I know this is the traditional time to look back on the highs and lows of last year, but it is not one I have any desire to linger over. In fact, I’m planning to draw a veil (or maybe a large blackout curtain) over the whole thing and pray for better times ahead. Instead, I’m going to enjoy the current moment while the sun is shining, the sky is blue and there’s a lovely frosty nip in the air. I would even welcome a light dusting of snow. When you live in southern England snow is so seldom seen that we greet it gleefully like little children.
However, no year is all bad and there have been some good news stories about medical breakthroughs and environmental successes. And I have added to my general knowledge. These are the things I have learned in the past year:
- The place in the ocean furthest from land is Point Nemo, located in the South Pacific. It’s named after Captain Nemo from Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It is so remote that sometimes the closest human beings to the spot are the astronauts on the International Space Station. Speaking of which –
- When the USSR fell in 1991 the cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev was left stranded aboard the Mir space station. The country that had launched the shuttle no longer existed, chaos reigned, and he ended up spending 311 days on board, twice as long as planned. (You can tell I’ve been reading Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, can’t you?)
- The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the longest-running motoring event in the world, starting in 1896 when motorists were finally allowed to drive without a person walking ahead of them waving a red flag. The speed limit for ‘light locomotives’ was increased from 4 to 14mph.
- The German language is a constant source of delight. I have long enjoyed their word for glove, which is Handschuh (literally “hand-shoe”), but now I’ve discovered something even better: Handschuhschneeballwerfer. It literally means snowball-thrower glove and suggests that the user is too cowardly to throw a snowball bare handed. I can’t imagine how they use it in a sentence. Maybe they just shout Handschuhschneeballwerfer at people. I think a trip to Germany is long overdue.
- The password to the Louvre Museum’s surveillance system was “Louvre”. This was revealed as its security systems came under scrutiny following the dramatic jewellery theft in October last year. It’s a wonder that the Mona Lisa is still there, but I, for one, wouldn’t miss it. I think the world is full of far more impressive paintings, Leonardo da Vinci’s own Lady with an Ermine being one of them. Worth a trip to Krakow.
I seem to have travelled the world in one blog. From the depths of the ocean to outer space, with side trips to England, Germany, France and Poland. Now, I need to start planning some actual travel for 2026. Happy New Year and Bon Voyage.
Strassenbahnhaltestelle is just 8 letters in English – tram stop.
Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher is egg topper in English. In fact, we accidentally bought each other one last year as our Christmas present of choice (exciting ,I know). So we have a spare now if you’d like one. The only thing is that we clearly don’t have the right technique and find it doesn;t work terribly well, so I’ve gone back to my old method of bashing the egg all the way round with my teaspoon and then picking the bits of shell out.
Love the picture of the balloons. From your recent trip I assume.
German is a joy. No, I don’t think we’ll take your Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher, but thanks all the same. Yes, the photo is from Cappadocia.
Great blog, Sheridan! I am clinging to the points of wonder you offer (I am also definitely going to get my hands on a copy of Orbital, which I had been thinking about for a while now!). Haha, I also get a kick out of the German language and have been laughing about Handschue for years now! Another fave is Krankenhaus. I, too, am cranky when sick!
Thank you. I think cranky houses are probably quite common!