Happy Easter or Chag Sameach

Tags

Easter, Passover, Spring

Well this weekend the 3 monotheistic religions are celebrating religious holidays. The Jews celebrate Passover with a Seder dinner, Christians it’s Easter (Old Passover) and Muslims are in the middle of the Month of Ramadan.

On Sunday morning we will go to Brunch at Slaymaker and Nichols a restaurant which is named after the circus that was in town when the Fathers of Confederation came to Charlottetown to discuss forming a federation now called Canada. Who knew go to the circus and you get a new country. The restaurant is in an old house which is located on the site of the Circus tent.

It is known for its innovative dishes and great cocktails. That should be our day outing. On Monday we are going to friends for lunch and I am making a casserole with French Ham thinly sliced and sliced potatoes in a white cream sauce gratinée. They live outside of town by the entrance into the harbour. It’s a very nice rural setting with lots of trees and greenery all around. They just bought a grand piano, both are concert pianist and music teachers.

Of course Friday everything was closed, being Good Friday, it was so quiet. I was able to get breakfast at my hotel in Halifax but then they were closing at 11:00am. The town was also very quiet, maybe some restaurant might be open. The same here, shops and every business was closed. So you learn to shop the day before. The weather has been warm and even the wind is warm. This means the idiots with small penises are out with their motorcycles and souped up cars.

We will have visitors this Summer coming to celebrate a Birthday and I am happy about that. We will have people coming to the cottage at the beach. So it is looking like a fun Summer.

Hope you all have a great Passover or Easter.

Getting ready

Tags

Easter, lunch, PEI

This is the long Easter Weekend, 4 days. Mind you I have been on a long weekend for the last 8 years, it must be some kind of record. So to avoid rush though crowds here are strictly controlled with going to the grocery store or any store, so there is no crowds. At the Farmer’s Market this morning which is always popular, when I arrived there was about 30 people in line, social distancing, + masks waiting to be let in, so that the numbers inside do not exceed the allowed number.

So we got a big ham with the bone in, all our vegetables and other necessities earlier this week. I got 3 big bunches of freshly cut tulips at the market from VANCO who is the producer here on PEI, it’s Tulip time now. Some rosemary bread and farm eggs.

I set the table at home for lunch tomorrow, had to polish the silver and decide which place setting to use, decide if it will be table cloth or place mats, we went for Polish cotton tablecloths. Make a flower arrangement for the centre from the tulips of various colours. Iron the napkins, each place setting has Easter Chocolates. Then we had to decide the serving order would it be buffet style or French service. We decided to plate everything in the kitchen and serve directly at the table. Wine service, etc. We have been doing this routine for years, so we are use to it.

Since lunch is at 2pm tomorrow, we will have to get up early, to cook the ham, Will is going to prepare the individual Asparagus tartelettes for each guest as an appetizer.

Dessert is panna cotta with a coulis of blueberries, that Will prepared today. The blueberries are from last Season and they are small and tasty.

Here is a photo of the table. Hope you all have an enjoyable day.

65th Easter Weekend

Tags

Easter, Passover

How is that possible, so many Easters, if as a child in Montreal, Toronto or Quebec City, Easter was with Good Friday still very religious holidays though it was starting to change with consumerism at every corner. Back then it was the thing to do, to give children live rabbits or live chicks, small children had no idea how to treat these poor animals and many died within 72 hours. It was an Easter massacre but hey it was suppose to be fun for the kids. By the 1980’s the practice had disappeared instead replaced by an orgy of gifts and chocolates and treats for the kids.

In our home we never had live animals, my mother did not like that because it dirtied her house. At Easter we would go for Brunch at some big hotel and would get one chocolate bunny, usually milk chocolate, which I do not like.

So this is a 4 day long weekend. Good Friday is a Statutory Holiday, Saturday some shops will be open for last minute shopping and Sunday is a Holiday. Monday for everyone not working in the private sector it is a Holiday. So around noon time on Thursday lots of people were leaving work for this holiday.

I did all my shopping ahead of time to avoid the crowds on Saturday. The weather however is not good, lots of April Showers and cloudy skies for at least a week.

We are going to friends for dinner on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon for Lunch we are having a few friends. Ham is on the menu this year, panna cotta for dessert.

Hope everyone has a good Passover and a Happy Easter.

Anniversary 4 Years ago

Tags

Blossom Dearie, Charlottetown, Easter, memories, Music, Peggy Lee, PEI, sunshine

On this beautiful and Sunny Easter Sunday listening to Blossom Dearie sing accompanied by Joe Harnell and Miss Peggy Lee, music chosen specifically to remind us of life or time long ago, a month ago!

In April 2016 at this time in Ottawa we were actively packing and cleaning our apartment, the move to PEI was upon us. The condo where we lived had been sold and we had to decide where we were to move next. The new owners were not planning to move in, their plans were not clear and on the day before the movers where to come and pack it all for us, the new owners asked out of the blue, would we stay and continue living there. It was too late, we were committed to moving and had signed a lease in Charlottetown, plans were made and PEI was calling.

So it has been four years in Prince Edward Island living here in the Capital Charlottetown, a big village really at 36,000 persons, compared to Ottawa with more than a million people. We were packed in 2 days and I left with the puppies in the back seat of the car for the East Coast, I drove it in two days. It is 1100 Km and can be done in one day, the highway system is fast and follows the Saint-Lawrence river to the Gulf. But despite having a co-driver, a dear friend who was most helpful, he told me suddenly just after we passed Montreal some 3 hours into the trip that he had forgotten at his house back in Ottawa, his wallet and drivers licence. We had a laugh, but despite him telling me that it was not a problem because if we were stopped by the Sûreté du Québec (Provincial Police in Québec) he would explain to them that he had a permit and it was at home. Yeah sure, I know the Officers of the Sûreté du Québec and they are not the type to be understanding especially if you have out of Province plates. So I did all the driving. We stopped in Rivière du Loup at a point where the Saint-Lawrence river is very wide as it enters the Gulf and where the highway will turn right towards New Brunswick. The scenery in that area is very nice with great forests and mountains, lakes and the Sea not to forget a lot of Moose on the road, which is a dangerous hazard and so much so that you are warned to be on the look out and not let your guard down. There is also a special 3 digit number to call if you do see a Moose on the road.

Will did not come on that trip to PEI, he had to finish a work contract. The puppies were funny, both slept through the car trip, not a peep out of them, Nora was happy and exploring at pee stops the new unfamiliar scents, Nicky was not happy, he was bewildered and stressed by this break in his routine. It would get worse in the week to come, he became skittish and would vomit his food and not sleep well and this despite all the re-assurance we would give him with hugs and treats. He lost his appetite and I became worried about him. We did see a Vet in Charlottetown on arrival and she kindly explained that he was suffering from nerves because his routine was broken and was coming to a new home. We did arrive 3 days ahead of the truck transporting our 4 and a half tons of furniture and stuff. we did live in an empty house for a few days. This did not help Nicky who wanted his furniture, rugs, and other furnishings. Nicky has always been the delicate one. Nora was perfectly happy, new place Wow!

The truck arrived carrying two containers and everything was brought into our house. It was a sunny day and then the neighbours showed up to welcome us. We had a kitchen party with 65 boxes and and furniture everywhere, but that is the way things are in PEI.

In the last four years, we learned PEI, by this I mean that being an Island with a total population of 150K and far is only a 15 minute drive away anywhere. Everyone knows everybody and went to school since kindergarden and probably married so and so cousin, etc. There are strong political and family loyalties and the Island is divided between Irish,Scotts on one side and the Acadian French on the other. Protestants and Catholics, Conservatives and Liberals. Born on PEI and CFA (come from away) who are mostly Canadians who move to the Island from other parts of Canada and then the new element the immigrants from all over the planet.

It is not like other large provinces in Canada, it is not an easy place to live in at first and pitfalls are many, it takes a lot of ploughing through. Most people who have second homes on PEI come for two or three months a year in the Summer and then leave, so the so called Islanders treat them as nice tourists and they in turn are not aware of the under current of society. We living here full time including not leaving the Island to go South for a few weeks in Winter makes us Islanders by adoption.

We have wondered sometimes why we were here and had we made a mistake being so accustomed to large metropolitan cities and capitals around the world to come to such a small place. But as I say in the title page of this blog; The World is a small village, so we see our home here in Charlottetown as our new home, this is our place now.

The last four years has been very busy, no sleepy retirement for us. Volunteer opportunities are numerous and everywhere. For Will and I there was the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre. Will got involved with our 52 year old Symphonic Orchestra with its Maestro from Juilliard in NYC, fundraising and organizing numerous events and programs for the loyal following. Then one day I went knocking on the door of Government House. A friend had suggested I go speak with the E.A. of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI and offer my services given my past work experience. I was somewhat hesitant to do that, but why not, had to walk up past the gates and see if some guard would chase me away, no not at all. Yes of course said the E.A. I could come and help I was told. So I started there as a volunteer.

With elections coming on at the Provincial and Municipal level, I started to study the social and political issues, the trends and various opinions floating around. I did run for City Councillor in my Ward. It was a very interesting experiment, I learned an awful lot about society and life in PEI and Charlottetown, Political factions and the ever present and influential wealthy first families who control the economy with a very tight grip. I did become well known and a lot of people were curious about why I wanted to get involved in what many saw as quick sand. I also got involved with the Acadian Cultural Association and their many activities, 2020 marks the 300th Anniversary of Acadian presence on the Island and the terrible events which would lead to mass ethnic cleansing in 1750-55. PEI has a very rich history and a complicated one at that.

In the last four years Will and I met lots of people from the Lieutenant Governor to the Premier to the Mayor to many Artists and cultural figures, developers and business people.

So it has been four years, we think of it sometimes as a ”posting”  which would correspond to the period we would spend in one Capital around the world before moving on. The difference now is that we are here and God willing we will stay here and continue to learn this Island.

So since we cannot have a party to celebrate with our friends on the Island, we will have to plan for sometime later. In a departure from tradition we also cannot have people over for Easter Sunday Lunch, it is only the two of us, but on the menu we have roasted PEI lamb chops, Greek roasted potatoes, carrots and brocolini, a nice French rosé wine and the German Easter Bread turned into a bread pudding with all its lovely flavours of apricot jam, raisins and almonds.

To quote Her Majesty, We will meet again. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.

Nicky enjoying the Spring morning sunshine on his favourite chair, he is looking forward to hot Summer days.

 

Preparations

Tags

Canada., covid19, Easter, Food, lamb, Passover, traditions

In this atmosphere of suspended animation in which we live in since March 12, almost one month ago now, life goes on. So we continue our activities at home and nowhere else since everything is closed. Imagine for a moment what would life be like if we did not have any social media or internet and other electronic gadgets. We would have books, we could take walks, though that is discouraged and for those who do take a short walk just around the block, if you should meet someone immediately there is a tension to walk past but far away, cross the street to the other side, make sure there is that distance. It is very unnatural but necessary. At the grocery store the only place still open to shop, as of today 9 April we must now line up outside the store and be let in one by one. Inside there is a tension and people are watchful of each other, many try to maintain a distance as required and then others simply ignore all and do as they please. This applies to both men and women and if it can be said that some men are clueless about it, women are often trying to prove a point. You would like to say something but better not, such people are looking for an excuse to make a scene.

I did all my shopping ahead of time to avoid Thursday’s rush, the grocery stores are closed Friday, open on Saturday, it will be a zoo and closed again on Sunday. If they open on Monday there will be nothing to shop for given the rush of Saturday and the next delivery trucks will not come before Wednesday next week.

Today the news was grim, the Media in general have been pushing and pressuring the Federal Government and the Provincial Governments to say what are the hypothetical numbers in the statistical model of sick and dead in the coming months. The numbers are not a known fact, they are based on a projection of what could or might happen if people do not change their behaviour to help flatten the curve. The Media ran with it predicting the end of the world and listening to radio news the reader took on a dramatic voice with much inflection to make it sound as terrible as it possibly could. Then you are told this is news you can trust, really? The Prime Minister made it clear that this crisis could easily extend to December with all the restrictions in place. Still a lot of people are flaunting the rules in self-destructive and selfish behaviour.

On the other hand a recent poll shows the Prime Minister JT is getting 97% approval rating for what he is doing in response to the crisis. The opposition Conservative is at 29% not surprising given their highly negative unhelpful tone. You know you are in Canada when the Premier of Quebec says this Easter weekend is not the time to go to Church or participate in religious service given the high possibility of infections in such gatherings. The churches are closed anyway. We are told you can pray at home! Quebec also has the terrible distinction of having 12,000 cases, I cannot understand how that happened. Ontario with a population of 14 million people, twice that of Quebec has 6000 cases. Here in little PEI we have 25 cases and holding, our senior retirement homes are all safe with no cases, a blessing.

 

Marzipan Lamb of God for your table,  an old Italian tradition.

We have done a lot of baking for Easter, Will made from scratch Hot cross Buns for Good Friday. It took most of the day to make them. I made a German Easter Bread and because it is so big, half of it will be turned into a bread pudding for our Easter day meal. It is only the two of us this year, a first. Will also made little puff pastry meat pies. On Easter Sunday it will be lamb for lunch and we decided to dress up and have a Face Time drinks with our neighbours.

Hope you are all having a good Easter or Passover as the case may be. Best Wishes!

More cooking

Tags

Bread, cuisine, Easter, Food, Germany, Sweet, Traditional

More Sunshine and more Cooking for Easter this time. Now that we are in Easter Week we have to get ready and so I found this traditional Sweet German Braided Easter Bread recipe. It is a sweet bread with raisins, almonds, apricot jam topping. Every Easter we do a special sweet, in Italy there was this very traditional Patiera Napoletana. In Ottawa an Italian deli and pastry shop made those on special orders. It was soooooo Good! Pastiera napoletana is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs, ricotta cheese, and flavoured with orange flower water. You can make it at home if you want, but it is a lot of work.

So while making this sweet German braided bread I thought of the word Gemütlich 

Gemütlichkeit means a situation that induces a cheerful mood, peace of mind, with connotation of belonging and social acceptance, coziness and unhurry. This is what our Easter will be. Frankly looking at the results of our work (Willy and I) today I am in a very good mood.

The sweet German bread is far bigger than what I expected I would say double size of a normal loaf. It looks great, smells wonderful as it cooks. It also took me 3 hours to make because of the steps to let the dough rise. It’s all fun. It is something we would usually buy in a bakery but with the current crisis that is not possible so making it at home is so much more pleasant and guarantees good taste and no funny cut corners. Mr Willy helped me along, I had never made this recipe before and he is our bread maker in the family.

If you wish to try this recipe, here it is:

Cuisine: German

Author: Angela Schofield

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream room temperature
• 2/3 cup luke warm milk
• 1 tsp. lemon extract
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1 cup hot water

Topping:

• 4 tbsp. milk plus 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/3 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

• Add the raisins into a small bowl and cover with hot water.
• Measure the sour cream and set out to reach room temperature.
• Add flour to a large bowl and form a well in the middle.
• Add yeast and about 2 tsp. sugar to the well.
• Warm the milk to luke warm and pour it into the well.
• Stir gently while incorporating some flour.
• Cover and let rise in warm place for 30 minutes.
• Add the oil, the rest of the sugar, the sour cream, and the lemon extract to the bowl and knead for about 5 min.
• Strain the raisins.
• Then add the salt and the raisins and knead for another 5 min.
• Cover and let rise in warm place for 60 minutes.
• Add the dough to a floured working space and form to an oblong loaf. Cut lengthwise into 3 pieces and braid.
• Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.
• Mix the milk with the sugar and brush onto the loaf.
• Preheat oven to 350ºF and bake for about 20-25 minutes
• In the meantime, warm up the jam and spread onto the warm loaf.
• Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

The video can be found on YouTube, https://alltastesgerman.com/german-recipes/pastry/easter-bread/?unapproved=21359&moderation-hash=692351f19b7fe66495c6739b3d59561b#comment-21359

Not to be outdone, Will made these Scottish Pasties filled with beef, carrots, onions and peas. Delicious!!!

Tomorrow I may make my upside down common pear cake, a recipe I got from Ms Lori in Imoden, Arkansas.  I also want to go shopping before the crowds for our Easter Lunch. I got most everything but I simply do not want to go to the grocery crowds. We will also have to train both Nicky and Nora not to kill the Easter Bunny, hey they are Dachshunds and Nora is a tracking hunting dog with a long family pedigree in Italy. They cannot help themselves. Poor bunny would not stand a chance with their jaws of death. LOL!!!

Such a sweetie our Nora. 

Another sunny day

Tags

booze, cars, driving, Easter, island, Montague, PEI

Another Sunny Day, YAY!!!!! It got warm today around 40F with lots of sunshine, opened a window and enjoyed a nice car ride out of town without the heater in the car. Time to think of having the tires changed and getting my car’s annual inspection done. Every year the PEI Government requires you to get a new licence sticker at $100 fee and also a safety inspection at $45. the inspection can be done at your dealership. The only catch is that often they see you coming and will suggest new tires or brake job or some other kind of maintenance, hard to say no because if you do not have your inspection sticker it affects insurance etc. so they got you.

Covid 19 wise we are doing OK, the daily briefing by our Provincial Health Chief Dr Heather Morrison, the woman is seen as a Saint here, told us that we are holding at 22 people who had the virus, of that number 8 now have recovered, No deaths and No hospitalization. This is pretty damn good, if you look at Quebec with 900 + new cases in one day, total 9000 cases and Ontario at 4500 cases in the same boat, Alberta and British Columbia are also not doing well. In total Canada has about 16,000 cases and growing with close to 400 dead. Quebec now has police road blocks everywhere to stop people travelling, I am amazed they had to institute this measure just to get people to STAY HOME. What I do understand now is that Canada is populated by spoiled children who are very selfish and entitled, a kindergarden in other words.

So Easter is coming on 12 April, we needed vodka, gin, wine and prosecco. So we drove to Montague a 30 minute drive. In Island speak that is very, very, far away, who would go that far and not spend the weekend, Yes Islanders are a funny bunch. Anyone living in any large city would never think that given traffic etc. but on the Island traffic is 2 cars on the road, lots of traffic is 5 cars, beyond that well it’s the end of the world.

We knew the protocol to go to the Liquor store in Montague, friends living in the area told us its very quiet. Montague as a population of  1900 people on the ocean, lovely place. We were met at the door of the store by the security guard who asked us a few health related questions, things like you are not sick and no fever or cough etc, like everyone else, he fully expected us to be honest in our answers and truthful, its a personal honour thing.  We had to give our order of liquor to the clerk inside at the table, you cannot wander the store because of the Pandemic. So we checked out the website in advance,  got the name of what we wanted and told the clerk and she then went to get the bottles and brought them to the cashier who was behind this big plexiglass thing. The good news is the Government raised the limit from $100 to $250 dollars. The original reason for the limit of $100 was that all is required then is to TAP your credit card on the machine and not touch it. But now since everyone is wearing gloves, we had our gloves on, they will accept debit and credit cards and cash. So we went wild with our purchases. We got all the liquor we needed to celebrate Easter in style at home by ourselves.

The funny thing was that the Cashier asked Will if he was from Charlottetown, he looks like a townie? WHY? Well we were wearing corduroy pants instead of jeans, I had a baseball cap but it was from Trinity College Dublin instead of the Toronto Blue Jays and Will had a Irish tweed hat. I was clean shaven! OMG! All that is a dead give away, you are not country obviously, you come from the Capital with all the bright lights some 30 minute driving time away.  We told friends back in Charlottetown who are old time Islanders and they laughed. We were obviously too well dressed.

We also went to see our friend who lives in Lower Montague, which is 2 minutes beyond the village limits and on the Ocean, the view is open water and in the far distance its the Cap Breton in Nova Scotia. Montague is a lovely place and like Georgetown which sits on the other side of the very wide arm of the Montague river its very PEI.

From our Friend’s front yard the view of Georgetown across from her and then a longer view of Panmure Island and the Strait of Northumberland.

For this Good Friday

Tags

Catalonia, Easter, Gaudi, Sagrada Familia, Spain

I was thinking of a famous church today in Barcelona in Catalonia. This church has been in construction for 137 years and it is estimated that it will be completed by 2026.  I remember studying it in school 50 years ago when General Franco was the dictator in Spain and the church was sitting idle with little work being done and no money to go forward. In the last 25 years things have changed and now with tourism money is fuelling a campaign for the completion of the building. Teams of architects and artists are carving stones and following the plans of the original architect Antoni Gaudi making is vision reality.

There is a beautiful blog on this project. See the link https://blog.sagradafamilia.org

I had the chance to visit the church several times between 1998 and 2012 and the progress is impressive. All the elements in the vision of Gaudi had to have a special significance on the Creation, nature and God.

If you have a chance to visit Barcelona, do drop by for a visit.

Easter Sunday

Tags

Chocolate, Easter, lunch, PEI, Roast Lamb, tulips

Well I went out early today, well early for me, 10am to do all the shopping for tomorrow because everything will be closed for the Holiday.  The stores were full and so was the Farmer’s Market but it all went well. Will cleaned around the house and the weather was lovely and warm, really Spring now.

Got the table set for lunch tomorrow, we will have a few guests in for Easter Lunch on the menu roasted Leg of Lamb, two veg, roasted potatoes with rosemary to start we will have puff pastry with asparagus. The dessert is fresh orange slices with a syrup of honey and cinnamon.  The tulips are from Vanco just down the road out of Charlottetown. Yellow, red and purple bunches.

Tomorrow the weather calls for rain in the afternoon, will see. Got some good European chocolates, not a lot just enough to say we have some. I know some parents who have been feeding their kids chocolates all week with the result that the kids are now bouncing off the walls on a sugar high.

Here is the Easter photo of Will with Nora and Nicky.

Notice Nora sniffing at the Espresso, if left unattended she will put her nose in the coffee and drink it, must be the milk and sugar she likes. Nick just lounges.

A few mornings ago,  the weather was foggy at sunrise and the air had a lot of humidity in it, it created an icy fog on the trees which only lasted as long as it takes the Sun to rise and warm up the air.

I hope you all have a fine day and enjoy yourself.

 

Easter Week

Tags

Abbasid, books, Calif, Creswell, Easter, El-Solh, Fatimid, Ibn Tulun, Islamic architecture, King Hussein, Mosque

The week has started with a decidedly Spring like atmosphere, sunny, the snow is going fast what little there is left of it, the river is ice free and the breeze is gentle again. It is March break so the city is quiet, people are away. As I clean the book shelves I am rediscovering books I had forgotten about. I read them some time ago and they have been sitting on the shelf since, we also have a lot of brochures and maps of places we visited. Some books are scholarly, some where written many decades ago, I have a few rescued from the Embassy of Canada Library in Baghdad, Iraq. The Chancery was closed a long time ago and our embassies do not have libraries anymore. The books either given away or thrown away in a clean up effort.

One book is entitled, A short account of Early Muslim Architecture by Professor Sir K.A.C. Creswell, C.B.E. (1879-1974) and published by Librairie du Liban. He went to the Levant in 1916 with the Royal Flying Corps and took an interest in Islamic architecture in what is today Syria, then British occupied territories after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, he was then transferred to Palestine. He conceived a project for a book on Muslim architecture of Egypt and King Fouad was his patron. He was appointed professor to the University of Egypt, later he became the chair of Muslim Architecture at the American University in Cairo. The book jacket has an old aerial picture probably 1920 of the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo built in 876 by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, Governor of Egypt of the Abbasid Calif, it is one of my very favourite for its Samarran style architecture, quiet, austere.

Aerial view of Ibn Tulun in old Cairo.

The book is very interesting, Creswell gives a lot of details on who the architects were and the style Abbasid or Fatimid, the two great dynasties of early Islamic era, the masonry work, the plans and decorations all of it in geometric forms which the Arabs developed into an art form since the Third Commandment forbids making graven images of God (Allah) Exodus 20:4-6  Cairo has many great Mosques with intricate architecture, these Mosque were built before the era of the great Cathedrals of Europe, so it gives you an idea of their age.

Creswell belongs to that era of the erudite scholar who gave the English speaking world an introduction to various subjects, all part of the Imperial project, the French, the Germans will do the same in their respective empires.

The other book titled Uneasy lies the head by King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999) an autobiography published by Bernard Geis Associates in 1962, this book was written when His Majesty was still young and was distributed in the case of the copy I have by the Hashemite Kingdom’s Ambassador to the UN, Abdul Monem Rifai. The book has two invitation carton glued, one to a reception at the UN and the other to another reception given by the Commissioner General of the Jordanian Pavilion to the World’s Fair in New York, May 1964. I do not know who those two cartons were intended for.

King Hussein starts by telling us about his grandfather King Abdullah I Prince of the Hejaz, King of Jordan and Protector of the Noble Sanctuary (1882-1951) who was assassinated in Jerusalem on his way to prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque a 35-acre compound referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, it is also known as the Temple Mount by Jews. The compound lies in the Old City of Jerusalem, which has been designated a World Heritage site by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, and is important to the three Abrahamic religions. Hussein was next to his grandfather when the assassin hit. He was saved because the bullet hit one of his medals and ricochet. Just a few days prior in Amman, Riad El-Solh the first Prime minister of Lebanon after independence was assassinated. Many decades later I worked with his grand son Abdel Mawla El-Solh in Cairo and Khartoum at the UNHCR.

At the time of writing of the book Hussein was married to Toni (Muna) Gardiner of Ipswich, UK. They met on the set of Lawrence of Arabia in 1961 where she worked as a secretary and the King was visiting, his own soldiers were extras in the movie. In 1996 at the Saint Andrew’s Ball in Amman, I danced with her, she is a very nice lady.

In his book there is a photo of his young son Abdullah as a baby, Princess Muna and King Hussein had 4 children, he writes my son and heir, however when Abdullah was born in 1962 because of the difficult situation in the Middle-East the consensus in the family was for Hussein’s brother Hassan to be named Crown Prince, a role he will play until a month before King Hussein’s death in 1999, when suddenly Abdullah will be named Crown Prince by his father.

The King also writes about the numerous plots against him throughout the years, by the President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser and the President of Syria Hafez Al-Assad, the father of the current President, of the horrible murder of his relatives in Iraq in a coup, his cousin King Faisal II and the entire family where shot in the Palace court yard by agents of President Nasser of Egypt and rebel Iraqi Officers. It makes for great reading and having lived in Jordan for a few years, I got to know some of the actors.

King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan, 1935-1999