Tag: www.visittobago.gov.tt

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Hungry and Thursday – curried Christmas Turkey

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Yes, it’s a thing here in Ireland where St Stephen’s Day (Boxing Day to everyone else) is when they curry the left-over turkey.

Which obviously got us thinking about the no-neck poultry.

You’d think that they’d have a built-in antennae for the time of year when they’re most in danger.

But these guys I met in Tobago www.visittobago.gov.tt on my Caribbean adventures https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/12/07/ready-steady-goat-in-tobago/ seemed totally oblivious.

You see my cooking has come on leap and bound this year…

I even cooked something.!

After being given the recipe for Dahl curry by our hosts G Adventures in Dublin… https://www.gadventures.com/?aw_ag_id=49375547731&aw_kw_id=aud-360242417736:kwd-296402816580&aw_ad_id=297109875494&aw_nw=g&phonecode=PPC_SEM_Brand&gclid=Cj0KCQiArozwBRDOARIsAHo2s7t7hmH99Ist6icPt9oHDzkak2RC_How1OfDnhxuuj7arpD5lLi6X2MaAl0BEALw_wcB.

Of course it’s only a start and nothing like the feasts our Jordanian hosts put on for us… Petra and the sands of time And http://www.visitjordan.com

And in the desert too!

Going underground

With their zarb where they bury meat, veg and rice in a pit in the ground, add lots of embers.

And wrap it in blankets and bury it in sand.

The zarb is put on in the early afternoon and by the evening it is meltingly tender.

Not much call for it though in chilly Greystones here in Ireland.

So where’s the best curry. India? Probably. But remember it is Britain’s national dish.

Curry belongs to Glasgow 

And in Glasgow where there is a big Asian population and where they gave birth to Chicken Tikka Masala.

When Ali Aslam, the owner of the Shish Mahal restaurant http://www.shishmahal.co.uk added tomato soup and some sauces to his chicken curry.

To satisfy a Glasgow bus driver who had sent it back because it was too dry.

Scottish and Sub-Continental fusion is a definite thing.

Which I knew about being of the Caledonian variety myself I belong to Glasgow but with which I renewed acquaintance…

Piping hot

When I visited the World Pipe Band Championships… https://www.theworlds.co.uk

In ma wee hame toon Glasgow https://peoplemakeglasgow.com/visiting/top-reasons-to-visit-glasgow and https://www.visitscotland.com.

The perfect fusion between Scot and the Sub-Continent is in fact in the Sub-Continent.

Or more precisely with the Sri Lankan staff on the Maldives with Island… Atoll tale – the Maldives and http://www.kuramathi.com And http://www.kandolhu.com

Where I played cricket, of sorts, and football (chased shadows).

And, of course tucked into their food which comes from everywhere.

Although I might arrange for them to get some Irn-Bru shipped in.

And now that we’re well into the Christmas drinking… here, by popular demand, Jocktails, your favourite Cocktail column by your Scottish cocktail guru.

And this is a reminder of what we’ve got in the bar… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/01/jocktails-the-strawberry-daiquiri/, https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/15/jocktails-bajan-monkey/

While try out https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/29/jocktails-mimosas/

MEET YOU IN THE BAR

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Forget the Fairytale… my Christmas song

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Now this qualifies as treason here in Ireland, and it’s probably because I’m a contrarian but…

The Fairytale of New York is not the best Christmas song of all time.

In fact it doesn’t represent New York City https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/08/21/old-new-york-hamilton/ and http://www.nycvb.com.

There is no NYPD choir, for example.

And the ‘Irish’ pipe band didn’t know Galway Bay (obviously) so did the ‘Mickey Mouse Club March’ instead.

Now I love Da Mouse and Da Minnie Why I love The Donald and Stair Wars. And http://www.visitorlando.com and http://www.disneyland.disney.go.com and http://www.disneyworld.disney.go.com .

Enough Fairytale already… here’s what I call a Christmas song.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gjYWYJudTPE

Yes, Johnny Mathis’s When A Child Is Born.

Talk the talk

Too scmaltzy for you, the lyics, particularly Johnny’s spoken lyics?

But I love it and I love a talky interjection.

So hit it

And all this happens because the world is waiting,

Waiting for one child

Black, white, yellow, no one knows,

But a child that will grow up and turn tears to laughter,

Hate to love, war to peace and everyone to everyone’s neighbour

And misery and suffering will be words to be forgotten for ever

The Christmas Office Party Bore

Now you’ve probably met the office bore at your Christmas party who gives out about Jesus being wrongly portrayed as white.

When he was born in the Middle East.

And how the whole Christmas story is wrong.

But what really matters is not what Jesus was: white, black, yellow, red, but that he WAS.

Bah, humbug, white liberal intellectuals should just see how the Christmas story is celebrated in the Caribbean….

The ‘other’ Jesus

I should cocoa – Christmas in Tobago and www.visittobago.gov.tt.

And in Mississippi… http://www.visitmississippi.org and The Promised Land, The story of the Blues and http://the king of kings

Though I’d be flabbergasted to think Jesus was an earlier incarnation of Phil Collins.

The West Indians have their own slant on the Christmas songs and put a calypso or Soca rhythm to it.

Put the two together with just the right amount of sauce and you get parang, an example of which is….

Scrunter’s ‘Want ah piece ah pork’ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FLpEvkj9jTc.

Now Christmas can be a challenging time for many.

And although it was never written as a Christmas song, it has entered the pantheon for its lines:

Wish I was at home for Christmas

No more war

Jona Lewie’s anthem was, of course, an anti-war song. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2HkJHApgKqw

And as we move further away from the centennial of the end of the First World War In Flanders fields and http://www.visitflanders.com…

Lest we forget amid the commercial gluttony of a 2019 Christmas those for whom an extra mince pie and some grog.

A peaceful Christmas

And some respite from being bombed and shot at.

And the chance to have a kick-about with the opposition on a muddy battlefield was Christmas gift enough.

Let me know what your favourite Christmas song is… mmmm mmmm mmmm!

A CHILD IS BORN… MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Holidos and don’ts – Christmas luggage

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I’m among the hundreds of people waiting at arrivals at Dublin Airport.

Mine’s is Daddy’s Little Girl, on her way home from Edinburgh.

Now Santy is here, there are well-wishers with Welcome balloons and I dare say a choir will appear any minute now.

Have you a giftie for me? Santy at Dublin Airport

And I’m looking at the trolleys of suitcases.

Nothing different there. Only I’m wondering what’s in them.

Not that I’m weird or anything. I’m just thinking that many of them will be packed with presents.

Oh, but that long walk

Which makes me think… why?

OK, there might be that Christmas gift you can only get in that country you’re coming from.

Although you can buy most things over the internet now.

And have it delivered to the family home or a relative to pick up.

Or even tell them what you want them to buy and recompense them when you see them.

Because packing your bags with gifts only means that you have less room for your own stuff.

And if you’re only home for a couple of days and can get away without taking a suitcase at all…

Because rucksacks hold more than you think and then you can always get your clothes washed at home.

Or better still change your wardrobe with some new clothes in the Boxing Day sales.

And then you won’t have to go to the carousel.

And you know what I think of carousels…

Having had to wait a day for my undelivered luggage to be sent to my address. I wasn’t alone.

The smaller the airport, of course, the smaller the carousel and the ANR Robinson International Airport in Tobago is definitely my size.

It even has reminders of home.

Here are a few reminders of some precious memories from that trip… Ready, steady, goat… in Tobago, Give us this Day – Sunday School, Tobago and I should cocoa – Christmas in Tobago.

And www.visittobago.gov.tt.

This being Christmas Eve’s Eve this will probably be my last airport visit of the year.

Although I live in hope!

So a big thank you to all the airports that have hosted me this year, particularly my second home, Dublin Airport… www.dublinairport.com

And while it’s probably too late for you to heed my advice, remember that the best gift you can bring is…

Yourself!

Unless you can persuade Rihanna to visit… A kiss from Rihanna.

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Trawling the graveyards of history

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I’m dying to share this… how one woman is remembered in the Caribbean.

From the inscription which marks the span of her life.

From sunrise to sunset…

You have to think that Emily was a ray of sunshine herself.

Well, she was from Tobago, an island where rain is known as liquid sunshine… www.visittobago.gov.tt.

Insert your own caption here

And I left with a mountain of memories… It’s Robinson Crusoe’s very own Tobago and I should cocoa – Christmas in Tobago.

I was thinking about death today (no, not a heavy Saturday night) but a regular occurrence.

After visiting the ancient burial ground of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, near my home here in Ireland.

 

It’s a mystery: In Tobago

I may well have inherited my fascination for graveyards from my Dear Old Dad who I’ll meet there one day.

The Tobagonians have a unique way of seeing life… and death.

As evidenced by this riddle on what has become the most famous grave on the island.

Riddle me this: In Tobago

So that you don’t have to strain your eyes too much the gist of the inscription on the 1783 grave in Plymouth reads in part:

‘She was a mother without knowing it, and a wife without letting her husband know it except by her kind indulgences to him.’

Riddles in Tobago

Now we were asked by our hosts the same question they pose to every visitor: ‘What the heck does it mean?’

My answer, the obvious one, is it’s a woman, whoever knows what goes on in their minds.

Marilyn and me: LA

I keep my eyes open for graves and final resting places wherever I go.

Just this year I discovered that Marilyn Monroe’s final resting place is off a busy street in LA… www.visitcalifornia.com and www.discoverlosangeles.com.

Where she is forced to spend eternity with her old nemesis Hugh Hefner which I tell you all about on this blog… My weekend with Marilyn

 

You can’t pick your neighbours

Of course, graveyards have strong personal connections to those who are related to, or are friends of the deceased.

World War I battlefields

Such as when I was the first of my family to kneel at the graveyard of my Great Uncle Willie who fell in Ieper, or Ypres.

While on that tour of the World War I battlefields In Flanders fields with www.gtitravel.ie and www.visitflanders.com and http://www.visit-somme.com I visited the Canadian and German memorials.

The Canadian memorial with its Caribou statue has a special resonance for my family as Grandpa George fought for the Canadian Army.

And met Granny Mary, a nurse, when he returned to Scotland.

A South African tale

War and graveyards tend to go hand in hand.

And in a visit to the Eastern Cape in South Africa at the start of the year What’s new pussycat? I braved the cold and the damp…

And the big game to visit the graveyard of an Afrikaans resistance fighter from the Boer War…

Of course hanging around graveyards at this time of year you’re liable do get some spooky vibes.

And the lines between this life and the next can become blurred.

Make of me and my colleagues from that trip to South Africa what you will… www.southafrica.net.

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Hungry and Thursday – Ainsley, cooking and the Caribbean

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There are few people who could leave TV chef Ainsley Harriott gobsmacked.

Septuagenarian mine host ‘Auntie’ Alison is one.

West Indians give their seniors respect (remember when we used to do that in our society).

So everybody has hundreds of aunties and uncles who are just as precious to them as their own kith and kin.

I wasn’t there when Ainsley popped by the Blue Crab http://www.tobagobluecrab.com in Scarborough in Tobago this year to film his Caribbean Kitchen TV series… https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=9T5VZU-Kxp4

But I was there last week to hear Auntie Ali tell us the secret of her 50+ marriage to Uncle Kenneth.

Put your underwear in the bottom drawer to show off your bum-bum we were told, complete with demonstration.

The same goes for grating cheese.

Of course what works for Auntie Ali doesn’t necessarily work for a Fiftysomething beardie Scotsman with no rhythm.

And besides I had to keep my mind on the job.

As Uncle Kenneth allowed me to give him a helping hand as he gave us a cooking demo of his chicken curry special.

Of course I had form having been taught how to make fried okra by Ruby at Club Barbados https://www.theclubbarbados.com… and here’s where it went https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/my-kiss-with-rihanna/

And it wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time I savour the pleasures of Barbados… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/rihanna-in-barbados/

I was all over Tobago, Robinson Crusoe’s island last week. Quite literally. And I have been sharing…

I’m a Tobagonian

Check out https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/11/tobago-ready-steady-goat/, https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/12/05/robinson-crusoes-tobago/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/12/03/i-should-cocoa-christmas-in-tobago/

And also check out these recipes I found in my last billet Kariwak Holistic Haven in Crown Point, ‘just around the corner…’ http://www.kariwak.com.

There I found one of the barmen referred to by the manager as Mr… and my waitress at my local boozer calls me and my family ‘goys’. Mmmm!

For more on Tobago visit http://www.visittobago.gov.tt and look out for my review in the Sunday Times Ireland soon.

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Give us this day – Tobago

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You’re never a stranger for long in Tobago.

Pastor Ann announced ‘a stranger’ to her congregation at the Bread of Life Ministries in Crown Point www.breadoflifekey.org

And then spontaneously fellow worshippers were shaking my hand and welcoming me to their flock.

The Scot who lives in Ireland and is giving thanks to God for his blessings… and this island.

Sunday worship in the Caribbean is an occasion in which everyone joins in.

Grandparents, parents, children all dancing, clapping and throwing their arms in the air.

And that’s not just the worship group at the front.

God is good

The first preacher begins with stirring words on how good God is.

And how much we need him in our lives.

He sways around the altar raising the congregation up to fever pitch.

Ably accompanied by a keyboardist and drummer.

Before bursting out into song.

If you don’t know the words or the tune don’t worry you’ll soon catch on.

It is a hypnotic Caribbean spiritual beat.

Jehovah will show the way the singer, who has a three-woman choir to harmonise with, assures me.

After a good 45 minutes, where he contorts his face, shoulder and upper body into his worship of God, he definitely shows the way…

To the reader who brings it all back to the Bible.

This is faith unembarrassed, unembarrass-able, shouted from the rooftops.

In fact I’d surprised if my party here this week with www.visittobago.gov.tt can’t hear it 250 metres away.

Across the road in Kariwak Holistic Haven, Bon Accord Village www.kariwak.com.

And remember all this theate and spiritualist enlightenment is free…

Although, you would have to have a heart of stone not to dance up to the front with your fellow worshippers and new best friends.

To make an offertory donation.

And just when I ready myself for the closing prayer Pastor Ann emerges from the choir.

As a bolt of thunder.

With today’s lesson. I swear she grows before me. I know I do.

Jehovah may show the way but the Pastor is shouting out the directions.

Alas for me inevitably it has to be to the exit door… I need to meet my party.

Answer to my prayers

It is time to head for the airport… ‘just around the corner’ as they say on the island.

It is the fitting way to give thanks to God for his favours… and this island.

And slip in a prayer.

So guess what, He answered and Celtic won the League Cup.

And if you’ve enjoyed my Tobagonning, here’s a recap…

Give us this Day – Sunday School, Tobago. I should cocoa – Christmas in Tobago, It’s Robinson Crusoe’s very own Tobago, Not any old Glasgow bar and Ready, steady, goat… in Tobago.

And Barbados Let’s rumba in Barbados and My kiss with Rihanna are ‘just around the corner.’

MEET YOU IN THE AISLES

Pilgrimage

Give us this Day – Sunday School

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Back in the day the kids of the parish would sit down cross-legged and listen to their Sunday School teacher – ME!

I’d surround myself with props related to the biblical story of the day.

And we’d sing from a playlist with set dances…

It’s Us Who Make Commuity, Ladybird, Do You Know Who Made You? and This Little Light of Mine come to mind.

Music is in the soul in the Deep South

I’m minded here to share with you that they play this song on a loop in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum http://www.mcrm.mdah.ms.gov.

Part of my American Trilogy which includes http://The Promised Land, http://The Story of the Blues and http://The King of Kings.

The reason why I’m raising Sunday Schools is twofold.

Firstly because the family behind me at Mass today (and many Sundays) spent the whole service running around after their hyperactive kids.

With another great Civil Rights leader Myrlie Evers in the Deep South

And secondly because, God willing, I’ll be attending a Sunday Service with a difference next weekend.

Before I get on to that it’s worth saying that not all kids are menaces.

Harriet’s story

And I was hugely impressed by the wee one who sat right through a high-powered film.

The excellent Harriet, the story of Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman.

Never forget. Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

Sunday Schools were part and parcel of Sabbath worship back in Scotland but seems less of a thing here in Ireland.

But it makes sense, allowing parents to concentrate on the service.

And the kids are taken away and told biblical stories at their pace.

With all this in mind and with my experience at the sharp end I might just volunteer my services to Sunday School in Tobago http://www.visittobago.gov.tt.

Particularly as Tobago’s Sunday School has a twist.

Tobago’s Sunday School

It’s only a nightclub with a jumping steel band which gets the party started every Sunday night.

I’ll be returning to the Caribbean for the first time in a couple of years next weekend….

Here’s https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/rihanna-in-barbados/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/my-kiss-with-rihanna/.

Here’s what we know already about the island already. And I’m not kidding https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/09/11/tobago-ready-steady-goat/

Allellujah!

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Tobago… ready, steady, goat.

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My Dear Old Mum would sometimes chide me for being a bit of a giddy goat.

Nothing much changes, she’s still my Dear Old Mum, although a year older, and dearer, on Saturday, while I’m even giddier and even goatier…

With white hair hanging from my chinny-chin-chin.

We’ve had some travels, me and Mum, and I often think how much fun we’d have had together in some others.

A tartan band: She’s small but mighty

Like Tobago.

Tobago ‘our little dot on the map’ as one local called it lies just off Trinidad and just off Venezuala.

But it’s in a world of its own with a tropical rainforest, its own national dish ‘crab and dumpling’.

That’s my kind of beach

And TV chef Ainsley Harriott was there to try some for himself.

Sunday School, which is anything but… it’s actually a street party held in Buccoo every Sunday night.

When our friends from Tobago visit every year it is always a highlight of the Travel circuit.

Last year they brought us up to speed with the many unique cultural aspects of the island.

This year they wanted to stress the nature, animal and birdlife and sustainability of the island.

Carnival time

The best animals, of course, are the goats.

The Tobago Goat Race was started by Bajan Samuel Callender in 1925 as an more everyman’s alternative to horse racing.

Those goats again

It runs every Easter Tuesday… and I’m looking to get out there next year to run too.

And some cooking… here’s Yzanne Williams Chance

Am I kidding? You’ll need to keep following to find out.

See http://www.tobagobeyond.com, http://www.visittobago.gov.tt and here’s a neat site I found too http://www.buccoo.net.

How to get there

Virgin Atlantic flies from Manchester and Gatwick http://www.virginatlantic.com

And British Airways flies from Gatwick http://www.britishairways.com.

Now you want to read about my adventures in the Caribbean? Thought you would https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/rihanna-in-barbados/

And https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/my-kiss-with-rihanna/

And you want to see how I got on when I tried to learn how to cook Caribbean-style…