205. The Ladies of Kent

Faithful listeners may recall RJ preparing to head for Spain to represent his country in table soccer and PJ preparing to go to France for an epic cycling trip.  Non-listeners (are there any?) will likely have heard about these exciting exploits at the grocery or the gym, going about their daily business. In either case, here in episode 205 we share our experiences and impressions along with our achievements as we report on What We Did On Our Summer Vacations. We’re hoping new friends made at these events will hear about themselves at the same time you do!

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The Ladies of Kent

Links: Shed Dogs; Lisbon; azulejo; Port wine; Porto; Barcelona; Old Barcino (Roman ruins in Barcelona); Antoni Gaudí; Sagrada Familia; the Temple Augustus columns; the Facebook page for the ITSF World Cup of Foosball 2025 in Zaragoza, Spain; Todd Loffredo; the three key aging inflection points.

Theme music is Escaping like Indiana Jones by Komiku, with permission.

Dale (not a listener) conquers the Ardeche

PJ summits Mt. Ventoux

A horseshoe bend in the Ardeche region

The Creuse River

As viewed from a bridge in the city of Argenton-sur-Creuse

A pleasant little chateau upstream on the Creuse

Typical morning briefing board

The climbing figures were the daily warning

The Ladies of Kent

(l-r Juliette, Catherine, Sophie) at the finish in Nice

Dale!

The best breakfast

The shade! The view! The food! at PJ’s favourite stop, a city called Vaison-La-Romaine in the old medieval heart of the town at the Hostellerie le Beffroi. Dale (not a listener) and PJ are having breakfast while Sophie at her table sends email.

Azulejo (the classic Portuguese tiles)

The Donkey and the Dog, one of La Fontaine’s Portuguese fables. The donkey should have helped the dog when he had a chance.

The sardine store for tourists

As discussed in the episode

Dom Luis I bridge in Porto

Porto sunset over the Douro River

The Kissing Mural

… as discussed in the episode

Carmo Content

These walls survived the great earthquake of 1755

Sagrada Familia

Note the tree-like support columns as discussed in the episode

Team Canada in the opening ceremony!

The main tournament room

There were also two side rooms with about 40 tables each.

Wheelchair matches

As discussed in the episode

Classic Doubles

RJ and Taras of Edmonton defeat a USA team in Classic Doubles elimination round

Team play

Canadian seniors watch a team mate play in a qualifying match

We won the bronze!!

Here we are with our bronze medals and the 3rd place cup

Drinks afterward

We beat The Netherlands to take the bronze, so we bought them drinks after.