Looking Back on 2025 and Ahead to 2026

The year of 2025 had many adventures and events. I am thankful that I was able to experience them and hope others were able to enjoy their own life events. "Personal growth" would be the term I would use for this year with many things achieved on my own or through my own efforts. I would also use the same term for the introspection done when I made a few boneheaded decisions.

    There were four pleasant trips to my wife's parents place in the Okanagan Valley including the Christmas Holidays. Also had a long weekend camping on Hornby Island which is also a relaxing experience. The huge trip this year was going to Europe for 66 days, seeing Spain and Italy. Mostly short trips within BC in 2026 and possible a long one. Stay tuned.

    A total of 55 fiction books were read in 2026. Standouts include: Abrams, Peter - A Perfect Crime; Balogh, Mary - One Night For Love; Child, Lee - The Enemy & The Killing Floor; Ellroy, James - Black Dahlia; Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying; Greene, Graham - The Power and the Glory & The Third Man; Henderson, Zenna - The Anything Box; Knebel, Fletcher and Baily, Charles W. - 7 Days in May; O'Brian, Patrick - Post Captain & HMS Surprise; Paterson, Katherine - Bridge to Terabithia; Quinn, Julia - It's In His Kiss, On the Way to the Wedding, and Happily Ever After; Reid, Iain - I'm Thinking of Ending Things; Rice, Anne - Interview with a Vampire & The Vampire Lestat; Sacher, Louis - Holes; Stark, Richard (Donald Westlake) - Nobody Runs Forever, Ask the Parrot, Dirty Money; Wells, Martha - Murderbot 0.5, 1-4, 4.5, 5-7.

    Five graphic Novels were read: Cooke, Darwyn - Richard Stark's The Outfit and The Score; Miyazaki, Hiyao - Nausicaa books 2 through 4.

    For non-fiction, 16 magazines were read (Archeology and National Grographic) and six books: Astronauts Guide to Life by Chris Hadfield; Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont; Sacred Origins of Profane Things by Charles Panati; Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari; The Definitive Edition of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl; Walking on Alligators by Susan Shaughnessy

    With podcasts, 208 were listened to. They are great when traveling or cleaning the house/yard: American History Hit: 29; Ancients: 68; Betwixt the Sheets: 10; Debaters: 9; Frountburner (30 min): 1; Gone Medieval: 41; History Hit: 1; Ideas: 49

    Three music specials were watched: Europakonzert: From Berlin with the Berliner Philharmoniker with Krill Petrenko and another concert by the same folks in Barcelona inside the Sagrada Familia; Simon and Garfunkel: Concert in Central Park.

    Two live Early Music Society (EMSI) concerts were attended: (Brilliantly Baroque by Tafelmusik and Yule by Trio Medieval

    Films in a theatre watched numbered four and movies seen in a home were twenty-four. Standouts include (T=Theatre): A Christmas Story, Brazil: Director's Cut, Chef, Edge of the Knife; T Fantastic Four: First Steps; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Ladybird; Little Women (2019); Pride & Prejudice A&E Episodes 1-5; T Superman; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Lunchbox; The Warriors: Director's Cut; White Noise (2022)

    Animated films seen numbered nine. Standouts include: Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke; Spirited Away; Superman Vs The Elite; Whispers of the Heart

    For animated TV, 149 hours were watched. Standouts include: Batman Caped Crusader (10); Batman Beyond (33); Creature Commandos (3); Invincible S2 (5); Rick and Morty (10); Star Wars: Clone Wars S1 (20) S2 (20) S3 (1); What If (S1: 9; S2: 9)

    For competitive TV, 179 hours were watched. I appreciate the British shows most of all for its humour and "feel good" atmosphere. The one I enjoyed the most were: Great Pottery Throw Down (8); Junior Bakeoff (40); Top Chef Canada (8). I do need to get out my models to assemble and paint while seeing these as I can imagine the extra models I can paint with 179 hours!

    Of the 12 documentaries watched, the ones of most interest were: American Experience's Forgotten Hero: Walter White & the NAACP; Blue Box; Chasing the Moon (three episodes of 2hrs ea); Fight to the Finish; Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny; Satan Wants You; The US and the Holocaust (2hrs each and only one of three episodes watched so far)

    With 130.5 hours of non-fiction TV watched, there were many that were particularly enjoyed. Those are: *Apocalypse War of Worlds (5); *Art That Made Us (2); *Being Beethoven (3); Daily Show (3); Exploring India's Treasures with Bettany Hughes (2); Fake or Fortune (9); Finding Your Roots (9); House Special (30 min, 5); Icons Unearthed (Batman) (6); Icons Unearthed (Harry Potter) (5); Icons Unearthed (Marvel) (6); Icons Unearthed (Spider Man) (5); Icons Unearthed (Star Wars) (6); Nova (11); Secrets of the Brain (2); Secrets of the Dead (6); *Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius (3)

    Fiction TV watched, at 249.5 hours, is always a little more bloated than I want. I need to be more severe on stopping to watch a show that is slightly better than "meh" or lower. Standouts of what I saw were: All Creatures Great and Small (7); Cloak and Dagger S2 (7); *Daredevil S3 (13); *Expanse S5 (10) & S6 (6); Jessica Jones S3 (13); Leverage: Redemption (10); Punisher S2 (13); Resident Alien (10); Secret Agent AKA Danger Man S1 (30 min; 33) S2 (1hr; 1); *She-Hulk (9); *Shogun (10); Wandavision (30-45 min, 9); *We Are Lady Parts (30 min, 2); Wolf Hall (6)

    So that is 2025 in a snapshot. Here is to a pleasant and non-stressful 2026! Happy New Year everyone!

March 02 to 07 May - Trip Epilogue

This 66-day time in Europe was a great introduction to the possibilities of long stay vacationing after retirement. My seven weeks in the Maritimes, last year, was a taste while this was a multi-course meal. This vacation was a fantastic experiment in four ways.

    Firstly, it was relatively unstructured beyond our accommodations and plane tickets. Each morning, or evening before, we would think of where to go and what to do in general terms, letting our mood and weather determine our plans. With the advance loading of Googlemaps, with saved places to go and interesting places to eat, my efforts meant less time searching on a phone and more time on vacation having fun.

    Secondly, it was the longest we had been in Europe since I retired. It was as long as some of my deployments in the Canadian Navy! The length was 25.5 days with Natalie and 40.5 without. We had also come to the same conclusion, by the time I returned, that I should limit my stay - after Natalie goes home - by no longer than two weeks. With two cats, making supper, and watering our garden, it meant extra work at home after her workday had finished.

    Thirdly, it was the first time that all of our accommodations, where we had lengthy stays, had kitchens. We made our own breakfasts, and occasional lunches and suppers too, using local ingredients from markets and specialty stores. This meant an overall cost savings without sacrificing quality.

    Quadrally…fourthly…fourth important thing about the trip was staying with R&J in Almazan, Spain. They rented a place, with a separate studio residence out back, for three months and rented a car. The joys of being in a nice town of 5000, with history and nature everywhere, and a short bike or car drive to many more places meant it was a great base of operations. A longer drive took them to most places in Spain they wanted to overnight at, for short stays. It opened mine and Natalie’s eyes on what could be possible with a long stay.

    I have been asked what I liked most about the trip and I would say the unstructured nature of it tops the list. For my favorite places visited, it would be Venice. The goal of walking over every bridge meant seeing all of Venice, and not just the places tourists most often went to. I saw the differences in each of the islands that make up the city of Venice. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the touristy places there (galleries, museums, churches, and historical places) but if I came here again it would be early spring or late fall to avoid the press of tourists in the central areas.

    What is our next big trip? It’s hard to say. We have some ideas, but more research is needed as well as keeping our fingers on the pulse of world events, so stay tuned.

    In the meantime, I am posting each day of our trip to Europe on my blog. It has more pictures than my emails and less pictures than my Facebook posts. I am on the 22nd of March, but will try to post one or two a day until the trip is entirely posted. Enjoy!

Some statistics on the trip

-2 countries and three languages (Spanish, Basque, Italian).

-9 cities/towns stayed at (Almazan twice) or 6.6 days average at each place.

-495.14km walked or 7.5km per day.

-1077 flights of stairs climbed or 16.32 flights per day.

Favorite Moments

-Almost every day in Venice.

-Ostia Antica when visiting the site of ancient Ostia.

-Rome’s Appian Way bike ride.

-Rome revisiting places we had been 14 years ago.

-Rome when just walking around and seeing what was there.

-Almazan bike riding, hiking, and lazy days with R&J.

-Spain last morning in Avila, first day in Segovia, the full day in Leon, and the full day in Bilbao.

    My hope is that some of the information given will help you on your Spain and Italy trips, or at least some enjoyment. Have a good life.

April 14 - A Day of Questions and Guesses like, “Am I at the Right Airport?”

Feeling of the Day: Many people have said that with a book you are never lonely. Paper or electronic books can also make time pass more easily. I learned these facts during my first few years in the Canadian Navy when you often have to wait for the next thing. Sometimes you have to wait a long time. Paperbacks could easily fit into a Naval combat jacket and, when the uniform changed, in the side pouches of our pants. Those books became a miniature vacation, from whatever was going on, and were always appreciated. Today I started and almost finished one book.

Full Day’s Events: Although I mentioned savouring moments, yesterday, today had its moments of panic and frustration. Everything started perfectly fine. I had pre-bought my airport vaporetto from Alilaguna (open ended boarding time and a generous expiry date), and crossed my last Venice bridge while imitating a pack mule with all my items.

    The boat arrived a tiny bit late and, after boarding, we cruised North then West along the Grand canal. Looking at the palazzos, those intact and those not, and the side canals with their bridges I was going to miss this city. Once we were about to pass the train station the boat turned North through one of the canals I had walked down previously. Once the canal was transited the boat hugged the coast of the North side of Venice. We passed by areas that I did not see, either because they were private or there were no bridges. Pick your reason as I would have to look at my map to get a hint.

    With one last stop the boat turned NNW and, after an acceptable distance by Venetian maritime law, the pilot gunned the motor. Our time was spent passing a few small private islands, in various states of order. One of the better kept small islands seemed to belong to a boat repair company with lifting and shore storage facilities beside large buildings for mid to small size boat repair.

    Once docked at the airport I knew there was a people mover on the second level. So far, so good. I entered the airport, on the second level, and looked for my flight and which numbered counter I needed to check in at…but it was not showing on the departures board. Curious. Worry. Panic. Checking my email for my airplane ticket, I looked up the three-letter airport code, plugged it into a search engine and…I was in the right place! The other airport, Treviso, is closer to Venice but smaller and mostly serves Ryanair.

    I was downgrading my panic to worry. I still needed my check in booth and went searching for a gate area labelled Iberia. There are large TV screens above each desk and I thought I could hunt around both levels for the airline. Nope. I figured out, after going to every area with a check-in counter, that no airline “owns” or “rents” specific check-in booths. I went to the information booth and showed my email with the airline, flight number, and time it was to leave. She pointed in the direction of a side hall I had just wandered in from and said my booth would be displayed, on the departures board, 45 minutes before the plane would be boarding. Very similar to the trains in Italy so now my worry was downgraded to curious.

    Heading to that side hall I sat on a bench, pulled out my book and started reading. I was deep into it and missed the people lining up at a previously unmarked gate, towards the end of the hall, where attendants had put up their flag of the airline before logging into their computers. I ended up being the 45th to 55th person checked in, after the board displayed the booth number to go to. I didn’t mind because I had the book.

    When I reached the booth, and put both of my bags through, the attendant said that I had to check in my backpack because of limited room. I had my laptop, story folder, and extra clothes in there so I took the first two and placed them in the small bag I use to go through security easier while I internally waved goodbye to my handy Cotopaxi backpack.

    Security was a breeze, as it was mostly empty of travellers, so I searched for a portable sandwich place so I could sit and eat near my gate. As I did, while passing by the gates, I noticed that not only were there few places to sit there but there were few places to sit anywhere. Also, my gate would not be displayed until 30-15 minutes before boarding so I chose a healthy-looking food place, ordered a sandwich, and ate there.

    Once done, I vacated my place and stood near a departures gate board looking up every two pages. Eventually the blank space for the gate number was filled and, being two gates away, I filed in line. Since I was zone 4, for boarding, there was a little wait made just fine by book reading. After boarding the flight was flawless and even left early.

    I was hoping we would land and I would get my luggage before 3pm. The carousels at Madrid airport can be a wait when a lot of flights have landed. About 25 minutes after landing, all three of my bags popped out at nearly the same time. As the Alsa bus at the airport, bound for Almazan, had already left I needed to wait for the next one at 715pm. I scouted the route to the bus station, headed back inside the airport terminal, sat down, and read until I ate a simple supper.

    Time passed quickly with the novel. With the ticket bought, and bus boarded, I dozed off for the first leg of the 135-minute ride. The inside of this express was very comfy with a washroom too. My friends, R&J, awaited me upon arrival as the bus company provides updates on bus locations so people know when to pick people up when the bus nears its destination. Pretty cool.

    Back at their place we briefly chatted, moved my luggage to the little hacienda in the back, made a fire, set up the basics, and went to bed for a deep sleep. 5.5km, one flight climbed, and one last Venetian bridge I had already crossed before.

April 13 - The Final Bridges and Final Full Day in Venice

Feelings of the day: I was like Freddy Mercury when I was younger. Yes, I had pronounced teeth but that’s not what I mean. No, I couldn’t sing very well. It was that I wanted something. Yes, I wanted to ride my bicycle and break free. No, I wasn’t wanting to make a supersonic man out of you, but super speed would be a cool power. What I wanted, like Freddy Mercury, was “it all”. I rushed around when travelling, desperate to see everything when our ship pulled into port, because there was limited time to spend there because of the requirements of the ship. That feeling of wanting to rush extended to my vacations. Everything was pre planned for the entire time I, and my wife, were awake. But no more of that nonsense. Life needs to be experienced at the speed it wants to be experienced, not what I demand it should be. If some things are missed at least I will enjoy what I did see, not as a check in the box but as a moment to remember. I’m glad I’m changing what I want.

Full Day’s Events: An early start today, since I decided to finish all the bridges I could for Venice and see one last section that was off my map, Eastern Saint Helena Island. Home to the Augustinian monks, who built the first structure here, in 1028 the church and grounds were reconsecrated in 1928 for the Servite order. It is also home to a military base, Venice Arsenal soccer club, and a marina.

    I also missed two bridges on the way there, in the scratches of red marks I made on my map. Leaving at ~0640, I wanted to beat the heat and tourist rush. By 0712, I had finished the two stragglers and at 0727 I was on the final five. Walking around the Eastern half of West Saint Helena, I found it nicely green with tall trees and nice large apartment/condo buildings. I also saw a few groups and dog walkers so now I knew this area had some sort of population, unlike the previous day I was here where it seemed like a ghost town.

    The bridge, where the military base was, ended at its gate. As I walked over, I could see the guard look up from whatever they were holding in the booth. They must have found it a little strange when I placed both feet on the solid ground on his side and simply returned back across the bridge.

    The next bridge, going West to East, was for a path on the Islands’ West side, going North and South. Taking that path I walked past the Venice Arsenal small stadium, with graffiti on its side, to the East to see the church and monastery of the Servite order of monks. The cloister looked nice, lush, and well-tended. To the North of it was a gate and a nice older structure, owned by the Venice yacht club, that looked exclusive and exclusive.

    Continuing over two bridges, I found myself in front of the last bridge I was allowed to pass over. The ones I didn’t cross on this trip had polite signs saying residents only or full gates barring my way. While facing this last bridge, at my back was the gate to access the docks of the marina. Before me was this very wide wooden bridge, with four supports going into the water, heading towards Western Saint Helena Island and the rest of Venice. It would be my 355th different bridge and my 370th different bridge in the entire Venetian lagoon.

    It was fitting, walking slowly across at 0740am, that it felt like I was retiring again for other adventures. Reflecting that I would not have had this opportunity to visit Venice for two weeks on my own if I wasn’t retired, it was a validation of that choice. It felt very good.

    Stopping at a cafe, for a reward of a cappuccino, pastry, and a bano, I then started wandering on the way back. I visited the outside of the Arsenale, now free of rushing folks, stopped at the viewpoint for the Bridge of Sighs, looked at the outside of the Doge’s palace, and stood in the middle of Saint Marco’s square.

    Because I was WAY ahead of my loose schedule, and my final pack would not take long, I visited another old place I had kind of been at before…the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo aka the spiral staircase palace. Built in 1499, it has been visitable since renovation work ended in 2016. My wife and I stood looking up at it 14 years ago, in its little campo accessed through a small alley. Now I was there again and felt I could climb it, but not now and for a good reason: It was 0830 am and it didn’t open for an hour. Back to my place for some packing and travel diary writing.

    Returning, people were already starting to trickle in. The walk to the 2nd floor (3rd floor in NA) was fine, as long as I stuck to the centre support, and when looking out my eyes only looked to the horizon. At that part way up level there was a large room with a modern art exhibition from one artist. Also, a large Tintorello canvas of “The Paradise” called me over from the far side of the first room, which was an astounding work and a surprise to see here.

    Continuing up, I was seeing more of the rooftops and skyline of Venice. The covered viewing area took my breath away with how far I could see around me. Because the horizon was hidden by buildings, the feeling I got on that high place was an endless Venice. The waves of rooftops formed a surreal tide with famous buildings as sturdy ships, church spires as landmark cliffs, and clock towers as lighthouses of time. I loved it and I had the viewing area completely to myself. Taking out my cell I started snapping pictures. I then used Natalie's skookum zoom camera, which was great for capturing the city's distant treasures, on this last full day in Venice.

    Once I finished, and after gazing at the view some more, others started trickling up. I then started focusing on the sounds of the city I could hear. The vaporettos, the gondoliers, garbage and cargo boats, a low hum of Venetians under the dull roar of exuberant visitors speaking different languages. Venice is a unique and powerful place. I have tried to see all of its extremities that are not sought out by those who are from elsewhere. I have tried to see it as a complete city and not an amusement park. I think I have been successful and am glad I traveled here, for a second time, with this mindset.

    Heading back to my place I walked slowly. I had my final lunch, packed most of everything, did research on the Venice airport, and worked on my travel diary.

    Supper was eaten at an intimidating place, because it was always very busy even though it was very close by, Rosticceria Gislon. I used my translation app to decipher the menu and instructions. The sequence is you order from the counter, pay, then wait for it to be cooked in the kitchens (which are across a thin passage), then given to you, and finally you sit to eat it. Just like every lunch and night it was busy, but I managed to find a table once I got my clam pasta (pasta alle vongole). It was the best clam pasta I had ever had and now, on my last night, I realized I should have been bolder in eating here more often. Next time.

    When I was about finished, a Japanese couple were figuring out the process on the menu with their own app, and looking for a table. I indicated that they could sit at mine and she asked what I was having as he was interested. While the lady went to order, I asked the gent when they got here and he said today. They were to have a whirlwind tour of Italy. Everything was planned during the daytime and they were very tired. I wished them a good trip and left to go to my place for an early night.

    I’m glad I am no longer in a rush to see everything in fast forward. Sure, I only have a set amount of time left on this Earth, but that time is not predetermined. Moments need to be relished and savoured before moving to the next one. Moments can also occur by happenstance and accident. The last six weeks have reinforced that viewpoint. Only three and a half weeks to go. 9.1km, 16 flights of stairs, 11 previously closed bridges, and 7 new bridges.