2025 in Review

This year goes by quickly. It is a "moving" year; I have had three different addresses in Greater Vancouver. It is also a year when I visited 2 bucket list places, Neuschwanstein Castle and Mont Saint Michele.

I have visited many UNESCO to find out why they are so unique to be inscribed. When some of these World Heritage sites are also popular tourist attraction, I subconsciously avoid them. I reckon these sites must have a great deal of esthetic appeal for YouTubers and Instagrammers too. Since this relatively short journey would probably be my swan song journey in European countries, I took up the challenge of embracing the crowds and visited several popular UNESCO sites this time. After visiting them, I could only conclude that they would be more beautiful if there were fewer tourists. 

My first two homes were in Vancouver. I shared a basement suite with international students, foreign workers and refugees. There were a lot of conflicts in both places. It escalated to the point that my African housemate pushed me forcefully to the wall in June. I dropped to the floor and suffered a concussion. There are two cameras in the kitchen, however, they did not deter her from assaulting me often, and without cause. The landlady is elderly and was scared of this African tenant. She pleaded with me to leave the house to avoid future problems. I had no choice but to store my stuff in a locker and went travelling for about 3 months starting from July 11th. 

Even though I have travelled extensively in Canada in the past, I did not visit Atlantic Canada, east of Quebec City. With the urge from our Prime Minister, I visited the eastern seaboard of Canada for three weeks. It was a good refresher course on Canadian history and geography. I could once again experience the warmth and friendliness of Canadians. Halifax reminded me so much of my hometown Vancouver back in the 70's and 80's. The cost of living is also lower in Atlantic Canada than on the West Coast. I was so tempted to move there permanently when I become a pensioner.

At the harbor in Lunenburg, NS

Following the visit to Atlantic Canada, I flew to Dublin, Ireland from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. I spent two weeks in Ireland, visiting the touristy spots and a Marian apparition site called Knock which is also the most memorable Irish experience for me.  

The next destination is the United Kingdom. Though I visited parts of England several times before, I have not visited Northern Ireland and Scotland before. I only stayed in Belfast for three days. I took a bus tour to visit Giant's Causeway which is a UNESCO site. I managed to visit the Peace Wall in West Belfast where "The Trouble" took place between the Protestants and Catholics for decades.

I took a 2 hour ferry from Larne, Northern Ireland to Cairnryan, Scotland. I almost skipped the country because I was unable to book affordable accommodations anywhere in Scotland. My first two nights were spent in a historic town west of Glasgow. There were many events going on before school year stated on August 21st. Fortunately, my friends on the east coast invited me to stay with them. I took a break from regular sightseeing, just living like a local person in a small village in Scotland for four days. After the break, I toured around Scotland until August 31st.

My adopted grandson, me and Mr. Webber, a giant schnauzer.

The three cities that I stayed in England are Newcastle, York and Bath. Durham University and Cathedral, and Hadrian's Wall are the two UNESCO sites that I visited from Newcastle. I only visited Saltaire from York. From Bath, I visited Stonehenge and Avebury Stone Circles, 

I took an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, Normandie, France. It is the 80th anniversary of the ending of World War II. I made a detour in Bruges, Belgium where waffles are cheaper than regular bread. Bruges is essentially the Belgian version of Venice. 

From Belgium, I proceeded in the eastbound direction to arrive in Berlin, Germany. For some strange reason, I never visited the German capital city before this journey. My main motivation is to visit the remains of the Berlin Wall from the Cold War era.

I was in Munich next. I paid exuberant amount of money for very basic accommodation there because it was the height of Oktoberfest. I took daytrips to Augsburg and Fussen. Neuschwanstein Castle is not too far away from Fussen. I could not spend my 63rd birthday in the castle because I had problems in buying the train tickets online. I ended up having a very educational birthday in Augsburg. However, I did get to taste Bavarian Black Forest cakes. 

My last destination on this European journey is Bologna, Italy. From Bologna, I visited Ravenna (rhymes with my name, Rowena) and San Marino, my 123rd country. San Marino is also the oldest Republic in the world.

I was preoccupied with the probability of major earthquakes happening along the San Andreas fault on the West Coast. When I was searching for a place to stay until my next journey, I purposely only looked in higher elevations in Greater Vancouver. So here I am, residing near Simon Fraser University in the Capitol Hill neighborhood since October 9th.