inspired by the landscape and tasting regional cuisine specialty. Often you will find local musicians in restaurants and the music and songs of the Gorali is very nice. In fact there is one opera entitled The Miracle, or the Cracovians and the Highlanders written by Wojciech Bogusławski’s to music by Jan Stefani, it is considered to be the first Polish national opera. Written and staged shortly before the third partition of Poland. Here is a short explanation of this political situation; The Partitions of Poland were a series of three partitions that took place towards the end of the 18th century as a result the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was dissolved and sovereign Poland disappeared as a country for 123 years. The partitions were conducted by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria, which divided up the Commonwealth lands among themselves progressively in the process of territorial seizures.

The opera its witty, light musical form and brilliant text carried a very clear national and pro-independence message which was particularly important to Polish audiences at that time, today, it only has a historical significance. The Cracovians and the Highlanders (Gorali) is still an attractive show with a universal message stemming from folk wisdom. The Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowe in Warsaw is presenting it this coming March 2015.

normal_i52604_IMG0278

Typical Zakopane architecture 

← Older posts

Fans of the Muffin

  • Richard's Left Bank
  • Willy Or Won't He
  • Storie & Archeostorie
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-23
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.
  • Philippe Lagassé
  • Moving with Mitchell
  • Palliser Pass
  • Roijoyeux
  • Spo-Reflections
  • KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION
  • My Secret Journey
  • Routine Proceedings
  • The Historic England Blog
  • Larry Muffin At Home
  • Sailstrait
  • dennisnarratives
  • Prufrock's Dilemma
  • domanidave.wordpress.com/
  • theINFP
  • The Corporate Slave

Blog Stats

  • 126,372 hits

Birthplace of Canada

C1A 1A7, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Follow Larry Muffin At Home on WordPress.com

Archives

  • January 2023 (9)
  • December 2022 (13)
  • November 2022 (10)
  • October 2022 (15)
  • September 2022 (17)
  • August 2022 (10)
  • July 2022 (10)
  • June 2022 (13)
  • May 2022 (11)
  • April 2022 (11)
  • March 2022 (14)
  • February 2022 (9)
  • January 2022 (14)
  • December 2021 (17)
  • November 2021 (12)
  • October 2021 (12)
  • September 2021 (13)
  • August 2021 (10)
  • July 2021 (13)
  • June 2021 (12)
  • May 2021 (12)
  • April 2021 (15)
  • March 2021 (12)
  • February 2021 (11)
  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (22)
  • November 2020 (16)
  • October 2020 (17)
  • September 2020 (13)
  • August 2020 (17)
  • July 2020 (16)
  • June 2020 (23)
  • May 2020 (24)
  • April 2020 (23)
  • March 2020 (28)
  • February 2020 (20)
  • January 2020 (12)
  • December 2019 (17)
  • November 2019 (15)
  • October 2019 (18)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (10)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (12)
  • March 2019 (8)
  • February 2019 (7)
  • January 2019 (9)
  • December 2018 (15)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (7)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (7)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (10)
  • April 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (7)
  • February 2018 (5)
  • January 2018 (11)
  • December 2017 (19)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (20)
  • September 2017 (12)
  • August 2017 (11)
  • July 2017 (24)
  • June 2017 (17)
  • May 2017 (24)
  • April 2017 (23)
  • March 2017 (21)
  • February 2017 (22)
  • January 2017 (23)
  • December 2016 (19)
  • November 2016 (21)
  • October 2016 (25)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (8)
  • April 2016 (21)
  • March 2016 (17)
  • February 2016 (30)
  • January 2016 (23)
  • December 2015 (36)
  • November 2015 (23)
  • October 2015 (26)
  • September 2015 (22)
  • August 2015 (15)
  • July 2015 (21)
  • June 2015 (27)
  • May 2015 (17)
  • April 2015 (16)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (21)
  • December 2014 (4)

Blog Stats

  • 126,372 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.

Richard's Left Bank

Books, whimsey & political satire (views of news from those that snooze)

Willy Or Won't He

So Many Years of Experience But Still Making Mistakes!

Storie & Archeostorie

Notiziario di storia, arte e archeologia (©2010-)

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-23

ROME - THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.

ROME – THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

Philippe Lagassé

In Defence of Westminster

Moving with Mitchell

Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.

Palliser Pass

Stories, Excerpts, Backroads

Roijoyeux

... Soyons... Joyeux !!!

Spo-Reflections

To live is to battle with trolls in the vaults of heart and brain. To write; this is to sit in judgment over one's Self. Henrik Ibsen

KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION

Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know About Berlin

My Secret Journey

The road I have traveled to get to where I am today.

Routine Proceedings

The adventures of a Press Gallery journalist

The Historic England Blog

Larry Muffin At Home

Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Sailstrait

Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown

dennisnarratives

Stories in words and pictures

Prufrock's Dilemma

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”/Let us go and make our visit.

domanidave.wordpress.com/

Procrastination is the sincerest form of optimism

theINFP

I aim to bring delight to others by sharing my creative endeavours

The Corporate Slave

A mix of corporate and private life experiences

  • Follow Following
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Join 538 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...