San Antonio, Chile

The largest freight port in Chile is also the busiest on the Pacific coast of South America. San Antonio, about an hour's drive from Santiago, is a pleasant city of about 85,000. Its climate is similar to that of Northern California's—and the local terrain is similar to the coast between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

San Antonio is crucial to Chile's success as a major supplier of commodities, from crops like avocados to copper, which by most estimates account for 40% to 50% of Chile's GDP.

The town is marvelous window into middle class Chilean life. The waterfront is lined with restaurants and street vendors, but is not slick and touristy. While watching families pose for photos, the docks in the background work around the clock unloading and loading ships that will traipse around the Pacific Rim and world.

Nearby is Isla Negra, one of Pablo Neruda's home and apparently his favorite. Best of all, the area is accessible by colectivos, taxicabs that serve a fixed route and pick up and drop off passengers wherever they need to go.

Pomegranate Central: Yettem, CA

I thought I would go back to my roots and show a few pictures of Yettem, California.  Yettem is a small town just south of the Fresno County line in Tulare County, 11 miles north of Visalia.  The town is so small that chances are it will not show up on your GPS—it is generally considered to be part of Cutler.

Yettem was founded by Armenian immigrants over 100 years ago.  Many Armenians have left the town, but some still work in the citrus and pomegranate orchards, and St. Mary’s Church still serves the community.  One of their legacies is the pomegranate orchards in this region.  Pomegranates are one of the world’s oldest fruits, woven with a rich legacy of myths and of course, timeless recipes.

I drove through Yettem last January, taking a detour along state route CA-201.  I was struck by the fruit falling on the ground, the quiet except for the occasional passing truck, and the beauty of the pomegranates still hanging from the dormant trees.

In this age of a globalized food supply, it is easy to forget where our food comes from.  Driving through Yettem’s understated beauty, it is a shame that we do not visit the sources of our food more often.

I figured these pictures would be a fitting tribute to my grandmother, who emigrated from Armenia in the 1930s—she would have been 105 years old on Tuesday.

By the way, any foodie should have a bottle of pomegranate molasses in their pantry.  It does wonders for stews and meats!

Rila Monastery, Bulgaria

Bulgaria has had its share of tough times, but this gem is one of the most fascinating places to visit in Europe.  The whole country is like an open air museum: mosques from the Ottoman Era, enormous churches, and yes, the drab buildings from the post World War II era.  Bulgaria also is a rich breadbasket, offering fine wines, rose oil, abundant fruit, and a skilled labor force.  Its industry is heavy on the services side, followed by industry and then the agricultural sector.  Bulgarian craftsmanship is also often overlooked: its beautiful ceramics, for example, are colorful, sturdy, and match art with function.

Sofia, its capital and industrial center, is experiencing massive growth.  But 70 miles away in the Rila Mountains is the eponymous monastery, dating back to the 900s.  Destroyed by fire in the 1830s, its reconstruction was finished in 1862, and boasts almost 9000 square meters of gorgeous grounds and spectacular domes.  Here are a few shots from my visit in 2003.

Aalsmeer, The Netherlands

Once a week or so I will post photo essays.  Here is my second.

Few places display the intricacies of international trade like Aalsmeer, Holland, home of the largest wholesale flower market in the world.  Most of the flowers that traipse through Aalsmeer are not even grown in Holland--many come in late at night from Africa, and are often sold off around the world before most of us wake up.  I was fascinated by the constant movement and geometric patterns.

Welcome to The Attache!

Welcome to The Attache!

Please read my intro and bio.  I created this site to articulate my business worldview.

Many of my thoughts on business and strategy can be found on my other web site.

But this site is focused on my passion, international business, and my desire to achieve a position with an international business focus.

So about once a week I will present a photo gallery expressing how I view the world--the focus of which will be on off-the-beaten-track places.

Every journey has to start somewhere, so my first photo is from Athens--not exactly out of the way, but its old Olympic Stadium, host of the 1896 Games, is a great place to start.