November, 2015 - Lady Stahope - Mexico Martini

Lady Stanhope

Charming and witty, Lady Stanhope was an admired socialite in English high society.  But after a string of messy romances, she left England forever at the age of 33, and went on to become the first Biblical archaeologist.  She journeyed to Greece, Turkey, France, and Germany.

En route to Egypt, Stanhope discarded her feminine and European attire for menswear of most common in Tunisia, a look that would prove her signature the rest of her days.  She traversed through Israel, Lebanon, and Syria.  Later, she'd tell tales of how she so impressed the Bedouin tribes that they named her Queen of the Desert, successor to Zenobia.  But her greatest success came in 1815, when she convinced Ottoman authorities to allow her to excavate the ruins of Ashkelon. Stanhope went looking for gold, but instead found a seven-foot headless marble statue.  Her reputation as an archaeologist takes a hit here, as she ordered the artifact smashed to bits.

The Drink

Mexico Martini
1 1/2 oz tequila
1 spt extra dry vermouth
2-3 drops vanilla extract

Drinkability:  2
Drunkability:  5
Taxic Diversity:  4
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  2

Comments:  "Very strange - vanilla, water, vermouth, frosting - it smells sweet but isn't"

From Women Who Traveled, hosted by Bandit Queen

November, 2015 - Nelly Bly - Aviation

Nelly Bly

American journalist Nellie Bly (a.ka. Elizabeth Jane Cochrane) is best known for her world-changing expose' for which she went undercover to reveal the abuse going on at Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island.  But on November 14, 1889, Bly took on a new challenge for Joseph Pulitzer's paper, the New York World.

Inspired by Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days, Bly set out to beat the fictional globetrotting record.  Traveling in ships, trains, and rickshaws, on horseback and on mules, Bly made her way from England to France, Singapore to Japan, and California back to the East Coast.  And she did all this in 72 days.  Well, 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds to be precise.  Naturally, Bly's bold endeavor made for a series of thrilling new stories, as well as a memoir - Around the World in Seventy-Two Days.

The Drink

Aviation

4.5 cl gin
1.5 cl lemon juice
1.5 cl maraschino liquer
1/4 oz creme de violette

Drinkability:  3
Drunkability:  4
Taxic Diversity:  3
Accessibility:  3
Priority for Conservation:  **

Comments:  ** we have had this at a few parties before, and it's a favorite of BallBuster and Alabazam

From Women Who Traveled, hosted by Bandit Queen

November, 2015 - Aimee Crocker - Blue Lagoon

Aimee Crocker

An American railroad heiress born in 1864, Aimee Crocker was infamous for her lavish parties and long list of lovers and husbands.  She was a frequent subject of society gossip and a proud friend of Oscar Wilde.  But when the public attention became too much, Crocker took off on a tour of the Far East.

On route, she detoured to Hawaii, where she met King Kalakaua, who -- according to her memoir And I'd Do It Again -- was so enchanted with her that he gave her an island and the title Princess Palaikalani (which is said to translate to "Bliss of Heaven").  Crocker's book offers a slew of other outrageous encounters, including run-ins with headhunters in Borneo, a would-be murderer in Shanghai, and a sultry boa constrictor in India.  After ten years abroad, Crocker returned with wild tales, tattoos, a devotion ot Buddhism, and a whole new allure for the high society of America.

The Drink

Blue Lagoon

50ml vodka
20ml blue curacao
100ml lemonade
1 orange slice

Drinkability:  5
Drunkability:  2
Taxic Diversity:  2
Accessibility:  3
Priority for Conservation:  4

Comments:  Alabazam was throwing off the curve in rating.

From Women Who Traveled, hosted by Bandit Queen

November, 2015 - Gertrude Bell - Sex on the Beach

Gertrude Bell 

A contemporary and colleague of T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia), Gertrude Bell was a writer and archaeologist who traveled all around the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.  Her books gave the people of Great Britain a clear concept of the empire's outer territories and are still studied today.

An Oxford graduate who was fluent in Persian and Arabic, she met Lawrence while working in the Arab Bureau in Cairo during World War I.  She's best known for her contribution to the Conference in Cairo in 1921, where the beginnings of Iraq as a nation were forged.  She'd later pioneer the school of thought that relics and antiquities should be preserved in their home national.  The National Museum of Iraq was born from her efforts.

The Drink:

Sex on the Beach

4 cl vodka
4 cl Peach schnapps
4 cl orange juice
4 cl cranberry juice

Drinkability: 4
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  3.5
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  4

Comments:  BallBuster was enthusiastic about this one

From "Women Who Traveled" hosted by Bandit Queen