Stumbling upon

Tags

Abrar, coffee, Iran, Iraq, life, Mecca, motorcycle, Nazi, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, weight, YouTube

As it often happens today I stumbled upon a video on YouTube from a fellow who travels on his motorcycle around the world. He lives in Germany and is a German Citizen but originally he is from Pakistan. His videos are in Urdu with English subtitles. I watched several of his videos, they are fascinating. He travelled from Germany down to Turkey and then on to Iran and to Iraq then to Kuwait and presently he is in Saudi Arabia for the EID. His name is Abrar which in Pakistan is a masculine name but in Arab countries it is feminine. Abrar is also a verse in the Quran.

He meets quite a few people and he is recognized by some people because his videos have gone viral. What I find interesting is the world he shows us in his travel and a lot of it I remember from my own experience and life in the Middle-East. The people, the culture, the food, also the kindness and courtesy of people, always helpful and friendly, this is what I remember. Seeing those videos I miss that part of the world. So I went across the street to DAL who sells Kumpir or stuffed potatoes and makes an excellent Turkish coffee with cardamon seed, such good coffee served in demi-tasse bought in Istanbul, so you get the whole experience. I have started to put cardamon seeds in my morning espresso, love the flavour.

City of Mecca, the Royal Clock Tower at 680 meters. Dominates the old city and the Holy Al-Haram Mosque.

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, is seen from Jabal al-Noor or ‘Mountain of Light’ overlooking the holy city of Mecca. Over three million Muslims from around the world are expected to perform the upcoming Hajj or pilgrimage. (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NUR ELDINE/AFP)

Weight wise it is going very well, I started one month ago and was at 191 lbs, now I am at 180 lbs and the ultimate goal is 163 lbs. so if all goes according to plan I should be able to reach this goal by end June early July. I would love to simply maintain that weight, I will ask my nutritionist how to maintain it.

I have to say that so far I have not had any issue with feeling hungry, I also noticed that when suddenly I think I am hungry it is usually not hunger but tiredness or anxiety, a glass of water and a few raw almonds will solve the problem. Drinking more water minimum 1 Litre a day is not difficult, I can drink up to 2 litres, this also helps a lot with eliminating salt and washing away fat. I feel so much better now.

So far the cruise ship business has been very quiet. Some 3 ships came and went but I did not see many people, in fact I am told that most ships are about 25% full. Two cruise ships have cancelled stops in PEI. We may get more flights and car traffic this year. Several airlines have added flights to PEI and air traffic appears to be back to normal prior to 2020.

We also have a few new restaurants in town catering to a more up-scale crowd, which is a good thing, there is certainly a demand for it. One opened on Great George Street called Abbiocco which in Italian means relaxation. The restaurant has only been open for 5 days and has been a big success so far. The other one I am told will be called Rocket Fish at the corner of Queen street and Richmond street. It will be a up market fish and seafood restaurant. I know that the people setting it up will spend at least 2 million dollars to refit the space which was a tourist shop for many years and the building itself is 1880, all brick and built by William C. Harris, a famous architect who was also a musician. However this restaurant will not open until August given the state of construction and renovations.

There is definitely a change over in terms of restaurants in town, we appear to be catering more to the local crowd and less so to the tourist crowd, there is always the tourist restaurants with the typical fare geared to the budget of families or older tourists. Cruise ship tourists do not necessarily go to a restaurant since food is provided on board.

Lastly we are told to wait for Monday 9 May which is Victory Day for Russia marking the end of WWII. Apparently Putin will declare either victory on Ukraine or make a formal declaration of war and enact conscription to raise more troops. His side kick former Russian President Medvedev made a speech declaring that Russia will extend its territory from the Pacific to Portugal, sort of pie in the sky speech. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also made statements accusing Israel of supporting the Nazis in Kyiv. Israeli Prime Minister Bennett jumped at this statement. All in all this will not end well. Finally let us not forget that the Soviet Union under Stalin and Nazi Germany in 1939 had a secret treaty to divide the world, only in 1942 after being attacked by Hitler’s troops did Stalin change sides and asked for the help of the allies. Unfortunately I find that what I see and hear now is far too similar to events 80 years ago.

Ribbentrop-Stalin-Molotov in 1939 at the signing of the secret treaty to divide the world. Good friends and allies then.

On YouTube

Tags

Canada, Judge Brown, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, US Senate, US Supreme court, war

Yesterday I decided to watch for a short while the hearing in the American Senate of Judge Kentaji Brown Jackson for the position of Supreme Court nominee. The American process is very different from the Canadian one for Supreme Court Justices.

In Canada there is no confirmation process, Justices are selected from a list prepared for the Prime Minister by various bodies like the Law Society of Canada and consultative committees who will recommend a list of people and one will be chosen after vetting by the Privy Consul of Her Majesty. A name will then be given to the Prime Minister who will announce who is being nominated. That is it, no partisan nonsense. Judges in Canada are all politically neutral and if they want to keep their jobs better keep to that. The only time you hear from them is when they render a judgement. The Supreme Court in Canada is the Third pillar of our Constitutional Order, independent of any political interference or pressure. A few years ago Conservative PM Harper was unhappy with some judgement of the Supreme Court and made a point of criticizing openly the Chief Justice of the time Beverly MacLachlin, Harper said that the Judges where activists and rewriting laws, etc…

Not only is this totally inappropriate for a PM to do that as head of Government but it creates sort of an American atmosphere of trying to pressure the Court. The Chief Justice never replied to him, kept silent which only reinforced her hand and he looked foolish. PM Harper lost 16 cases at the Supreme Court because the Laws being contested were unconstitutional and poorly written. He was not happy about that, thus his criticism of the Court. He also lost despite trying to name people who he thought conservative and would see matters his way, that backfired and he realized too late that you cannot control the Supreme Court.

In this case I watched Judge Brown being questioned by Senator Cruz, Cotton, Graham, what fools. Cotton implied that she was rewriting laws, his questions were poor, confusing, he did not seem to understand that Laws are written and directions is given by Congress and Judges must abide by the Congress wishes, this is what Judge Brown reminded him time and again. Nope, Cotton did not get that at all. Cruz apparently went to the same Law school as Judge Brown and he raised the whole Race Theory agenda and the Child pornography laws, trying to give the impression that Judge Brown was an activist and soft on crime. As for Graham, what a clown, in an underhanded way, he called her a skunk, saying he had heard that from another senator, he asked her about her religion and if she went to Church, often, how many times in a year, was she some kind of religious freak. He also attacked Biden and his past record and without saying it implied that Biden was not a good choice for President. The abuse the poor woman had to put up with was unbelievable and had nothing to do with her record as a judge. It was a partisan attack to smear her. For someone watching from a foreign country it really does not show the USA in a good light. The Republican are also fascinated with pedophilia, this topic came back time and again. Graham went on and on about it. To the credit of Judge Brown she kept her composure, she spoke very clearly and well, level headed, not taking the bait, not getting angry at the terrible comments and the abuse. She has a superior intellect and that is clear. I stopped watching it, it is simply a disgrace to watch.

More important things are happening at NATO HQ in Brussels this week and our collective fate is in the balance. NATO is a 30 member States, it was revealed today by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, that battleships from various nations including Canada are gathering in the Baltic and Black Sea, NATO nations have readied their Air Force, Canada has sent our F-18 to Poland and armies are being massed in Eastern Europe, the USA has 100,000 troops, all on high alert. Tomorrow Thursday a Special Meeting of NATO is taking place and we will know what measures will be taken to stop Russia. From listening to various European experts and from our own Canadian Ambassadors, something is going to happen Thursday.

China has also been implicated now as complicit with Russia in this war and may face severe economic sanctions.

We are now at a very dangerous moment in the history of the World. We can only hope that Putin can step back, can save face and make a compromise. Putin has refused despite repeated demands by NATO that he not use Nuclear Weapons or chemical or biological weapons, if he does, well the response will be very strong from NATO.

On the map below not shown is Canada and the USA as NATO members.

Recurring dream

Tags

Canada, dreams, life, nuclear war, Putin, Russia, Ukraine, work

In the last 3 years I have been having this dream which at times is very real and vivid. It is always the same scenario, I am not retired from work but on some kind of vacation or leave. I get a call to come back to work, a special assignment abroad, which is various regions of the world and where there is a lot of work to do and experience is needed. No one wants that job, I am happy to do it and volunteer for it. I go through the preparation and meeting prior to a posting. I see people and have conversations with them. Reminiscing about past years and other postings.

I never actually leave for the post in question but it feels like I am back at work and happy to do it. Then I remember that I said I would retire but luckily I did not or did I, some confusion but it seems that all that is overlooked, I can re-integrate my work unit. It seems the dream has a lot to do with crisis in the world. During my career, I often went on assignments or took postings in difficult areas, I always enjoyed them and felt I was helping or making things happen. It is almost as if my brain still thinks that this part of my life is not really over, despite the fact that I have now been retired 10 years. Strange how one’s brain and memories come forward and dreams opens the door to the past and to fantasies.

Right now I am focusing on Spring and how many days are left before it officially arrives, the sun now sets at 6:25pm a month ago it was setting at 5pm and around new year at 4:15pm. Soon in a few days the clocks will spring forward and one more hour of daylight will happen instantly. To me this means Winter is definitely on the way out.

Strangely COVID wise in the last 24 hours the artistic and musical community has been hit all of a sudden in large numbers. Many shows have been cancelled. People still wear their masks and many are saying they will keep their masks even if it is no longer mandatory.

Despite the very bad news coming from the war in Europe, life here on the Island continues, people are worried but not overly so, there is a feeling that all this is very far away, but tonight French President Macron said after his 90 minute phone call to Vladimir Putin that the war was going to get much worse in the days to come. Are we slipping into a disaster? It looks like it and frankly like a lot of people I have no idea what to do. Will anyone stop Putin? I don’t know, he appears totally isolated in the Kremlin. His advisors can only see him via Zoom. If this war is about settling scores with the USA and humiliating America we are in for a very rough and dangerous time, it is not going to end well.

At doom’s doorstep:It is 100 seconds to midnight

Tags

Canada., climate change, covid, life, nuclear war, PEI, Russia, Ukraine, war

Since January 2020 things have not gone well in the world. COVIC has taken it’s toll on all of us and many are beyond tired of the disinformation and the general selfishness, me first attitude of many. Climate change is ever present and the weather is becoming weird and dangerous.

I thought that 2022 would be different but no, now we have the threat of Nuclear War which comes from Vladimir Putin. His language is more and more bellicose and you cannot afford to think that he may be bluffing, the consequences are too dire for us all. Canada is a sitting duck, we have a long border with Russia in the Artic region, and the USA on the 49th parallel. Both great nuclear powers and it is easy to believe that Canada in the middle could be sacrificed. Few believe that nuclear war could happen given that this would mean death to millions of people in a few minutes and make life on Earth impossible for the survivors. Because it is so unbelievable most prefer to think that no it is just a Russian bluff. Canada has the largest Ukrainian population in the World at 1.3 million people outside of The Ukraine. Living mostly in Western Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Canada has closed its airspace to all flights from Russia, European Union and the UK have done the same. We also closed our waterways and ports to all Russian ships. Politicians are hoping that DEFCON and NORAD which is in need of upgrading will protect us. Canada does not have much of an airforce our planes are old F18. Same with the navy and our army. As for emergency preparedness we saw in Ottawa a few weeks ago how unprepared the city was to occupation by a small group of Qanon and anti-vax individuals, the city’s administration collapsed, the police collapsed and the Chief resigned. No one knew what to do in a city of 1 million people and the capital of Canada. The Opposition party in Parliament gave their support to the so called Freedom Convoy, called on the Prime Minister to resign and go talk with the protesters. A terrible situation, not to mention all the US right wing media and Trump attacking Canada.

Here is PEI the little racist drama of PEI HOCKEY continues, some 16 yr old and their parents using racist language towards other players of colour, Hockey PEI at first pretended they did not know or where unaware, but in the glare of the media were forced to admit wrong doing. Many Islanders resent deeply the presence of non-Islanders as permanent resident of their Island Province. You will not encounter this in other parts of Canada where large populations drown out such voices. The population of the Island is growing quickly and the new comers are from other parts of Canada or immigrants. Investments in general come from Canada or is international. There is a continuing whining about the good old days before the Bridge over the Strait was built in 1997, when only white people lived here. It is said that Islanders are generous but not kind, that is true. It’s the ugly side you don’t see covered up by the myth of the cradle of the sea.

So yes life is somewhat complicated right now, but one can always remain optimistic, Spring is around the corner and COVID is retreating now. So let’s keep smiling, what else can we do, walk on the sunny side of the street. However one cannot help worrying about nuclear war and an unstable dictator in Russia, the repercussion of economic sanctions, the position of China and India in this crisis both are hedging their bets either with Putin or with the West.

Tomorrow is another day.

On a cold but sunny Friday

Tags

Canada, covid, Food, Russia, Sicily, Spring, Ukraine, USA, Wine

We are in mid-January and typically the weather is very cold. I had my booster shot 3 days ago and all is well, no after effects. So now I am all boosted and frankly Covid is no longer my priority. I lived in too many countries where many awful diseases where endemic and my vaccinations protected me. So time to move along.

The weather has been cold, frigid, the Hillsborough river is now frozen. We are in a lockdown but the number of sick people has been dropping every day. Yes those who are sick are unvaccinated and maybe you will think me callous or unfeeling but I really do not care about them, it has been 2 years, plenty of time to do the right thing. Everyday we have 100 + spot for vaccination available on PEI so if you want a shot it is very easy to get and takes about 6 minutes. Someone I know yesterday was shopping and stopped at the Pharmacy enquired about a vaccine and got it on the spot. Could it be easier?

I have joined those who are fully vaccinated and feel they should be allowed to go about their lives and not have to worry about the Covidiots who sit there and complain.

So we are more or less confined to our homes, though you can shop for groceries and pick up at the restaurant, but that is not civilized living. On the other hand we have had some pretty marvellous meals at home thanks to Will.

I was thinking this week, that if one day I was to travel again I would love to return to Granada to see the Alhambra palace and the gardens again. What a stunning place it was, and to think it was built 1000 years ago, a marvel. Portugal would be another place I would like to visit again. We had a very nice visit to Lisbon a few years ago. Then Sicily, such an ancient place, beautiful Marsala, Trapani, Monreale, Ragusa, Catania on the slope of Mount Etna. The food in Sicily is a completely different cuisine from Italy, due to centuries of Spanish, Normand and Arab influences. The wines are also of great quality with all that volcanic soil.

I would like a month long trip, not a week or a few days, which is good if you are young and must get back. On the other hand I have cooled to cruises, the food is usually just ok despite what you are told, the rooms on board are nice but I never found them as comfortable as an hotel room. Frankly the crowds on ships despite being on smaller ships get to me. I think that I would like some really good food and service, something you do not come across much these days despite high prices. However if one travels now there are all these tests and complications mass confusion at the airport, not to mention the crazy travellers.

Catania and Mount Etna

Well on 1 February we will see if the sanctions come off and if life returns to a more normal pace, let’s hope so.

But then Blinken meets Lavrov to talk about the Ukraine, what they are really talking about is not so much a possible invasion as let’s not use any nuclear weapons, negotiating a complicated ballet. Would be inexcusable to blow up the planet over the Ukraine. If there is an invasion by Russia, the only likely response will be severe or more severe economic sanctions. Europe may not follow because their economy would suffer, China will help Russia in any way they can, Iran also will be part of the underhanded help. I love to listen to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, so calm and worldly, he knows his stuff and will not be perturbed, Blinken looks unsure and nervous.

As for Canada in all this, well our Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, a nice person and well educated but way over her head. Canada can do nothing in this conflict we are irrelevant, even with our gift of $120 million to help Ukraine, chump change really. Our Armed forces leadership has been decapitated with a series of well timed alleged sexual peccadillos. Our army is short 12,000 men, ill equipped, no air force to speak of and no navy, all this due to decades of cut backs on military spending. So I so not think that Russia is too worried about us.

How many days til Spring? 58 Days! Seems like an eternity.

A sad visit

Tags

history, life, Prince Michael of Kent, Romanov, Russia

On the website of the Alexander Palace in Tsarkoye Selo which promotes and explains the complete renovations of the family home of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra and their 5 children, I saw today photos of the visit to the Palace of Prince Michael of Kent, who is a direct relative of the Romanov Family and the cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Philip some years ago had provided DNA sampling to identify the remains of Nicholas and Alexandra and the children as he was related by blood to the Royal families of Greece, Russia and Denmark. The palace re-opened to the public two months ago after years of massive renovations. The palace was closed after the Imperial family where sent into exile and to their grisly death, however more than 6000 personal effects were carefully preserved in vaults for posterity. Now they have been put back in the palace rooms recreating what it was like in 1918. It is spooky to see all these very personal mementos on display, many of which were gifts long ago between the Royal Family in England to their cousins in Russia. One wonders what Prince Michael of Kent thought when he saw it all, exactly as it was then. The expression on his face says a lot. I wonder what the other Princes and Grand Dukes of the Romanov family members will think when they eventually come to visit the Palace. They attended the State Funeral for the Tsar and his family in the 1990’s in St-Petersburg.

Prince Michael of Kent and the curator of the Palace in the Mauve boudoir of Empress Alexandra. Everything you see in this room belonged to the Empress and her children.

The Maple Room of the Alexander Palace, another family room for Nicholas and Alexandra. Everything in that room was carefully preserved by the Bolcheviks. The walls and woodwork was recreated from the personal photograph taken by the family between 1905-1918, even piece of fabrics and original paint colours were preserved in the Soviet Archives. Prince Michael of Kent was visiting with a British delegations. Since the tragic events took place just over 100 years ago, the sad memories is still alive. Prince Michael of Kent is 79 years old.

Restoration

Tags

Alexander Palace, Russia, St-Petersburg, tsar Nicholas II

All around the world many cultural sites are being restored by Governments and private groups in order to rediscover history and appreciate the beauty and value of architecture.

In Athens a 25 year program restored many important buildings of the Acropolis, the work requires expertise and scholars, archeologists, historians and artisans and buckets of money.

Barcelona will complete the Sagrada Familia Church in 2026 with the donations of tourists who pay an entrance fee.

Versailles continues its restorations of the chateau bringing back elements that were neglected for decades with a comprehensive program of restoration of furniture, the gardens and fountains and other buildings.

Berlin has done much work in the last 30 years since reunification changing the look of the city making it more people friendly and restoring its 18 Century look.

Everywhere you go it seems much is done to enhance the heritage component of cities. All this work also brings more tourist dollars or Euros as the case may be.

Russia under Vladimir Putin has also done much to enhance its heritage. Restoring countless monasteries, churches and palaces. Last week the Alexander Palace re-opened to the public after 8 years of restoration.

In the case of the Alexander Palace which is located in Tsarkoye Selo some 25 Km from St-Petersburg, it was a gigantic effort and a costly one. The original palace was built by Catherine the Great for her grandson Alexander I and his wife. They did not like living in the palace and so remained in their suite of rooms at the Great Catherine Palace across the street. Around 1820 the palace became the Official Summer Residence of the Heir to the Russian Throne. Finally in 1894, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra moved in and made it their private residence. They would live there until August 1917, when they were exiled to Siberia. The Palace was closed by the Bolcheviks and turned into a museum until 1939 when the invading Nazis and Spanish Fascists troops laid siege to St-Petersburg (Leningrad) for 900 days.

Before the arrival of the Nazis, the Soviet Government rapidly emptied the palaces all around Tsarkoye Selo of their most valuable contents shipping them East for safe keeping. In the case of the Alexander Palace not all the contents could be shipped off due to time constraints. Some less important art works where hidden in the basement. This did not stop the looting and vandalism by foreign invaders. In 1945 with the end of the war, the damage was assessed and no one believed that the Alexander Palace and its park would be restored given the amount of destruction. However some officials of the Culture department started to work on saving and restoring what they could. The Palace was re-opened to the public with limited displays but it all had a very sad look. The roof leaked and some rooms were beyond salvage.

Only in 2014 did very serious work start to restore the palace to its former glory as a private residence of the last Tsar and his family. On You Tube, you will find recent videos of the opening of the Palace to the press and experts explain how the final results were achieved. Some 6000 personal objects, from clothing to paintings, vases, other bibelots, books, even personal diaries kept by the Tsarina until 2 hours before her murder are in the collection returned to the Palace and placed in the various rooms. The Bolcheviks kept everything and catalogue it all. It is in many way ghoulish and says a lot about Lenin and company. The children’s toys are particularly poignant, they will eventually be placed in their bedrooms on the second floor.

The work done in the restoration is spectacular, fragments of tiles, fabric and wallpaper have all been reproduced meticulously. In one room, rare Brazilian Rosewood called Palisander, panel the walls. The Tsar and his family could walk back into those rooms today and find them as they left them in August 1917, in all its splendor with all their personal items, clothing, family photos etc.

The Palace will be their memorial, though the family was murdered in a dark cellar some 103 years ago, this refurbishment is eerily real.

https://youtu.be/zwN2L-ySpwg

Another trip to the dentist

Tags

Nicholas II, renovation, Russia, Tsarkoye Selo

My reputation as the Colgate smile poster child is being tested. The treatment of Monday did not work out, so tomorrow that molar has to come out. Oh well so is life.

Amongst the many things I read on the internet some topics I have been following for years. One such topic was the reconstruction of East Berlin from 1990 to today. It is quite amazing when you know that the City of Berlin in May 1945 was nothing more than a field of ruins, very little survived the intense bombing between 1942 to 1945.

At the end of the war the city was divided between East and West, the eastern part was given to the USSR and the western part was carved up between the UK, France and the USA. West Berlin was rebuilt, whereas the East, especially the old historical part of the City was left in ruins until 1990. The Soviet Union was making a political or ideological point. Only after re-unification up until now has major reconstruction taken place, transforming the city and bringing back its heritage buildings and parks.

Russia and the City of St-Petersburg has also seen major restoration since Vladimir Putin has ruled that country, he is a native son of the city and hundred of millions of rubles have been spent on rebuilding palaces, cathedrals, refurbishing palaces and its work of art and furniture. Millions of tourists visit the city each year just to see all the numerous palaces and churches and museums including the Hermitage which requires a whole week by itself for a visit.

Outside of St-Petersburg, going South some 24 Km away on the seashore, the various Tsars starting with Peter the Great built themselves Summer Palaces, Catherine the Great and many others did the same, then the nobility followed suit. So much so that this area was called the Tsar’s Village or Tsarkoye Selo. Many renowned architects mostly Italians came to design these palaces and gardens. Unfortunately, first the revolution of 1917 but more damaging was the occupation of the German army in June 1941 for 900 days ravaged the area so severely that only naked ruins remained.

After the war the government of the USSR spent time and money to restore some of the palaces, but mostly to turn them into dormitory for the poor or schools or government buildings.

The Alexander palace which sits across from the Catherine Palace, so named for Empress Catherine I in 1717 and then enlarge by Empress Elizabeth I a few years later. A third Empress Catherine II the Great will again beautify and enlarge it.

Catherine II decided to gift her grandson his own palace called the Alexander Palace built in 1792, he later became Tsar Alexander I who defeated Napoleon during the Russian campaign. The last Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children lived in that Palace away from St-Petersburg, for reasons of safety. This will be the place were he and his family are arrested by the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky and deported to their death in Siberia. Until 1941 the palace was a museum to the Tsar and his family. However with the arrival of the German army, many of the treasures were moved to Moscow and the palace was abandoned to the Nazi who quickly destroyed it. It sits in a very large park with many pavilions and other attractions built for the pleasure of the Imperial family.

When the Arts council of St-Petersburg decided to start rebuilding the Palace in the 1990’s it was under the direction of Vladimir Putin who also decided to rebuild other palaces and churches making of the entire area a showcase for the world.

In the case of the Alexander Palace, the building had to be rebuilt, new roof, new floors and extensive historical research to present the palace as it was in 1917 when the Imperial family still lived there. No small feat, given the extent of the destruction, luckily large archives of photos and other documents helped greatly the historians.

The Alexander palace will re-open in 2022 and all the work will be completed by 2024. Some wonderful photos have come to us from the Tsarskoselskaya Restoration Workshop http://@tsarskoselskaya_workshop

They reproduced, tiles for the bathrooms and fireplaces, curtains and wallpaper, plaster work, chandeliers, woodwork and furniture, all of it had been destroyed. A gigantic piece of detailed and historically accurate work, all matching the historical photos of the rooms. Any visitor will be able to appreciate how the family lived in their private family palace. A very different place than the Winter Palace which was used for Official functions only.

A photo of the room with the chair used by the Tsar to read his newspaper,

Chair reproduced and to be placed in the mauve drawing room.

Entre-sol of the Maple room of the Empress, the tiffany glass around the mirror was re-created, and all the plater work of leaves and roses also had to be re-created, only charred brick survived.

Curtains reproduced for windows and over doors.

Period photos to help reproduce the furniture.

Hopefully one day we may return to St-Petersburg to see it again.

Alexander Palace and the great park in Tsarkoye Selo.

Beautiful day

Tags

Anniversary, Berlin, breakfast, café, Charlottetown, Leonhard's, Prussia, Russia

Finally today we are having sunshine and mild temp, in the next few days it will go up to 14C, however for the Easter Weekend looks like rain and 6C.

This morning we went to Leonhard’s for breakfast, owned by a swiss german fellow, this café has a very elegant european flair to it, not only in its relaxed and elegant decor but also in the food they serve. All of it is clearly inspired by European cuisine and not the usual North American fair.

I had an omelette with vegetables, it was very fluffy and seasoned just right, something you do not encounter usually in restaurants here. Tables are set with fresh flowers, tulips at this time of the year. You could say that the atmosphere is clean, crisp and relaxed. No background music which is nice. In the summer they have ample boxes of flowers and hanging green plants on the front sidewalk.

We have another German bakery which just opened also on Great George street but on the South side of the Provincial Legislature, again offering a very different fair from all the other restaurants/café in town. More geared towards the local crowd instead of the tourist crowd.

This morning one of the blogs I follow, entitled Berlin Companion featured the National Monument to the Wars of Liberation in Kreuzberg on its 200 Anniversary.

View from Kreuzberg by Johann Heinrich Hintze, 1829 (currently at the Alte Nationalgalerie). The winding road leading to Berlin is today’s Mehringdamm.

For people who have visited the Invalides in Paris, under the dome is the Tomb of Emperor Napoleon, you will probably have noticed the 12 columns in a circle around the tomb, they represent the 12 military campaigns of Napoleon all across Europe over 12 years, basically continuous wars during his reign. The Monument on the Kreuzberg in Berlin also refers to the 12 wars which are named wars of Liberation from French oppression. There are all over Germany, other monuments were built celebrating that liberation from this constant warfare waged by Napoleon in his effort to conquer Europe and appoint himself the new Charlemagne.

This is something very rarely mentioned in history books and certainly never mentioned by French authors who prefer to present Napoleon’s action as a romantic endeavour. However if you follow the historical tread you will see that those wars sowed the seeds for further wars in the 19th century between France and German States and Prussia and after 1870 a unified Germany. It is almost a seesaw effect of trying to correct wrongs. Think 1870 Franco-Prussian War, 1914-1918 and then 1939-1945, in all those conflicts the underlying narrative is revenge, either by Germany or France.

The National Monument on Kreuzberg (Cross Hill) leads down the avenue to Belle-Alliance Platz this alliance/Treaty between Great-Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia created and maintained an army of 600,000 men until such time as Napoleon was completely defeated and overthrown. This Belle-Alliance ultimately led to Waterloo. Since 1945 Belle-Alliance Platz has been renamed Mehring Platz and sadly completely modernized.

On March 30, 1821 – the seventh anniversary of the Prussian charge of Montmartre and of the conquest of Paris, which unavoidably triggered Napoleon’s demise in 1814 – King Friedrich Wilhelm III arrived on top of the Tempelhofer Berg (also known as the Weinberg, soon to be renamed Kreuzberg). The highest natural elevation in what is now central Berlin but back in the days was still part of a district outside the city limits.

Accompanied by an illustrious guest, Russian Tsar Alexander I – Friedrich Wilhelm’s brother-in-arms in the conflict with Napoleon Bonaparte – Prussian monarch came to witness the unveiling of a monument commemorating their victories in what came to be known as the Wars of Liberation, 1802-1814.

As Prussia’s military ally in the wars against Napoleon it was Alexander who prevented the king – as well as the Austrian emperor for he was wavering, too – from making what could have been the biggest mistake in the history of the Coalition: he convinced them to take Paris instead of withdrawing their troops. Now it was time to celebrate these good choices.

National Memorial for Wars of Liberation – a 200-tonne cast-iron tapering structure installed on an octagonal stone base – was the work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Johann Heinrich Strack (who was responsible for the stone base).

Schinkel, supported by several renown contemporary artists with Christian Daniel Rauch as the most prominent among them, created an artwork which truly had everything a memorial of this kind should possess: it was impressive, it was elegant, it was positively oozing with symbols which everybody understood and was happy to see included and, last but not least, it had twelve extremely good-looking statues with faces the crowds back then were often able to recognise.

The memorial’s leitmotiv was a cross: it was a direct reference to a new military decoration introduced by King Friedrich Wilhelm III in 1813 after the Battle of Leipzig: the legendary Eiserne Kreuz, the Iron Cross. The foot of the memorial itself is shaped liked one, too, and you will see the shape repeated from the memorial’s bottom to its very top.

The 200-year-old memorial in Viktoriapark inspired the name of the hill and the neighbourhood.

The Nationaldenkmal am Kreuzberg – truly worth the climb. (Photo by Beata Gontarczyk-Krampe, author of the Berlin Companion.

Books I have been reading

Tags

Family, life, Russia, Stalin, USA, USSR

Well it is  time for another instalment about books I am reading. The latest is the new Biography written by fellow Montrealer Rosemary Sullivan, winner of several prestigious literary awards, on the life of Svetlana Iosifovna Stalina (1926-2011) know later in life by the family name of her late mother, Alliluyeva and when she became an American citizen as Lana Peters. The book is entitled Stalin’s Daughter.

She had brothers, one, Yakov Dzhugashvili (1907-1943) died at Sachsenhausen during the Second World War in a POW camp for famous prisoners. He was the first born son of Stalin and his first wife. Yakov spoke more Georgian than Russian and it is said that Stalin did not like him much. Her other brother was Vasili Stalin (1921-1962) Lieutenant General in the Soviet Air Force, a drunk who died of acute alcoholism. She also had another brother  by adoption Artyom Fyodorovich Sergeyev ( 1921-2008) the adopted son of Joseph Stalin. He became a major general in the Soviet military. Sergeyev’s biological father, Fyodor Sergeyev, a close friend of Stalin, died in a train crash in 1921.

Svetlana had a strange and sad life, she was known in Soviet Elite Circles as the Princess of the Kremlin. When her mother Nadezhda Sergeevna Alliluyeva committed suicide by gunshot at the age of 31 after a party in the Kremlin in 1932, Svetlana was a child of 6 yrs old. Her world went from a carefree childhood to one of harrowing unexplained events punctuated by the disappearance of uncles and aunts and other relatives. Svetlana was physically isolated within the Kremlin and saw her father only occasionally and being followed and guarded by the Secret Police. Because of her isolation she was unaware of the cruelty of her father’s regime. Only at the age of 11 she noticed that schoolmates also disappeared or heard of their parents being arrested by the Secret Police. Later at the age of 14 while learning English and having access to American and British magazine she discovered by accident an article claiming that her mother had shot herself and not died of acute appendicitis as claimed in Official Soviet version of her death. This caused her severe emotional distress. At the age of 16 she started to understand that those who had disappeared in her family had been shot on her father’s orders because he blamed them for his wife’s suicide instead of looking at his own sordid behaviour.

Stalin was cruel, vindictive, a misogynist  and distrusted everyone, always seeing conspiracies against him, always testing people, one wrong word could be a death sentence. Svetlana became afraid and careful of what she said around her father when she saw him. He in turn could be nasty, as he had been with his late wife, full of put downs and negative criticism.

The book also gives us a description of how the elite who all lived together in the old Imperial Senate building of the Kremlin, lived on a daily basis. Children had governesses, tutors, private health care and the best of everything. Wives of party officials and the family members of Stalin had access to all manners of foreign luxury goods, even in times of famine everywhere in the Soviet Union, they had access to the best food and wines. Their lives where like that of the Bourgeoisie before the Revolution.  There was also the Datcha’s ( luxury homes) outside Moscow and other old Tsarist Palaces in the Crimea on the Black Sea. Chauffeured limousine, private trains and planes. Still her life was restricted to Moscow and the surrounding countryside. She would not visit Leningrad (St-Petersburg) until adulthood after her father’s death.

A series of fresh crisis erupted with the death of her father in March 1953, the power struggle and the physical elimination of people like Lavrenti Beria who was the head of the Secret Service and managed the million of executions of so called enemies of the people. Svetlana finds herself in a difficult situation, the Central committee declares that as the daughter of the late Stalin, she is State Property and her life is managed by the new leadership. She withdraws from public view and in March 1956 with the widespread publication of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev speech on Stalin’s crimes, she no longer dares go out in public, so afraid of the people’s loathing. She decides to change her name to her late’s mother family name, but this creates more problems for her. This is how kafkaesque the world of the Soviet Union was.

The book goes through her marriages both in the USSR and in the USA where she became an American citizen. Her famous defection in 1967 to the USA while in India to bury her husband Brajesh Singh. The publication of her first book Twenty letters to a Friend. Her 3 children, Joseph (1945-2008) Katya (1950) and Olga Peters (1971), two who are still alive live in Russia and in the USA. Olga does not speak Russian and was born in California.

Svetlana died in 2011 age 85 of cancer in Wisconsin, she also had a home in Portland. She never found peace nor did she ever get away from the ghost of her father or be reconcile with the death of her mother and became estranged from her children Josef and Katya, only Olga the American born daughter grew close to her. You feel sorry for Svetlana who like all children do not chose her parents and the accident of birth which haunted her life.

Svetlana Alliluyeva Stalina