Aside from the years when foreign travel was curtailed due to Covid, we have spent fewer days abroad during 2025 than any time since we both retired. The reason was simple, it took over three months for the DVLA to renew my driving licence retaining the 'light HGV' categories which enables me to drive a moho over 3500kg. It was a somewhat convoluted process during which I became ever more wound-up over the possibility of being barred from driving the van.. Sadly I'll have to go through the same palaver every three years until I get so befuddled that driving a biggish vehicle becomes too challenging.
Nevertheless there were a few stand-out moments - unexpected delights in familiar places as well as new discoveries. We are familiar with Portugal's west coast but there is always some lovely new spot that we happen upon by chance. Foz do Arelho for example, an unexpectedly beautiful small resort on the north shore of the Lagoa di Obidos situated between Peniche and Nazare. It's busy at the weekend but beautifully empty otherwise, a great place for soulful sunsets and incompetent paddleboarding.
For Gill, her most memorable moment in Portugal was when we climbed up onto the expansive curved roof of the MAAT arts centre in Lisbon. You get a fabulous view of the city and the broad estuary of the Tejo. Just to make a great moment perfect a nearby busker playing bossa nova broke into the unmistakable opening chords of Jorge Ben Jor's "Mas Que Nada". It was one of those 'are we in a film?' moments.
In late Spring and early Summer we took the opportunity of being limited to the UK to book the moho into Camper UK in Lincoln for some long overdue repairs and refurbishment. It involved a few trips. Though technically we live in the East Midlands region, Buxton feels 'northern' rather than part of 'middle England'. We don't know the region we live in that well. On one of the trips we ended up staying by Rutland Water. The gently undulating landscape here and in Leicestershire came as a surprise - truly a 'nearby faraway'.
In September after years of never quite managing it we finally realised our trip to Sardinia. It's a beautiful place. If I had to pick one standout moment it would when we happened across a local food festival in Cartoforte, the main town on Isola San Pietro off Sardinia's southwest coast.
Unesco has an 'intangible' category when it comes to defining outstanding examples of human culture.- so the Mediterranean diet is listed as well as physical things such as architecture, unique landscapes and sacred sites. Italy is not short of World Heritage sites, over sixty are listed on the Unesco website. After years of extensive fieldwork we are convinced one outstanding example of intangible world class heritage has been inexplicably overlooked - gelato!
What started as an occasional indulgence has blossomed into a daily ritual, for us and many Italians. Its not just that the myriad flavours are delicious but the gelateria itself acts as a buzzy social hub, somewhere that all sorts of people gather to share a yummy moment together. Gelateria are seriously civilised places. Gill makes daily notes of what we get up to so I know exactly how many gelateria we sampled during our 32 days in Italy - we visited 17. Once you subtract two days spent on ferries, the times we parked overnight at a beach and seven nights spent in remote campsites, then we managed to consume gelato at every opportunity.
Cremeria San Stefano and Cremeria Cavour in Bologna that we know from previous trips still tie as our top choices. However a close second has to be Gelateria 'Oops' in the outskirts of Alghero. It was almost as good so far as flavour goes, but additionally the place exuded an Italiano 'happy' vibe that made its Bolognese rivals seem positively staid.
So 2025, not our most intrepid year.but still packed with moments to savour In 2026 we aim to do better: February/March - Spain and Portugal; May - Japan, Hongkong; June/July - France, Germany, Czechia; September/October - France, Italy,Greece, Thrace with luck! Its a plan.