Journey Home

We got up very early this morning to catch our flight home. Our bus picked us up from the car park at the end of the road down from the hotel, however our pleasant Crystal rep Rory picked up our suitcases from the hotel. He also took me in his car because I was wearing trainers and it was snowing so possibly slippy underfoot. After dropping me off he drove back up the road to collect Heather who was already half way down, and then had to reverse down the road with her because of the snow! We boarded our bus and at 6.10 a.m. we were the first passengers, since the hamlet of Virl is at the end of the road. All went smoothly and checkin and security were swift and efficient at the airport. However our flight was delayed from its scheduled 10.15 departure and kept being pushed back. Ewan had the excellent idea of paying to use the lounge so we were very comfortable during our delay. The food was included which helped to justify the cost of the lounge. We were all in fairly good spirits because there was absolutely nothing to be done, and we  had good views of the runway from our luxurious reclining chairs. Finally our flight took off at nearly 2 p.m. and we were on our way home. The cats were very excited to see us and we had a fish supper and watched the last few episodes of The Traitors, compelling rubbish which I won’t watch again. 

Skiing in Galtür and Ischgl

The weather took a bit of a downturn midweek, with snow and mist, and then some wind and heavy rain. This didn’t stop us skiing of course, although my lesson was cancelled one day and I went to the spa instead. The adverse weather restricted how far James, Heather, Ewan and Andrew could ski along at the much larger ski area of Ischgl, because the higher lifts were stopped due to wind. However they skied around where they could in Ischgl and Galtür, and still had a good time. I stayed in Galtür which had more than enough pistes for me. 

Andrew left to return home this (Friday) morning, which was a pity because that was the day that the ski lifts at Ischgl opened back up fully again. The sun shone, for the morning at least, and Heather, James and Ewan skied all the way into Switzerland for lunch. 

Meanwhile I had my last ski lesson of the week with instructor Tobi and the girls. We have been such a supportive and friendly group, joking that Tobi can call us “The Panic Group!” Tobi noticed my phone screensaver of Flora, and told me that his cats are called Yoshi and Tina. I have had a great time at my ski lessons, and most importantly I feel that I have regained some lost skills and built up my confidence. I’m so pleased that I have skied for five days out of a possible six this week. 

I felt rather sad then to take my skis back to Walter’s Ski Hire Shop and to start packing my case. 

When the others were on their way up the fairly short slope from Walter’s to the hotel, James noticed a wee old man who was struggling to carry his skis, so he carried them up for him, which was really kind of him. 

We had a delightful last evening in the hotel restaurant and bar, with fantastic food and the great company of our dear friends. James was a bit worried about the air in his (partially consumed) 1 litre bottle of Jura whisky possibly expanding during the flight and breaking the glass bottle or pushing the cork out in his suitcase. Heather had the genius idea of decanting the whisky into a smaller (75cl), screwtop water bottle from our dinner table. This worked perfectly, the remainder of the whisky just about filled the water bottle. We went to bed in good time, aware of our early start tomorrow morning. 

The Wellness Area

Andrew arrived on Monday evening and fitted right in to our happy wee group, as well he might since we have all known him since he was a bump! He seems to enjoy both his skiing and his dinners and evenings with us oldies, and is very pleasant company. 
Heather and I have also been making use of the hotel’s luxurious spa, aka Wellness Area, mainly the decent-sized pool and the relaxation room. The cable car rises right past the windows, with the ski slopes behind - wonderful! Swimming costumes are banned in the sauna area for "medical" reasons which are even posted on the door! Apparently being naked allows your skin to breather freely and prevents sweat and bacteria gathering in your swimsuit. You can however wear a dry towel if you don’t want to be completely naked. The European holiday makers clearly prefer the completely naked option as can be seen around the sauna area! 

One of our many and varied conversations over dinner has been to try to define the German word “hof” in the context of our hotel, the Almhof. The internet tells us that it means “courtyard” or “farmhouse” neither of which feel quite right in English. Ewan has come up with a word which works well; “lodge,” so our hotel’s name in English would be “High Meadow Lodge.” I think that works very well. 

Hotel Almhof

Our lovely ski holiday in Galtür has continued happily despite some rather mixed midweek weather. I moved on to group lessons with an instructor called Tobi and they are great fun. There are four of us in the class (we started with about seven but some peoples’ holidays have ended) and both the instructor and the girls in the class are really nice, we have a good laugh. After not skiing last year and losing confidence in my skiing the year before (entirely my own fault because of lack of fitness), I am so delighted to be back on the slopes, something I wasn’t sure would happen. Tobi is an excellent instructor, he pushes us to go down steep slopes and then points back up and says; “There, look what you have done!” When we eventually show signs of anguish (we are all similarly minded!) he takes us to easier slopes where we can continue practising our turns before he takes us to another more testing run. It’s so good and I really feel that I am making progress. 

James had a great birthday on Monday. He was wished a Happy Birthday and given a chocolate cake at breakfast time, and Heather and Ewan kindly gave him a bottle of Champagne. I joined everyone in Ischgl by bus after my ski lesson and met the others at the Hotel Post for a convivial birthday lunch. Later the celebrations continued with the usual fabulous dinner in the restaurant followed by brandy upstairs and of course cake. 

Skiing in Galtür 2024

Here we are in the beautiful Austrian Tyrol on our ski holiday. We are in the Almhof Hotel in Galtur, which is near Ischgl. Heather and Ewan have stayed here before and the hotel is absolutely lovely; decorated in modern Tyrolean style, light and bright with a moss-green carpet which has a pattern of wee white Edelweiss flowers. It is situated right on the slopes in the Virl area of Galtur, which is where the ski slopes are (The larger village of Galtur proper, about 25 minutes walk away, has no ski slopes.) We can ski straight from the hotel to the main gondola which is but moments away, or ski a couple of minutes down to the road where an extremely frequent bus service will whisk us to the much larger resort of Ischgl, twenty minutes away by bus. 
After the usual surprisingly lengthy journey that a ski holiday entails, we arrived yesterday evening and were very happy with the high standard and friendly staff of the hotel. This morning we woke to lots of snow and sun which was just what we had hoped for. It didn’t take long to collect our hired skis, after which James, Heather and Ewan set off to explore the Galtur ski area and I went for my private lesson. My instructor was called Gregor and he didn’t speak much English but then I don’t speak much German! The two hour lesson was exactly what I needed after two years without skiing, we went right back to basics and soon I was turning and side-slipping down blue and then red runs, with my confidence gradually rebuilding. It helped that the snow is in great condition. Gregor pointed to the Adventure Park, a roped off area with mounds of snow where you can practise jumps, and suggested that we go there. I was absolutely horrified until I realised that he was joking! 
Later James and I walked along to Galtur and went to the supermarket for drinks and snacks, then got the bus back to Virl before a delicious dinner and a lovely evening in great company. 

French and friends

Davie and Chanel gave me a lovely birthday present; a course of French language lessons to be accessed via Zoom. After my French course was cut short at the beginning of the first Covid lockdown I never considered signing up for a remotely delivered language course, because I didn’t think that I would enjoy it as much as meeting up in person. Well, how wrong I was! I’m now two weeks in to my course and I’m loving it! First of all I had to take an online test in French grammar. I did respectably well but not 100% which is to be expected after so many years of not doing grammar. Based on my results I was allocated to an Upper Intermediate class and I feel very comfortable in it. The other students, of whom there are about eight, are of a similar level to me and seem to be a pleasant lot. We can all see each other on the screen as well as our teacher, who adopts a brisk pace during the 90 minute lesson. I find it fascinating that we all sign in from different locations around the UK, and our teacher is in Brussels. I realised this when the teacher asked us whether it was snowy where we are and of course we all had different answers! At least two of us are in London, and one lady is in Hull. I haven’t quizzed my fellow students on exactly where they live as it might sound a bit stalkerish. Needless to say I have bought the textbook and a lovely notebook to write my work in. 

Today Alison and Bill came round for a coffee, it was great to see them. James lit the fire in the lounge and we spent all afternoon chatting. They are such pleasant people and it was good to hear all their family news. Bill will be going skiing to Italy next week at the same time that we will be in Austria. 

Macbeth (1. Ralph Fiennes)

Ralph Fiennes staged his Macbeth in a warehouse at the Royal Highland Centre, right beside Edinburgh Airport, and we went to see it last night. We were sitting ducks for the cheeky £10 parking charge because there was nowhere else to park in the vicinity. When we entered the audience area we had to walk through the back of the stage area, which was like the aftermath of a battle, with a couple of soldiers sitting about and watching us sullenly as we went past. It was set in an unspecified time of modern warfare, at first I thought that the sound effects of planes zooming overhead were the real sound of planes taking off from Edinburgh Airport, but then I realised that they sounded too military! The stage was cleverly designed with a two level building which had plenty of doors where the characters could enter and exit.
Thus the atmosphere was set for an absolutely marvellous production of Macbeth. Ralph was excellent as a rather world weary and grimacing Macbeth; in fact Gordon compared him to the late Leonard Rossiter when playing Rigsby in Rising Damp, which I thought was very funny! Indira Varma was suitably scheming as Lady Macbeth, and all of the supporting cast were very good. I have seen Macbeth a lot of times and in fact used to teach it to 4th Years, so I thought that I might be a bit jaded, but not at all, the energy of the production swept me along. When Ralph finally met his doom and collapsed onto the stage, he was clearly a bit out of breath after his fight with MacDuff, and his rib cage was heaving up and down, which a corpse’s shouldn’t! But then Ralph is no longer in the first flush of youth; he is sixty-one, about eight days older than me. I thought that it was a great production, and I look forward to seeing David Tennant as Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse in London, he will have to work hard to surpass Ralph Fiennes. 

Poor Things

James and I went to the cinema this evening to see Poor Things which is based on the book of the same name by Alasdair Gray. Oh my goodness, what a bizarre, disturbing but I think memorable film. Emma Stone has already won lots of awards for her role as Bella in it, and I think that she certainly deserves to get the Oscar for Best Actress. Mark Ruffalo is also outstanding as Duncan; he is a fine comic actor. When I see a film I usually don’t feel the need to read the book upon which it is based, however this time I do want to read the book. This is partly because I’m a fan of Alasdair Gray, and also because I have read that the socialist and feminist message has been “toned down” in the film, so I will be interested to read the original. The book was set in 19th century Scotland whereas the film was set in a fantasy steampunk version of London and Europe so that will be interesting to compare too. For me the most memorable scene was not one of the many (too many?) sex scenes, nor the amazing retro-futuristic Lisbon which Bella and Duncan visit, nor God(win)’s strange home and laboratory with its dreadful amalgamation animals. The most memorable and joyful scene for me was when Bella starts dancing awkwardly but delightfully to the music at a dance in Lisbon, joined bizarrely and hilariously by Duncan. 

Cousins

Ally’s 60th birthday party last Saturday was good fun and pretty amazing. There were about a dozen of us of whom I already knew two or three, and it was such a pleasant and friendly group. Everyone chatted, there were no cliques, it was a lovely atmosphere. Ally’s beautiful and clever daughter Flora works for Berry Bros and she organised and presented a wine tasting. As a non drinker, I was happy just to listen in, but to my surprise Ally had organised four different zero alcohol wines, two whites, one rosé and one red. This meant that I was able to do wine tasting too! I was overwhelmed at how thoughtful this was. It was such a great evening. 

On Sunday we had a delicious lunch at the Italian Kitchen with Heather and Ewan; the next time that we see them will be at Edinburgh airport when we set off for our ski holiday on the 20th! I’m looking forward to skiing again and have booked myself a course of lessons to get into the vibe.

We had a visitor for four days this week; our nephew Ben, who has very recently left the monastery and is travelling a bit while he plans his next steps. It was nice to see him and he was a polite and pleasant guest, understandably a bit quiet at this time of big change for him, but we had a good chat before he moved on to see friends in Edinburgh. He particularly enjoyed coming with me to walk Vinnie, with whom he bonded instantly! Ben is also in touch with Jamie, Ally and Davie, and has been chatting to all three of them by phone, and will be going bouldering with Davie and Chanel this weekend. I’m so pleased that Ben’s cousins are so fond of him and are keeping in touch with him. 

Don’t Give Up On Us Baby

Poor Tom. His suspicions about an imminent car journey grew throughout Wednesday as he watched James put the bike racks on the car and various packing activities happening. As a result he spent nearly the whole day outdoors and by the evening he was so tired that he fell deeply asleep on his favourite chair. Meanwhile James and I had a useful day around the house, including getting the WiFi fixed (the technician had come all the way from Wrexham.) He couldn’t find the connection box that was supposed to be in the lane, and it turned out to be under a bush in Anne’s garden, which I thought was quite funny! I did a bit of cleaning, James did some gardening and I went for a swim. It was still overly warm in the pool area. 
This morning we finished packing and set off home. We put the cats into the study so that they couldn’t run away, which turned out to be a mistake because they hid under the very low couch and it was very difficult to retrieve them. By the time we got into the car James and I were both hot and bothered. However we made good time on our way home; four hours plus a short stop at Ralia. Many fields were flooded by all the recent rain, and much of Perthshire was prettily swathed in mist. The house was a bit chilly when we arrived so I had a warming bath and felt very jolly. The cats were amazed to be home and demanded to be fed immediately, then went from room to room and in and out of the cat flap restlessly. 
I heard on the news that David Soul (Hutch of 1970s fame) has died at the age of 80. I always preferred Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) to Hutch, and David Soul once unforgivably told a friend of mine to f*** off when she asked him for an autograph at an airport when she was twelve! However Libby and I went to see David Soul at the Apollo in about 1978, where of course he sang “Don’t Give Up on Us Baby.” Happy memories. 
In the evening we had a very pleasant curry and chat with Ally and Cat, who will be setting off back to London tomorrow. 

Tom becomes suspicious

After a sunny couple of days it was back to drizzle yesterday, but we were lucky in Ullapool compared to England who were being battered by Storm Henk. We had breakfast with Davie and Chanel and then they packed up to head home. The cats knew that something was up when they saw them bringing their bags downstairs, and I’m sure that Flora was asking Davie not to leave because she was meowing very loudly at him! I was sad to see them leave too, we have had a lovely New Year with them. 
After lunch James and I braved the rain to go for a walk to the harbour and to Tesco and then home via West Terrace. James lit the fire and we had a relaxing afternoon and evening with the cats. 
Today it was still drizzly. James shampooed the living room carpet which somehow gave Tom the impression that we were about to head home, which of course would mean him being put into his cage in the car. I think that he was mixing the carpet cleaner up with the hoover, which James usually wields just before we head home. Tom desperately asked to go out, and then spent the next few hours watching the house from the garden and refusing to come in when invited. Eventually he came indoors but was still watching us suspiciously. 
I had a couple of errands to do in the village, and then went for a swim at the sports centre. As I have noticed before, both the water and the air are very warm at the swimming pool, really rather too warm for me. It’s bearable when swimming but when I was getting dried and dressed I was breaking into a sweat! I was relieved to emerge into the damp but fresh air again for my walk home. 

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2024! The 1st of January is just another date I know, but there is something about the first day of a new year that engenders a little feeling of hope and renewal. I had a lovely birthday yesterday. We went for a walk on Achnahaird Beach in the morning; the weather was absolutely beautiful. The sky was completely blue, which was very welcome after all of our recent rain, and it was very warm considering that it was the last day of the year. We met two Icelandic ponies who were out for a walk, they were both a beautiful auburn colour. All around us we could see the mountains of Assynt, dusted with snow. After a dinner of tasty fish suppers from Deli-ca-sea, we headed to the Village Hall for the Hogmanay Ceilidh. It already busy so it was “every man for himself” when it came to securing chairs, but we managed to get hold of four, which we arranged along a wall where we had a good view of the dancing. The ceilidh was great fun; most of the crowd had more enthusiasm than skill but there were enough people who knew what they were doing to help show the others the steps, as well as a pleasant compere who explained the dances. Strangely enough, the more drink was consumed the better the dancing became! James and I did a fair amount of dancing but not as much as the tireless Davie and Chanel who are very good dancers and also had the energy of youth on their side! They were even helping less experienced dancers to follow the steps. A piper heralded in the New Year and after the countdown we all sang Auld Lang Syne and danced some more. 

This morning we had a leisurely start to the day before Chanel cooked us a delicious brunch of sausages, burgers, black pudding and scrambled eggs. James and I went for a walk around the village which was very quiet, but we found that the Caley Coffee Shop was open so we popped in there for a coffee. Later Chanel and Davie made a very lovely dinner of chicken parmigiana and aubergine parmigiana and we played the “Shakespeare Board Game” (a birthday present for me from Ally and Cat) It took a wee while to get used to the rules, but once we got going it was very enjoyable, set on a map of 16th century London with lots of Shakespeare quotes and references. At this point we should have gone to bed because it was quite late, but instead we watched the much maligned 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, which I actually found to be very entertaining. 

Here is my favourite quote, 

Kevin: “Would it be okay if I bring my cat to work sometimes? He has major anxiety problems.”

Abby: “You know what? I would love to let your cat come here with you, but I have a pretty severe cat allergy.”

Kevin: “Oh, I don't have a cat. He's a dog. His name's Mike Hat.”

Yes I know, so silly, but it made me laugh a lot.