Movie Night and a Call from Naples

Atlantic Highlands - 2 miles in dinghy, 5 kilometres walked, 2 miles paddled

It was a very, very slow day. After a lovely paddleboard ride around the bay on still water, then a bit of stretching, we enjoyed a leisurely morning on the boat, where the only thing of note I accomplished was finishing off our tax returns and Ana did some Glenhyrst and yacht club work. Otherwise, it was sparsely consumed with reading, drinking hot beverages, doom scrolling, and just laying in the cockpit.

Our excitement for the day was going to a movie at the Smodcastle Cinemas. The movie was called Warfare and it was tense and brutal to watch and certainly got its point across, the point being (as I understood it) war is chaotic despite appearances of order and precision, a bunch of ragtag, but enflamed invadees can beat highly equipped professional soldiers, innocent bystanders are left broken and destitute, and it really, really hurts to have your legs blown off. The cinema itself is quite remarkable. It is very old, and the theatres are small; in fact Ana and I were the only ones watching the movie - truly, a private screening. There were images of Kevin Smith, the film maker and actor, plastered everywhere, and one of the dudes working there told us Mr. Smith was from the town next door and had grown up watching films at this cinema, so when the opportunity came to buy it, that's what he did.

We received a video call from Magnus, who had arrived in Italy the previous day and after a train ride from Pisa was now in Naples at the home of our exchange student Dom and his family. Of course, he had just been fed the best meal of his life and he and Dom were on their way into town, presumably to visit the local drinking establishments and probably eat late night pizza (unlikely to contain pineapple). We had a quick video chat with Dom and his folks and reassured them that we would be the next to visit....but we'd be staying far longer! Magnus is now in the final couple days of his European holiday and returns to Edinburgh this weekend for two more weeks of school, one final trip to the continent (with his sister), then it's back to regular life in Canada, but undoubtedly returning as a changed person.