We are in mid-January and typically the weather is very cold. I had my booster shot 3 days ago and all is well, no after effects. So now I am all boosted and frankly Covid is no longer my priority. I lived in too many countries where many awful diseases where endemic and my vaccinations protected me. So time to move along.
The weather has been cold, frigid, the Hillsborough river is now frozen. We are in a lockdown but the number of sick people has been dropping every day. Yes those who are sick are unvaccinated and maybe you will think me callous or unfeeling but I really do not care about them, it has been 2 years, plenty of time to do the right thing. Everyday we have 100 + spot for vaccination available on PEI so if you want a shot it is very easy to get and takes about 6 minutes. Someone I know yesterday was shopping and stopped at the Pharmacy enquired about a vaccine and got it on the spot. Could it be easier?
I have joined those who are fully vaccinated and feel they should be allowed to go about their lives and not have to worry about the Covidiots who sit there and complain.
So we are more or less confined to our homes, though you can shop for groceries and pick up at the restaurant, but that is not civilized living. On the other hand we have had some pretty marvellous meals at home thanks to Will.
I was thinking this week, that if one day I was to travel again I would love to return to Granada to see the Alhambra palace and the gardens again. What a stunning place it was, and to think it was built 1000 years ago, a marvel. Portugal would be another place I would like to visit again. We had a very nice visit to Lisbon a few years ago. Then Sicily, such an ancient place, beautiful Marsala, Trapani, Monreale, Ragusa, Catania on the slope of Mount Etna. The food in Sicily is a completely different cuisine from Italy, due to centuries of Spanish, Normand and Arab influences. The wines are also of great quality with all that volcanic soil.
I would like a month long trip, not a week or a few days, which is good if you are young and must get back. On the other hand I have cooled to cruises, the food is usually just ok despite what you are told, the rooms on board are nice but I never found them as comfortable as an hotel room. Frankly the crowds on ships despite being on smaller ships get to me. I think that I would like some really good food and service, something you do not come across much these days despite high prices. However if one travels now there are all these tests and complications mass confusion at the airport, not to mention the crazy travellers.

Well on 1 February we will see if the sanctions come off and if life returns to a more normal pace, let’s hope so.
But then Blinken meets Lavrov to talk about the Ukraine, what they are really talking about is not so much a possible invasion as let’s not use any nuclear weapons, negotiating a complicated ballet. Would be inexcusable to blow up the planet over the Ukraine. If there is an invasion by Russia, the only likely response will be severe or more severe economic sanctions. Europe may not follow because their economy would suffer, China will help Russia in any way they can, Iran also will be part of the underhanded help. I love to listen to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, so calm and worldly, he knows his stuff and will not be perturbed, Blinken looks unsure and nervous.
As for Canada in all this, well our Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, a nice person and well educated but way over her head. Canada can do nothing in this conflict we are irrelevant, even with our gift of $120 million to help Ukraine, chump change really. Our Armed forces leadership has been decapitated with a series of well timed alleged sexual peccadillos. Our army is short 12,000 men, ill equipped, no air force to speak of and no navy, all this due to decades of cut backs on military spending. So I so not think that Russia is too worried about us.
How many days til Spring? 58 Days! Seems like an eternity.

I enjoyed reading your comments on the Ukraine situation, and some of the places you may visit when we are free to travel again. I had not really heard of PEI until I started following your site – it has been interesting to read about life on PEI, and to do some research to learn more. Canada appears to be far better prepared for vaccinations than Australia. The Prime Minister here has handled it very badly.
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Thank you.
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After work for some years with major cruise lines as my customers, and traveling onboard a few times, I soured on cruises in general. The number people of people in contained spaces — no matter how enormous the spaces — was not my idea of a liberating holiday, although I do love being out on the open sea. And the number of illnesses spread in those spaces finally did it for me. A month-long trip sounds like such a fantasy right now. But it does appear that things will soon be getting better and this pandemic will be downgraded to endemic. Let’s hope.
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Someday we will travel again. One of the reasons I will push for retirement in a couple of years, is to be able to do that month long adventure. Two weeks is not enough
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58 jours: tout d’un coup, ça ne semble pas si long.
Les observations en regard à l’Ukraine: intéressantes. J’ai souri quand j’ai lu ton jugement de Mélanie Joly (way over her head). Les Russes peuvent pousser fort; il fait froid et l’Europe a besoin de leur gaz naturel. Je viens de terminer la série sur Amazon Prime; les Russes jouent le jeu des empires depuis belle lurette. Pour ma part, je ne crois pas à une invasion imminente. Une invasion, ça coute cher, c’est inconfortable, et ça mène à pas grand chose.
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La série en question est Catherine the Great.
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I was fascinated to read where you would go if you had the chance, in all your travels; this was a good read.
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thank you
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