Terrorist Attack / Germany

[Capetonian]

I think it's very true about tourism being down. I have a lot of contacts in airlines and hotels, and they are all making the same comments. Tourism to the UK was supposed to increase after the Brexit vote, due to the lower value of Sterling and thus lower prices, but in fact it has fallen.

Leisure traffic on some airlines into the UK seems to have dropped although load factors are stable.

I know someone who is a director of one of the hotel bodies in Nice, and he says incoming is way down. Not surprising really when you consider how badly the Frogs treat tourists and visitors, but the July 14th attack was probably another nail in the coffin of tourism to that particular area.

[OFSO]

Warning by Israel just come up on TV newsfeed: imminent terrorist attack expected in West India (Goa etc) on western tourists.

[OFSO]

Western Europe's bread and butter tourism industry is in crisis

France, esp. Paris, is in deep trouble. Income from tourism-related industry is down 50% (source: the "Times" December 24th). I've just booked my usual hotel there a few months ahead and the price I was offered is the lowest I have ever paid in the last 25 years. They are also advertising on the internet - never known that before. Spain doesn't seem affected.

[500N]

Magnus, to be fair, I had the advantage of spending November mostly in Adelaide, an excellent city with more urban parkland than I've ever seen, bounded by superb beaches, containing great eateries, accessible wineries nearby, charming city pockets of creative shops and entertainment - all in all a marvelous place and welcome climatic warmth. Quite enjoyed spending four days in center Brisbane, too, along the river downtown. I've never been to Melbourne, but I've read and am told it's even better. Australian culture is live and well. Can't say as much for Old Europe.

Each City - Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane has it's own highlights that are different to others.
You have certainly picked them well for Adelaide and Brisbane. Melbourne is very good.


Re Tourism, it isn't surprising after the sustained attacks. Very sad though.

[BenThere]

Look at the bright side. Not long ago you used to have to go to Cuba or Venezuela to relax for an American-free resort/holiday experience. Maybe soon you'll only have to scoot over to Paris or London.

[500N]

Lol benthere, I go to LV, probably where you get the worst of the worst of Americans.

[BenThere]

No, I think you get them in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and elsewhere. The people in Vegas are trying to escape their humdrum existences and Vegas plays to their fantasies. It's over-the-top garish and venal, but there's fun to be had there. New Orleans is on the same plane. You have to get outside the French Quarter, or at least to the edge of it to catch its magnificence. And its really about superlative food and music, not puking in the gutter at 3 am. For my money, I have a better time in Nashville.

[500N]

Agree, .I would have a better time hunting but LV is work ! Foods ok to good if you hunt down the good places. I'd like to see more of the US, I get on well with Americans.

[BenThere]

If you're really, really hungry, the Bellagio buffet (and I don't like buffets, but this one is special), with prime rib, king crab legs, high grade sushi/sashimi, super shrimp, a broad array of fresh salads and veggies, signature chef deserts, and more, laid out over about a half acre, is an experience I always look forward to. I think it's the best buffet in the world, though I've had a few good buffet meals in Dubai that come close. And it's only about $30 out the door, I think.

[500N]

I went there once, on recommendation. Yes, it was very good.

I remember the night before we had had a meal in little Venice. That was also good.

[OFSO]

What's the difference between England and Germany ? The English put up the anti-terrorist concrete bollards BEFORE the attack has taken place.

[Magnus]

On the subjects of food & Germany, I visited Wild Leitz in Wezlar and was taken out for dinner. I was glad I had a couple of spare notches in my belt when the starter turned up and it was a selection of about 8 different breads to be dipped into a bowl of warm goose fat. Goose was the main course, with spuds and dumplings. All delicious, but I couldn't do that too often!

[BenThere]

Canada Geese are so common around Southeastern Michigan that they are a nuisance during migration. Hunting them would be child's play as they land in the hundreds and laze about around any body of water. So far as I know, we don't have a hunting season, but you can shoot them on any farm property because they are crop damagers. You could bang all you wanted with a .22.

I've concluded that they need hunting to cull the flock, but I've been informed that you never take a goose near a city for eating, as their taste will reflect their diet. You want to get them shortly after they've marauded a country farmer's barley field, not after they've plundered our local landfill. Also, you don't want to gut, pluck and clean them straightaway, but hang the whole bird for a day or two before you process it for cooking.

I've never processed or cooked a goose, but from what I've read the fat is very good, the liver is unique and full of cooking options, and the breasts are large and tasty. Also, you cook pieces, not the whole bird, because the legs and thighs take much longer to cook than the white meat. Doing a wild goose is on my bucket list.

[Stoneboat]

You want to get them shortly after they've marauded a country farmer's barley field, not after they've plundered our local landfill. Also, you don't want to gut, pluck and clean them straightaway, but hang the whole bird for a day or two before you process it for cooking.

Yep. Up here the best time was in the spring on the northward migration. They were fat, having fed on corn or whatever in the US before heading north. Southbound in the fall, they'd be scrawny buggers, having raised a flock of young uns over summer, living on goose grass and other northern fare. You are correct to hang 'em for a few days. Attach a length of twine around the neck and hang 'em from a rafter or something. After plucking, you need to singe them to get rid of the down and pin feathers, as well as to tighten up the skin prior to roasting. We never cut them up, but you'd need a couple of rashers of thick bacon or better yet, salt pork, draped over the breast while roasting. Keeps the breast meat moist.

[Karearea]

Add washing-soda to the scalding-water to saturate the feffers for easier plucking.

[edit to add, there seems to be a bit of thread-drift here ]

[BenThere]

a bit of thread-drift here

It's all connected. The German goose is cooked.

[OFSO]

ANGELA MERKEL has been pictured doing her Christmas shopping flanked by security guards in the wake of the deadly Berlin terror attack.
By Rebecca Perring

PUBLISHED: 12:07, Sat, Dec 24, 2016 | UPDATED: 13:21, Sat, Dec 24, 2016

The beleaguered German chancellor visited her local grocery where she bought prawns, salmon, butter and alcohol infused pralines.
With security guards by her side at all times, Mrs Merkel was snapped at the tills paying for her shopping in Berlin.

She appeared in good spirits just a few days after Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist Anis Amri ploughed a HGV lorry into Christmas market revellers, killing 12 and injuring 48 others.

Mrs Merkel has sought to quash fears that Germany is no longer capable of protecting its own people by promising to crush terrorism and increase the number of deportations of dangerous extremists. The German chancellor, who is currently seeking a fourth term in office, has been accused of putting Germany at risk as a result of her decision to allow 1.1million migrants to enter the country since 2015. But she is adamant Germany and Europe's values will overcome the ever-increasing terror threat. German authorities failed to deport Berlin terror attack suspect Amri, 24, a Tunisian asylum-seeker, because he had no valid identity papers. He was shot dead by police on the streets of Milan.
The extremist was able to flee to Italy just four days after the gruesome massacre, prompting harsh criticism over Europe’s controversial free movement zone.

Mrs Merkel in her New Years' Eve message called on Germans to fight the guns and bombs of Islamic State with love and compassion. Citizens should meet ISIS threats with "openness", and she told Germans that the public mourning following the Berlin truck attack had filled her "with confidence for the country's future". (Ibid).

I suppose she is right. German citizens have nothing to fear from terrorist attacks - if they travel in bullet-proof cars and with armed guards when they go shopping. For those that don't, well just meet terrorists with "openness, love and compassion".

[500N]

Mrs Merkel has sought to quash fears that Germany is no longer capable of protecting its own people by promising to crush terrorism and increase the number of deportations of dangerous extremists.

Mrs Merkel in her New Years' Eve message called on Germans to fight the guns and bombs of Islamic State with love and compassion. Citizens should meet ISIS threats with "openness",

I suppose she is right. German citizens have nothing to fear from terrorist attacks - if they travel in bullet-proof cars and with armed guards when they go shopping. For those that don't, well just meet terrorists with "openness, love and compassion".

1. She will be the first to crush terrorism if that is the case.

2. She's deluded - love and compassion my arse, integration for those that want it, kick out the rest.

[OFSO]

Just thinking - I hate to praise Charles de Gaulle, but when the FLN were out to assassinate him, he refused to take any special precautions, refusing for example to have bullet-proof glass and armour installed in his official Citröen. Aides faked a "breakdown" of the car so they could take it away for some days and have the work done secretly. His attitude was that it was a matter of honour of the President of France not to take any special precautions that the ordinary citizen could not take.

In contrast, Merkel's attitude is utterly despicable.

[Chuks]

OFSO, you want to tell us that Charles de Gaulle was driven around in an armored Citröen, but that was okay because he somehow failed to notice any change between the car as had been, with window glass just a few millimeters thick, and the car post "secret work," with much thicker armored glass. Now, I understand that the man was famous for having very poor vision and a reluctance to be seen wearing spectacles, but how do you suppose that he missed the fact that his car was now armored? Was he legally blind? Too, I think you will find that he usually traveled in a motorcade, with escorts.

Is there some current world leader you do not despise for using a high degree of personal protection? Please name just one, off the top of your head. Olof Palme of Sweden, perhaps? The late Olof Palme of Sweden? Nope, sorry, not despicable by your standards, but also currently stone dead, shot down like a dog on a Stockholm street over 30 years ago, by a lone gunman who is still at loose.