Best and Worst of 2005, Part I

One of the things I've always loved about the week between Christmas and New Years is that all the year end lists come out. You know what I'm talking about - best songs of the year, most memorable moments of the year, top news stories of the year, etc. I devour just about every list I can find and usually end up buying a bunch of magazines with such lists.

And so I decided that I would make my own list this year for my friends and family back home and abroad. I've broken it up into two parts and if I wrote about it in the blog, I put the date of the blog entry next to it in parentheses in case anyone wants to read more about it (Just go to the "ARCHIVES" on the sidebar at left).

So without further ado, here are the highlights, lowlights, and memorable moments of Rik's 2005...


* Gotta start with the Patriots winning their third Superbowl in 4 years. Definite highlight, even though I had to get up at about midnight to watch the game and go to work as soon as it was over.


* Probably the best thing that happened to me in 2005 was getting my Italian fishing license and being able to fly-fish the Brenta River, which I did pretty much every weekend from July through September. (JULY 18)


* Venice Pub Crawl '05, Parts I & II! (APRIL 18, 19 & 25)


* I finally discovered Bologna, best food (and gelato) in all of Italy. (MAY 2)


* A couple of good friends came to visit and I was able to show them around Italy - my friend Steve from back home (SEP 22) and Virginia's friend Christina from Hong Kong (SEP 20)


* Back to back weekends in Rome - I got to see the new Star Wars movie, got some new Popeners, almost got ass-raped by the Italian police and discovered a plethora of new pubs. (MAY 23 & JUNE 1)


* Caught the biggest fish of my life - a 17 inch rainbow trout - on the Brenta River. (AUG 8)


* Best TV shows I watched on DVD in 2005: "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Freaks and Geeks" and "The Office" (British version).


* I got my 15 minutes of fame - my hometown newspaper, the Nashua Telegraph actually wrote a story about me. (FEB 28)


* 4th of July weekend was a definite highlight. Spent it in Cinque Terra hiking and enjoying the sun, food, and vino. (JULY 5)


* The wife and I celebrated three years of marital bliss with a trip to Milan (OCT 28)


* I discovered a new little wine bar in Venice that has become my favorite but I'm not telling you where it is. If you want to know then you must come visit and I'll take you there.


* Without a doubt, the sports lowlight of 2005 was seeing Notre Dame come this close to upsetting USC only to lose on the last play of the game. It still hurts. (OCT 17)


* The X Man took his first steps in 2005. He also learned how to swear. (OCT 12)


* Who could forget the "Battle on the Train"?! (APR 25)


* I finally made it to Geneva, Switzerland, which I'd always wanted to see. Also did Lausanne. What a crazy weekend it was too...Flanagan's Pub, flaming shots, and another near ass-raping at the border! (MAY 17)



...TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR PART II...