FRENCH WINE STORIES

                    Just a Couple of Such Stories of my Travels 

            Years ago on my very first trip to Europe I made a deal with my traveling friend. If she would go with me on a gondola ride in Venice, Italy, I would go to the Moulin Rouge with her in Paris. We each kept our word and were happy campers.

            At the Moulin Rouge dinner and wine was included in our ticket. Dinner was quite good and better than expected from most mass crowded meals. I am one crazy American who likes her wine really cold, so I spooned in a couple of ice cubes from my water glass into my wine. Since I wasn’t driving and the wine was to my liking and I was 20 years younger than I am now, I signaled the waiter for a refill. When he collected my glass there were two tiny specks of the melted ice in the bottom of the glass.

            Suddenly I was the topic of conversation at the wine table as the other waiters looked in my glass and then looked up to watch me. There was no mistaking what they were talking about. I did not care, and when my glass was returned I couldn’t resist saying, “Thank you, and yes I enjoy my wine really cold.”  Actually we were as amused at their actions as they were about my wine preference!

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            There was a time when I would never think about putting an ice cube in my wine. And again we go back several years when we were being entertained at one of the two Honolulu restaurants that required coat and tie. I think those days are totally gone now. I mentioned to the tux-clad waiter with a white napkin over his arm that I liked my wine cold. Unceremoniously he grabbed the soup spoon from my place setting, dipped it in my water glass, retrieved two ice cubes and plunked them into my wine glass. At the time I was stunned, but I look my lesson from that incident and have done the same ever since, but usually quietly and unnoticed.

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            When I biked Bordeaux, our guide turned out to be the owner of the company as his scheduled guide had met with an accident and was delayed and later cancelled. Our evening meals were taken at the small boutique hotels where we stayed along the way. Typically French, dinnertime was slow and lengthy---never less than two hours. Our small group was compatible and personable so it was a pleasant time of day after a long one in the saddle. The wine flowed every evening. Bottles were put on the tables and the fellows in the group, never hesitated to call for another one when it was empty. There is nothing typical about this. I assume the hotel owners were saying thank you to our guide for sending them his business. We were the beneficiaries of their kindness and none of us complained!

RUSSIAN MEMORIES

                             Memories from a Great Trip

From Theater Square, near a large granite monument of Karl Marx looking at the Bolshoi, we had a wonderful view of the theater across the street. Built in 1825, the Bolshoi is Moscow’s oldest and best-known theater. Its splendid external architecture sports a splendid façade with columns and large bronze horses at its peak. The theater that seats 2000 is known for its world-famous opera and ballet companies. It is second in size only La Scala in Italy. Unfortunately I can tell you nothing about the inside as the theater was covered with scaffolding undergoing a massive renovation.

The hour and a half flight from Kiev, Ukraine to Moscow actually took us ALL day. We left our Kiev hotel at 9:30 AM and entered out Moscow hotel at 5:00 PM. At the hotel we walked through a scanner every time we entered the hotel and all bags and purses were also scanned every time.

Shortly after leaving the pier in Moscow we encountered nude bathers in the river. Although lathering up with soap when they saw us a couple of the guys couldn’t resist flashing the boat as we sailed by.

FOOD

Meals are always set with bread, salt, pepper, and mustard. Cold appetizers are served first and are usually washed down with vodka, the national drink which generally is 40% alcohol. A soup or broth follows the appetizers, then the entrée.

Rye bread is a favorite of all Slavs, extremely popular and is the bread most often served. The bread is soft, spongy and has a pleasant flavor. Bliny are pancakes. Kasha is a gruel and may be thin or thick.

Vegetables especially cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips, peas, plus mushrooms, nuts and berries are the most common elements of a meal. Shchi (shee) is a vegetable soup with cabbage, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, roots and spices. It is baked and served with sour cream or milk and of course rye bread. Ukha (oo kah) is a hot fish soup with 3-4 kinds of fish, potatoes, onion and spices.

 Jam is often added to tea instead of sugar.  Pies are popular menu items.

            Kvass is similar to beer without the alcohol content. It is made from fruit and berries.  Mors is made from berry juice, which has been diluted and fermented.