Anise-infused nights

The Turkish team succeeded in finishing number two and three, but missed the number one spot; alas, not from the top but the bottom. The title of the news could be, "Turkish team loses on the piste, but wins on the table." In both the giant slalom and cross country ski races, the Turkish competitors graciously held the bottom places. But later in the day, the very same team won the hearts of all other nations, not on the piste, but on the table.

The annual meeting of the Ski Club International des Journalistes / International Ski Club of Journalists (SCIJ) was recently held in Baqueira-Beret, Spain. http://www.baqueirascij2015.com/. The SCIJ was founded in 1955 as a brilliant idea of Gilles de la Rocque, a keen skier-mountaineer journalist from France. The idea was to gather journalists from all nations to encourage contact and communication in unusual surroundings, so that they will be relieved from the daily banality and narrow political discourse. The initial 65 members from eight countries have now soared to over 2000 members worldwide from 44 countries. The SCIJ meetings are held each year at a different venue where all gather to ski for fun, but also compete in races, and have round-table discussions on professional matters. This year's topic was inevitably the Charlie Hebdo killings and the limits of expression of freedom. The SCIJ can be principally about skiing but it is more about communication. One regular activity is the organization of a Nation's Night, where all teams bring in their choice of favorite food and drinks to share with the other nations. That is where the losers can become winners, as in the case of Turkish team.

The Turkish table had a "Rak? & Meze" concept. Rak? is the famous grape spirit double distilled with fresh...