So
much happening – the continuing human and political crisis of the ongoing wave
of immigration to Europe’s shores; the
Panama Papers and its political fallout in Britain – not least on the
Brexit vote; the last remnants of the steel
industry being sacrificed in Britain to the neo-liberal God…..and all
I do is wallaw in self-pity from the
facial discomfort of the past 2 months!!
I
know our various worlds have always been governed by cycles of gloom and
bravado but, somehow, in the past half-century, social “expectations” seem to
have experienced a tectonic shift – such as to have made us incapable of
dealing with a world that is in decline….
A
few years back, there was extensive talk
of “resilience” – the social capacity to deal effectively with crises….why
some communities seem to have this….and others don’t. Sad that this concept
seems to have gone the way of all fads…Or is it perhaps that we have simply become
overwhelmed with the notion of “Crisis”???
Bulgaria
is a society which, at first sight, seems to have avoided the temptations of
debt-driven modernisation….even in Sofia most people eke out a living – and
one-person businesses seem to be the norm. A wine-tasting in young Asen’s
little Vina Orrenda (at the Russian
Monument) offers a real social occasion in such a modest society and I was glad
to have made the trip last Thursday. Not just for the excellent taste of the
Riverside range of wines being offered by the Manistira winery (3 whites; a Rose;
and 2 Mavruds) but for the easy conversation which flowed between us. The left
part of my face is still semi-frozen and I therefore have problems tasting –
but I coped manfully!
It
was the first time I had attended a group wine-tasting – and I appreciated the
ceremonial aspects as Asen and a young lady first introduced the winery and
the wines and Asen then poured us our respective samples…
It was also nice to
be approached by one guest and be asked for my opinion on
the wines….and to have the chance to speak to the 2 young ladies representing
the winery (who remembered me apparently from
the November wine-tasting!). It's in a village near Pazardzhik and I suggested they might put Pazardzhik’s most
famous painter on one of their etiquettes – Stoian Vassilev. He was a prolific painter (the local museum is reputed to have some 5000 of his paintings and sketches). I have 4 of his - the first being very untypical. The second is more typical of his style......
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