Spain 2026-07

Spain 8,

Sept. 26, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Last night and today were not great. I somehow developed a prostatitis/cystitis/UTI/lower urinary tract infection probably from the cold water that I swam in. I was up all night, peeing every 10 minutes with dysuria (burning), frequency, nocturia, but no hematuria (bleeding).

This is old man’s or a young women’s problem. Needless to say, I got very little sleep. I did my washing quickly as I was running out of clean clothes and headed off to find medical care. The local pharmacy would not give me ‘antibiotica’ without a medical prescription. Meaños where I am staying, does not have a clinic, so I drove to Pontavedra 30 minutes away. All the streets are blocked off due to the race, which made parking rather difficult. The first hospital that I went to specialized in gynecology and paediatrics. They laughed at (with) me as I was neither the correct sex nor the correct age. They sent me off to the university hospital.

The ‘University Hospital’ was situated at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. Obviously, they don’t expect a large walk in clientele. The efficiency lies somewhere between Israel and Canada with a tendency towards the later. The triage nurse saw me within minutes and immediately placed me on a stretcher. I got undressed and put on a hospital gown. 1 hour late a nurse came in and took my vital signs. 1 hour later a resident came to see me, took a complete history and physical exam and then went to give her report to the ER doctor. He immediately ordered a complete blood test. The resident told me that the results would be ready in 3 hours.

Everyone was very kind and helpful but I had no intention of waiting another 3 hours. I told the resident that I was a ‘urologue’ and that I really only needed some Cipro and I would be off. She understood, returned soon afterwards with a prescription and asked me to sign a form written in Spanish. It was probably a release form. The hospital took my insurance card and didn’t charge me a cent.

I took 2 pillS and am feeling much better. I finally found a local high quality restaurant, 5 minutes from my hotel. The food is very reasonably priced and very plentiful. I have learned to only order a main course which comes with a salad and bread. I order the local wine by the glass and have been very impressed. None of the restaurants open before 9:00 pm and most people come to eat at around 10:00 pm

I will be up at 6:00 am tomorrow to drive to Pontevedra and secure a parking spot. I must register for the relay at 8:00 and the hang around until the afternoon for the relay race. We are 4 participants in a mixed team and each of us must do the super sprint, 37m swim, 10km bike and 2.5 km run. I am the oldest in my group. Surprise! Surprise!

I had no time to take pictures.

Love,

Brian

Spain 2026-07,

Spain 2,

Sept 21a, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was really ‘a longdays journey into night’. Although far from my 36 hour, door to door voyage that I did last year for my trip to Israel, 21 hours is still rather long for an experienced traveler like myself. Dominique drove me to Trudeau Airport at 2:30 arriving 3 hours ahead of schedule. I had the ‘Yul Express app’ which allows you to skip the line, saving a few minutes. Once through customs, I went over to the BNC private lounge where I have privileges. Unfortunately, many others also have privileges so I had to cool my heels in a regular chair for 30 minutes waiting for the invite to go in. I began my trip in the middle of the afternoon with a Bloody Mary and a piece of cake. What the heck, I am not operating on anyone today, don’t have to drive anywhere or fly the plane, do I might as well enjoy myself.

I had a direct flight to Madrid, but unfortunately the take off time was 5:55 pm. I usually prefer to leave at 11:00 pm which allows me to go asleep and wake up 7 hours later in Europe in the morning. With a 6 o’clock take off time, I didn’t fall asleep until 11:00 and only had 1.5 hours of sleep before arrival. I sat with a lovely girl from Quebec who was flying to Spain to meet her father. He is doing a 300 k walk and she will accompany him for 200 k to be done in 10 days. The walk to Santiago d Compostela is very well known and I will perhaps try to visit it when I am here. (By car, not on foot)

I took a shuttle bus from T1 to T4 with my 2 bags bumping along with minimum trouble. I find that people are very willing to help a short old white haired gentleman with 2 bags of luggage. The shuttle took me to the Madrid train station where I had a cappuccino in a restaurant waiting for my train. I boarded a train high speed train to Pontevedra which took 3 hours. I was able to cat-nap for a couple of hours. From Pontevedra I took a local bus to Vivo airport to pick up my car. I didn’t have any change for the bus, so a kind American lady paid my 1.3 Euro fare, Who ever said that Americans are not nice.

I picked up my Hertz rent a car at the airport and drove to Pontevedra and then to Meana where I am staying. I arrived at 5:00 rather exhausted from the lack of sleep. I am staying in a hotel-apartment with a pool and exercise room. I left the hotel at 9;30 to get a bite to eat in town. The locals go out to eat at 10:00 pm. There are a lot of Spanish tourists here but no Americans, Germans, Chinese or English. Supper consisted of a fish empanada and a salad with a glass of local beer and wine. The portions are very large

I got lost. The roads here are 1 lane wide and it is pitch black after 10:00. A drove around for 1 hour thinking that I might have to sleep in my car. My GPS lady was totally lost and my phone didn’t have a local SIM card. Finally I saw a couple sitting on their balcony at 12:00 am enjoying the evening. I called out to them and they directed me to my hotel. 50m away. I must have passed it 10 times. I went to sleep at 1:30 am.

Love,

Brian

Israel 2026-06

Israel 3,

July 6, 2026,

I slept for 8.5 hours so I think that I am all caught up from sleep deprivation from the time change and my 36 hour voyage from hell. As they say, no pain, no gain.

Last evening I wandered over to Mike’s one of my favourite brasseries on the beach. It was a warm 23C with a cool breeze, just right to have a beer, in a pub, with the Med in the background, and watch the Norway-Brazilian football World Cup match. I was at a table with a family of Brazilians who had made Aliyah to Israel many years ago. They were very friendly and expressive but unfortunately it did not help their team win the match.

At the Maxim Hotel, you are free to sit at almost any table as the hotel caters to volunteers. I played ‘Jewish geography’ with a lady who was originally from Montreal and now lives in Toronto. She grew up in the CDN and CSL areas and we had many common acquaintances. I then spoke at length with a lady originally from South Africa and who now lives in Australia.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach doing my usual activities. I am really a beachcomber at heart. In my spare time there is nothing more that I would like to do. I am not really very intellectual at heart. I was 30C with a slight breeze and only the occasional 2 foot breaker. I swam to the breakwater, 500m there and back with ease. The life guards must be getting used to me swimming out that far as they didn’t whistle me in. I didn’t hear a whistle anyway and I was the only one out swimming that far. I then jogged 5k on the beach knocking off 2 min from my time yesterday. If I continue at this rate I will be down to 0 in 3 weeks which is impossible if you do the math.

I bought a Magnum ice cream bar at 3:30 and got so excited by the prospect of eating an ice cream on the beach, that I got carried away and dropped my credit card on the sand. A ‘kid’ picked it up and spent 135 shekels ($65) before I could cancel it. It must have been a kid, as a pro would have made an attempt to empty my bank account. The store got the thief on their camera and I will review it later in the week. I don’t know if they have ‘wanted dead or alive’ posters here.

I am at the La Mer Restaurant overlooking the beach eating my 1st solid meal in 3 days. I really have not been hungry and except for breakfast, have only consumed liquids. There is a live band here to encourage me as I devour a margarita pizza and a local Maccabi draft beer.

Tomorrow, I will do my first shift with MDA so you can expect a full account of my cases.

Love,

Brian

2025-03 Israel

Israel 7,

Mar. 26, 2025

Hi Everyone,

Last evening after supper, we all gathered in one room for a get together. We sat on bunk beds, drank coffee and ate cookies and cakes. It reminded me very much of summer camp in the Laurentians when I was an teenager. After lights out for the campers, the councillors would gather around a campfire. There was always someone present with a guitar and we would all sing campfire songs until midnight. Last night was the same, with the same atmosphere but lacking a guitar and an indoor campfire. We chatted about many subjects often telling stories of trips to foreign countries and adventures that we had had. I never have a shortage of stories to tell.

Today we finished off packing the soldier’s bags. Some of the bigger and stronger fellows worked loading and unloading the trucks. I was not chosen for this job. I am not sure why! Instead, I volunteered to work in the kitchen. This was very interesting and rewarding work. We sweeped and washed the floor in the dinning room. We set the table for the officers. We prepared the coffee table. We laid out the plastic dishes for the evening meal. We then did a major cleanup in the bathroom, halls and our bunk rooms. It was over 30C but I still went out for my afternoon 6 km run. It was not easy but I felt good after finishing the run and taking a shower.

This evening we had our last evening together. The madrihots thanked us for the great week that we had together. They will move on to another group next week but we will be coming back to the same base for work and a continuation of our Krav Maga training. The madrihots were wonderful and much appreciated by all the volunteers. Each of us had to give a small speech on their 1 week experience here. Everyone was extremely happy with our group, the madrihots, the base in general and the work that we had to do. The 16 volunteers come from 7 different countries and it was amazing how well we worked together. Of the 5 weeks that I have worked with Sar-El, this was by far the most cohesive and friendly group to work with. I am very happy that we will be together next week.

As usual, when it came my turn to speak, I was not at a loss for words. At first my sentiments echoed the sentiments of the other members of the group as I explained in the last paragraph. There are 4 pictures of myself on the base, receiving my shoulder pads and with the madrihots. These pictures have been posted in previous entries of my blog. I sent the pictures to my good friends and to my hockey team. The majority of them are not Jewish. I asked them discreetly if they would like to join me. I received many positive responses.

This past winter I worked as a ski patroller at Mont Blanc for the first time. The head patroller, Philippe had heard about my experience with MDA as a physician on an ambulance in Israel. When he introduced me as a new patroller in the group, he asked me to say a few words about my experience in Israel on an ambulance. I gave a small talk and mentioned of course that my experience is well documented on my blog which they could read. I never miss an opportunity to self promote. Montreal is a very cosmopolitan city with many languages and nationalities. ⅔ of the city is French speaking. When you leave Montreal and go north into the Laurentians, the population is Quebecois and 100% French speaking. When I spoke I was not sure what the reaction would be as I do not hide my feeling of being a Zionist. I am very happy to say that I received a very positive reaction from the group, many of whom went on to read my blog. Many of the patrollers went on to ask me questions about my stay in Israel in a positive manner. When I finished working with the patrol, I sent an email to the patrollers thanking them for a great season and for welcoming and integrating me into the group I mentionned what I would be doing for the month in Israel. Philippe asked me to post some pictures. I posted the same 4 pictures on our web site on Facebook as requested. Within 12 hours I received 17 likes and several encouraging comments. That made me very proud and happy.

Love,

Brian

This is a shelter. We have 45 seconds to get there. We did not have to use it this time.