Red Wine

 

The High Holidays are approaching, and wine is an essential element on every family's festive table.

I'm used to drink with my meals (not only on holidays) , red wine, which is actually 100% red grapes juice, with no addition of water, sugar, coloring.  It's produced by Carmel winery, the largest brand in the Israeli wine market, and it's called Tirosh Carmel. 

I like to mix it in my glass with some sparkling soda water  (mixture known as 'spritz'), and it's almost like drinking champagne. Tirosh Carmel is very popular as it is considered a 'family wine', suitable even for children.

 Tirosh red  wine

I've often asked myself why is it marketed in a glass bottle and sold at the supermarket in the wine department?  After all, it's different from the other bottles  on the shelf, which have alcohol, and perhaps other additives.  Even in the Wikipedia, it says "wine is an alcoholic drink, typically made from fermented grapes".

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                               wines and beers at the supermarket

Well, alcohol is just one factor regarding wine. There are other important factors such as : variety and quality of grapes, fermentation reactions, the whole wine production process, of which I know very little.

Anyway, red wine is said to decrease risk of cardio-vascular disease by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. That sounds great!  It's due ,however, to the polyphenols (anti- oxidants) in the red grapes, not due to the alcohol.  Alcohol might block them from working effectively.

 

 

Zigzag on the way up

panoramic view from Sao Jorge Castle

I like autumn , but with all its grace and pleasantness it nevertheless has days with grey, cloudy skies which are bad for our mood, bad for panoramic views, and bad for photography ( especially when one uses a very basic camera as I did). Such was my main Sightseeing Day in Lisbon.

Like any other big city , Lisboa has several high places that offer a good panoramic view of the city . The most recommended is the St. George Castle which is on top of the highest of the city's seven hills . The historical castle and its gardens could be reached by bus or tram , but I decided to climb up the hill ,which was no light matter at all.

On the morning of my heading for the castle, I noticed at some point on my track, a young woman walking unsteadily, as in a zigzag . Her shoes appeared to be of a good quality ,with a good solid shape and flat heels, so I suspected she was either under the influence of alcohol, or she had some neurological problem affecting her legs , in which case she should have taken a cane with her for support, or even better, taken the bus. But ,what do I know .

I felt the urge to approach her and give her a hand but something stopped me from doing that; perhaps it was my shyness with strangers or some unpleasant inner feeling about her. Anyway, I walked slowly behind so that I could keep an eye on her in case she stumbled . When we finally reached the top, I addressed her with a smile and said something like "We did it, maybe we should rest for a while " She returned me a smile and said in a somewhat broken English , that she was not tired at all , on the contrary, she felt full of energy ,and ...having said that she just vanished from my sight.

I had a 'crowded' agenda for that day which included visiting places on foot, by bus and by tram, and so I entirely forgot about the lady. In the late afternoon hours, tired and hungry, I entered an eatery and ordered a portion of grilled sardines and a glass of beer. ('Grilled sardines' is a very popular dish in Portugal during the summer months , till the end of October. These are not the canned variety sardines but freshly caught ones, cleaned, brushed with olive oil and grilled on a small charcoal fire for only several minutes each side. It's delicious. One serving has about six sardines and it comes with a small salad and bread, or with some other additions}.

When I lifted my head from the plate, I saw her. What a coincidence, I thought. She was sitting at a table not far from mine. I couldn't see what was on her plate, but I definitely could see a....large bottle of wine near it. And yet, even after this revelation, I was not sure alcohol was behind her zigzag walking that I witnessed in the morning of that day.

on the bus in Lisbon