Nix Wadden

My most memorable experience of John Crosbie was the time he was on the receiving end of a very public roasting by some of the country’s leading politicians. I had a hand in making it happen. The date was October 26, 1986, and the event, held in Ottawa’s Westin Hotel, went down in history as The John Crosbie Roast for the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Tour. [ 559 more words ] http://nixwadden.ca/wp/the-john-crosbie-roast-of-1986/

Call us old fashioned but maybe that’s what getting old is all about. Today is Old Christmas Day for us, and it’s only now that we can think of taking down our Christmas tree. Unlike many folks whose Christmas calendar seems to begin in early December and ends with Boxing Day sales. Yet to each his own. We got our tree at a local tree farm preferably the one we’ve gone to almost every year Laird’s U-Cut Christmas Tree farm on Manotick Station Road in Osgoode. [ 391 more words ] http://nixwadden.ca/wp/taking-down-the-tree/

Given all the controversy about Facebook and its alarming reach into the minutiae of our private lives, I find myself sitting on the fence, reluctant to do anything drastic but wary of big brother's messing around with my personal data. One step I have just taken, however, is to dismantle my so called Author Page - the one with the whiskery image - on my Facebook account. [ 346 more words ] http://nixwadden.ca/wp/a-step-away-from-facebook/

Rounding out a photo story series on a wonderful 1987 trip highlighting a bus tour of Italy are some scenes encountered before and after that event. Actually the last stage of the tour was an overnight stay at the delightful town of Arco on scenic Lake Garda, located in the northern Italian lake district. We only arrived at dusk so had little time to explore but enjoyed the views. [ 273 more words ] http://nixwadden.ca/wp/european-scenes/

Fascinating but very sad. Such was our inevitable reaction on our 1987 visit to what history may well call the lost city of Pompeii. Once a prosperous and culturally advanced city close to Naples in southern Italy, a devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it and its citizens in 79 AD. Some 16,000 people are believed to have perished under layers of lava and pumice. [ 151 more words ] https://nixwadden.ca/wp/the-lost-city-of-pompeii/

Rome, renowned as the Eternal City and capital of Italy, was fascinating in its bustling energy as a modern metropolis surrounding timeless vestiges of its tumultuous political, cultural and religious heritage. Our 1987 bus tour group revelled in the joys of seeing world famous landmarks the Coliseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican and various other attractions. [ 329 more words ] http://nixwadden.ca/wp/roaming-through-rome/