Wine and Planes

January 13 Last day in Blenheim

Sorry about the TV debut confusion yesterday. NBC postponed the Chase show until next Wednesday (Jan 19^th), unless “Minute to Win It” goes into overtime.

Taking a short break from Marlborough wine tasting, our Czech companions indulge Mike and take a detour to the Omaka Heritage Air Center. This is an experiential air museum dedicated to flyers in World War I. Peter Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) film production company designed and created this one of a kind museum.  The pictures show off the unique design. If you expected another hangar with carefully restored aircraft sitting on their landing gear, surrounded by rope barriers, you will be surprised and delighted with this presentation.

The aircraft are shown in scenes in the condition they would have presented when they were in service… dirty, oily, patched… some with bullet holes… some crashed in muddy fields. Each scene is a reenactment of an actual occurrence during the war. Examples: Baron Von Richthofen’s (the Red Baron) final flight, with British troops taking souvenirs from his crashed tri-plane. A wounded airman being carried to a waiting US Red Cross ambulance. A downed British pilot surrendering to his German counterpart with his Camel crashed into a tree ina snow covered pasture. Just a first rate experience and unlike any air museum I have ever seen. (Pilot friends, e mail me and I’ll send more pictures)

More vineyards to sample before the day is over. Maria (Ria) our designated driver, pilots us to four more tastings, before we surrender and break for fudge.

Dinner with Richard and Ria (who have agreed to visit in Fort Worth in May) at Gibbs. This restaurant is a small farmhouse way off the road back in one of the vineyards. Interesting conversation with our favorite Czechs as they were born under the Russian’s control and they grew up in a very controlled environment. Then, when the Soviet Union collapsed, their lives abruptly shifted from control to freedom.

Ria told us about her first trip outside Czechoslovakia to Vienna as an 18 year old. (Czechs were not allowed to leave the country under the Soviets.) She was stunned by the retail goods in Austria that simply were not available in her country. Imagine living in a country where you are required to take language lessons to learn the language of your oppressors? Both have adapted well and thrived, but we wonder how many people in Eastern Europe had difficulty making the change… or simply could not cope.

They were polite about it, but it was obvious they blame 40 years under the Soviets on the settlements between the Allies at the end of WWII. They are correct of course. The US, Britain, France and the other western Allies sold out the people in Eastern Europe to appease the Russians.

Perhaps that should be a reminder to our current politicians and statesmen so that they may remember that ending a conflict is not the goal, rather reaching the correct solution for the people who are going to live with the solution is the real goal.

Tomorrow is a travel day from Blenheim to Auckland to Sydney. We are carefully weighing luggage. That last 6 ounces of fudge may put us over the limit. I guess I’ll have to eat it to be safe?