In May 2025, I achieve the grand old age of 75, five years longer than my allotted biblical span of three score years and ten.
So, before it's too late - younger men than me are dying all around - this year we have decided to SKI, ie spend the kids' inheritance, by travelling all over.
[Cartoon courtesy of eBay]
The missus is only one year behind me in age, so given our recent medical history - Rita very nearly succumbed to the Coronavirus, and I have been diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic - we have decided to get our skates on, before it's too late.
Backstory
Whilst I have travelled to four of the seven continents in my younger days and Rita has travelled widely with previous husbands, as a couple we have only been to Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, a few other parts of Spain, Switzerland and the UK (Chester, Cornwall, Devon, London, Portugal, Scotland, Somerset, East Sussex, North and South Wales, and York). We have not been outside of Europe together.
So, we already have some plans in place for the early part of the year, as well as others on our "bucket list".
[Map of Europe courtesy of Wikipedia]
Plans already made
UK - I'm off to London (Stratford) and Hastings (East Sussex) for an early celebration of my 75th with my kids and grandkids.
I suspect my ex-wife Jeryl will also be there to congratulate me!
Dinner on Thursday with my daughter Amy somewhere in the East End and time with her two lads, Felix and Jude, on Friday
Then we're all headed off on the train to the coast to stay with my son Tom, wife Su and their two boys Wilbur and Buckley.
[Cartoon courtesy of Tagvenue]
My ex-wife Jeryl will probably also be there to celebrate with us.
On Sunday a big family lunch in a nice pub in Hastings Old Town.
France - We're going somewhere new for both of us - to the Avignon, Marseille, Cote d'Azure area.
We're meeting up with Rita's oldest Katrin, husband Gero and children Anton, Madita and Lotta.
The Schroeders are avid campers, and we are joining them on a camping there, although we'll be staying in a house on the campsite (no more lying on the ground for us!)
Le Pont d' Avignon [Travel Real France]
Germany - We're both off to Talheim (Baden-Wuerttemberg) for the confirmation of grand-daughter Lotta (qv).
Talheim is where Rita and I "jumped the broom" at the Registry office, followed two days later by a Church wedding in the Abbey at Maulbronn (also B-W).
Rita lived in Maulbronn in a previous life.
After the confirmation is over I shall fly straight back to Spain, but Rita will head up north to Oesterholz (North Rhine Westphalia) where she is from for a family reunion before flying home.
Maulbronn Abbey [Photo: Stadt Maulbronn]
Bucket list
This is a list, in alphabetical order, of the places on our "bucket list". Clearly we won't get to them all in 2025, but they will remain on the list for 2026, 2027, and beyond .....
Canada - I fancy Vancouver (British Columbia) just above the border with the USA.
Cuba (just me) - I should have gone to Cuba 30 years ago when the main stars of the band, the Buena Vista Social Club, were still alive. Still fancy going, however.
Czech Republic (Prague) - I spent a weekend there 20 years ago with Jeryl and Tom. Coincidentally, my daughter Amy was also there on an orchestra tour from her Oxford college (Queen's). She is an oboeist. They played in several churches in the city. Great beers in the Czech Republic, including Budvar.
Denmark - I was in Copenhagen with Jeryl some 40 years ago. Rita has never been even though the country shares a land border with her home country.
[Photo of Prague courtesy of Viator]
Galicia - The only one of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain that I have never visited. That's definitely "on" for 2025. Cheap flight to Santiago de Compostela from Malaga and then a dear hire car. Still cheaper than us going by road in our own car.
Hungary (Budapest) - Neither of us has been to Hungary. A long weekend in the capital is a possibility for this year.
Morocco - A "must" for this year. It's quite close, yet on another continent, Africa.
New Zealand - Not this year. Katrin and family are thinking seriously about emigrating there. If that happens we shall visit them for sure.
[Photo of Budapest courtesy of El Mundo]
Perú - The only South American country on my list. Going there would take me to my fifth continent.
Why Perú? Machu Pichu, of course, home of the extinct Inca civilisation.
My daughter Amy visited the summer after she graduated, and although she got altitude sickness, she was blown away by the experience.
[Machu Pichu photo courtesy of Wikipedia]
Why now, I hear you ask?
My English cousin Alison lives in Perú. She is married to a Peruvian diplomat Jesús and is a freelance translator.
Their son, Philip, is also a member of the Peruvian diplomatic corps.
So, if I'm quick, I'll have a contact there. Jesús retires soon and he and Alison are planning to move to Spain to live, so I need to go in 2026, probably.
Philip, Alison and Jesús [Family photo]
Poland - Would be new for both of us. Warsaw sounds good. Also Gdansk (formerly German enclave Danzig).
***
© The Spanish Fly
Photos and images:
El Mundo, Facebook, Stadt Maulbronn, Tagvenue, Travel Real France, Viator, Wikipedia
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