Thursday, January 31, 2013

More Skiing

Yesterday it was quite warm and it even rained a little, but last night it froze and everything was slippery. The first few runs this morning were very difficult because of all the ice on the slopes and we took it slowly at first until the snow was a little less frozen. We took a break for water and a small snack and headed back to the slopes. By then, the runs that where in the sun were much more pleasant to go down.


Later we stopped for hot chocolate and continued on for a couple more hours on some fun runs before we had to go. On the last run, we went on one of the same slopes that we had taken yesterday, but today it was a little different. There is one small part that is extremely steep and it hadn't been groomed since yesterday so it was really bumpy and very icy. After a few tried curves, we decided it would be best to go straight down. I was super fast and really fun and we stopped at the bottom and went back to the house.

There weren't any spectacular falls today, but near the end Jeremy and James had both fallen and slid on their bottoms down the hill. There was one young teenager who seemed to be trying to show off for us and he skied right next to us, but managed to spend to much attention watching us and not where he was going. I'm not sure what he did, but all I know is that he lost a ski and both of his poles trying to impress one of us. Just a tip: don't try impressing another girl or boy like that, unless you really know what you're doing.

Love,
Ashley



There goes Florence!




Aren't the Alps beautiful? 


The big gang!









I'm really enjoying skiing and I can't wait until tomorrow! 



Several Reasons Not To Be A Ski Instructor

Alexandra's post, the ones with pictures of our overcast day, hinted at the tribulations of our ski instructor, Ben. I was there, so let me give you the full picture.

Jeremy and James are enthusiastic skiers, but (like many of us) still wanting on judgement, skill, and experience. They want all the off-piste bumps and jumps they can get, no matter if unseasonably warm weather has turned the snow into wet, sticky cement. Today was definitely one of those days where only the groomed slopes were skiable. What do you tell boys who are used to spicing up every run with meanderings off the side of the trail?

After we split off from the others Ben took us down a trail or two uneventfully. I needed to work on my usual pole-plant timing and keeping my weight forward, Ashley had her things, and the boys were working on rounding off their turns instead of zig-zagging like pinballs.

Then we got to the T-bar. For those non-skiers among you, or those who have never skied a resort that still runs them, a T-bar is a surface lift (meaning that you stand in your skis instead of sitting on a chair) where you and a partner have a T-shaped bar put between you and behind your rears. The bar is attached to an overhead tow cable, so as the slack comes off you are pulled up the slope.

Remember that you are still on your skis. If you cross them, or veer to the side, or generally goof off in any way, you will fall, the T will go twanging off up the slope, and you will have no choice but to ski back down the lift line in ignominy. Same story if you try to sit on the T. It pulls you by your bottom. It does not support you.

Can we handle it? Of course we can! While Ben explains the details to the boys, Ashley and I manage to load without falling. But we were only 100 meters up the slope before the line stopped. Yep, that would be James. When he did not load successfully, they had to stop the lift to pick him up and get him started. Off again...and another stop. Yup, Jeremy this time. But you know, those lifts are tricky and the only skiers that haven't fallen on some sort of lift are the ones that have never actually skied. Other than Jeremy getting off a yard short of the exit and having to struggle uphill to the slope, the rest of the trip up was a perfect success.

One nice run, a chair lift, and an unbelievable panoramic view of the Alps later, we had a long run out back to Morgins. Normally, Ben told me, this was icy enough that you could fly and it was no big deal. Today, however, we had the aforementioned wet concrete. It wasn't a big deal for me because I am heavy enough to keep moving. Jeremy and James had to keep poling, and we had to stop repeatedly to wait while they caught up. This was a long run out, and not one of the best parts of our lesson.

One more lift and run, and Ben thought we should repeat a particular slope--he had some drill he wanted to try--and that meant taking the button lift. A button lift is like a T-bar lift except that it is one person only. Instead of a T, the pull-rod ends in a disk about 5 inches across: the "button". You put it between your legs and are once again pulled by your bottom. All the same techniques and cautions of the T-bar apply, this time with a helpful "no slaloming" sign at the bottom of the lift.

Want to place any bets?

Jeremy was first on, and was off successfully. Could he hold his concentration for the whole 10 minutes? Next up, Ashley. Like a pro! Now James. No, James, you can't sit on it! He got up just in time to go flying. Ok, let's try again. Another button with Ben's help, and, "Sproing!". James went flying again, this time losing a ski. From my observation his weight is similar to the strength of the spring that is supposed to ease you up to speed, and he actually left the ground as it jerked him from standing to full speed. At this point they stopped the lift, put James together, set him up, and eased it back up to speed. Now I just had to load and follow them up the hill. What, do you think I fell? Not this time! I learned a little from watching James.

Halfway up I ran across Jeremy putting his ski back on. It seems he caught an edge while playing. All I could do was to ride on past. There isn't a way to load one of these lifts halfway up and James and Ashley would soon be waiting at the top. Well, Ashley, anyway. Three-quarters of the way up I got to James. No explanation there. By now I was resigned to our having to waste a run picking everyone back up.

A few minutes later Ben, Ashley, and I were at the top. We skied down to the cross trail where James fell off, then Ben skied down the lift line to get Jeremy while the rest of us took another trail that led to the bottom. "Very simple", said Ben, "Just take the right fork". So of course Ashley missed that and had to struggle back up to where James and I were waiting.

We never did find out what that drill was going to be, because by now it was time to make the run to the bottom to meet the others and end the lesson. Past time, even.

The last stretch down to the bottom is a road with a few switchbacks. Ben was leading the way, so he didn't get to see Jeremy mess up the first switchback--he explained that he was trying to keep his speed--and go flying over the edge. I didn't see Jeremy land because it is a dramatic drop off, but I did see the safety net suddenly sag.

Jeremy was 10 feet down in a crumpled ball with one ski through the net. Sigh. At least he wasn't hurt. Without the net he would have been 20 feet down smashed on a tree. I took off my skis, traversed over to him from further downhill, freed him from his skis, led him back across the traverse, and pulled him back up onto the slope. Slowly. Through hip-deep, heavy snow.

I am not sure that Ben would accept another lesson with us...

Michael

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

It's going downhill...

Jeremy, first afternoon out!
After having a few hours for skiing yesterday afternoon, we got up early this morning to get to a 9 a.m. lesson.  I think for the first time ever with this many kids, we were not only on time, but we were there so prematurely that the lift ticket office hadn't even opened!

Eleanor, the consummate snow bunny!
We had a gorgeous rainbow (not a good sign, since it augurs rain, not snow...ever heard of a snowbow?), and after waiting around at the bottom for a while, we got our tix and went up.  By the way, they have some nifty electronic cards now that can be IN your suit and can be read by the lift gates.  No need for flapping paper tickets here!

Ashley, Florence, and Jeremy
Do you see how crowded the lifts & slopes are?
Alain and Ben were adorable, and we ended up separating after a little while.  Eleanor, Florence, and I went with Alain, and Ben drew the short straw.  Lest you think I'm being unkind, during the course of our lesson, there was one simple fall (one ski came off, but it was easily replaced by the fallen comrade).  During the other lesson?  Well, one kid went 15 feet off a cliff and landed in a protective net, fell off the button lift (surface lift) because *ahem* he was jumping up and down on it, and then another child fell off a surface lift...twice in the same ride.  It's a good thing that Ben was made of stern stuff, or he would have walked off crying after only an hour, according to Michael.

The rainbow over the village this morning
The light today was extraordinary
After a tasty lunch, the intrepids went back for more.  Eleanor, Florence, and I had had enough (with enough knee, ankle, and fatigue complaints to outfit a retirement home), so we did the grocery shopping and walked home, and made sure that the kettle still works.

By the way, the last time I had stayed in Erik & Ada's house here in Morgins, I was 15.  I remember only bits and pieces of it, but I can definitely tell you that that particular New Year's Eve was one of the two times in my life I've been...um...overserved.  For some reason, I actually have a rather vivid memory of walking back to the chalet after the party singing Afrikaaner songs (? Maybe some Zulu songs too?) at the top of my lungs with David Korodetz, a family friend I hadn't previously met.  Good times.

Love,

Alexandra


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Skiing

After almost ten hours or driving, we finally arrived in Switzerland. We are all safe and well. In the morning, we rented skis and ski outerwear (for Ashley and me) then we went and had lunch (it took that long, not because the shop owner was slow, but because there are so many of us). We then skied for 2 or three hours. We then arranged the next day, and when we got home, we ate snack, and I collapsed into bed and I have been sleeping since.
Ciao,
Florence

James's birthday


On my birthday we were in the car for about ten hours.This trip we will be skiing through  France and Switzerland.We are having a lot of fun here. We have several feet of snow here. Today was the first day of skiing this trip.We played a new game today.I have a brown ski helmet and it has some leather on it and I have cool skis.


JAMES

Monday, January 28, 2013

Burns and Haggis!

I've heard of haggis.  Derided as the most foul of foodstuffs, and something only the most pitiful creatures could tolerate, haggis is a mixture of oats, lamb lung, liver, and spices that is stuffed into a sheep's stomach and then boiled.  And now can we understand its reputation?  Perhaps...

In any case, Friday the 25th was Burns night... a celebration of Robert Burns's birthday.  Apparently, the man loved the stuff, so obviously one must eat haggis in order to celebrate properly.  Not only did he eat it, but he wrote about it -- an entire ode!  A proper feast includes processing into the dining room with the haggis (accompanied by bagpipe music, of course) and then a reading of the poem.

While Chris busied himself with preparing a huge repast, I took care of the entertainment by finding bagpipe music (thank you, Youtube!) and the ode.  Since I knew I would make a complete hash of the accent on the ode, I deferred to Chris  -- who likewise made a hash of it, but less of one than I would have!  In the interest of eating our dinner hot, we only put up with a few stanzas of his silliness.

Yes, we had tatties! And neeps!  And cabbage!  Yum.  Chris had scotch, which I declined... The haggis?  Well, honestly, it was sort-of okay.  Unfortunately it had a flavor of something that I think was the liver, but could have been a spice that was rather strong (couldn't quite identify it) and after a while I'd had enough.  So I passed off the rest of mine to Paula, who received it with glee.  So, you see, some otherwise quite normal people actually do eat haggis!

Oh, and happy birthday to Robbie Burns!

Love,

Alexandra

A most kingly beach!

Paula, Daisy, and Jumble in the foreground 
I was lucky enough to stay with Paula (my cousin!) and her family for three days, mostly enjoying life and catching up -- getting to meet Daisy (her 2-year-old) and Jumble (puppy), and spending more time with her husband Chris, and boys Felix and Archie.  So -- while highly entertaining for me, probably not much of general interest.  We did see several of the local sites (gardens, large houses, etc.), and the village is absolutely lovely!

Daisy's favorite color is pink...can you tell?
Big boy Archie...and Jumble, too!
On Saturday, however, we went to Lyme Regis -- a beach that is a mere 20 minutes away in the car, and Kitty & Dick (my uncle) joined us.  Lyme Regis has some slopes that remind me of Todi...nice and steep!  The kids took their bikes and had a wonderful time riding along the beachfront.  It's paved, and must be absolutely packed in the summer; when we were in Lyme, there were enough people that it was lively, without so many that we were crowded.

It turns out that Lyme was given a royal charter in 1286, which allowed it to add the "Regis" to the name.  It also features in Jane Austen's Persuasion (which explains the Jane Austen gardens!) and The French Lieutenant's Woman.

After wandering around watching the kids get some of their wiggles out on their bikes, we meandered into the town itself.


Felix, Dickie, and Paula

Sitting down to tea

There was rather a wide variety of interesting shops to enjoy, after which we had a delicious tea in a charming tea shop.  The tea shop was outfitted to be a "mill" workmen's kitchen/breakroom.  There were bags of flour on the floor, the plates were simple boards, mugs were hanging from hooks, and we all sat at plank tables with long benches.  Jam & butter were in large crockery bowls on the table.

Archie, concentrating on his model
Felix!
All the treats were freshly made.  Dickie threatened to send his back as "stale" because it had been out of the oven a full five minutes before we arrived!  Paula's apple cake was being removed from the cake form as the rest of us were choosing our snack.  I had never had an Eccles cake, so obviously that was the thing to do.  It turns out to be a puff-pastry sort of thingy (think of an apple turnover) with a filling that was like you'd find in a mince pie.  Scrumptious!










"Delish!"
Kitty and Daisy -- showing off her new dolls!














Such a thoroughly English afternoon must be finished off with a dinner of sausages and mash, no? And so, it was.

Love,

Alexandra

Sherborne and the Abbey

Kitty's village is so beautiful, and I just had to share!  I didn't take any interior shots of the Abbey, but it's really pretty.  The stone carving is also painted, but not completely -- this has such an interesting effect!  Then the seamstresses have taken the motifs from the ceilings and worked them into the needlepoint kneelers and altar cloths; it's an amazing amount of work and such a beautiful result.

Sherborne itself has (apart from the all-important wool shop!) many thrift stores.  I was fortunate enough to score two evening dresses for Eleanor, two ski outfits, and even (later, courtesy of Kitty!) an additional suitcase (gee, I wonder why I might have needed that?).  It hosts a variety of restaurants (including Indian and Thai...we had a delicious Thai dinner one night) and tea shops (yes, afternoon tea was one of our activities!).



The Abbey is towering over this small square.

The woodwork was a high gloss red -- gorgeous!


The Abbey, unhindered 

Yes, this building is lavender, and such a beautiful window!
Love,

Alexandra

Sunday, January 27, 2013

A giant excursion

The first full day I had in England, Kitty and I decided to visit Cerne Abbas.  It's a little village near Kitty's lovely town of Sherborne; its claim to fame is a giant carved into the chalk of the hillside.  Obviously, a must-see item that fortunately Kitty had never seen either!  

We were halfway there before we nearly simultaneously were struck by the obvious: all the fields were covered by about 6-12" of snow!  It's rather hard to see something that's covered, yes?

Well, no, as it turned out.  Since we were so far along, we decided to keep going.  At worst, we'd visit a pretty village.  And who knows?  

This is what we saw:


Can you see the giant in the snow?
It was a grand opportunity to have a unique glimpse of the giant; because the thermal properties of the chalk are different from those of the overlying vegetation, we were able to see him outlined clearly!

After oohing and aahing from an icy and rather slippery overlook area, we went down into the village of Cerne Abbas.  It's darling.  Here are a few pictures from the excursion:

There's a little stream running through town!

A view of the outskirts (note the red telephone booth at the end!)

Looking up to the center of town

Isn't this precious?


The "Pitchmarket", so named because the farmers pitched their straw
 for sale outside. And yes, it is as wonky looking in real life!
The walls bulge and angle in rather unexpected ways.


This is the churchyard just outside the Abbey

St. Thomas's well (long legend that I can't quite remember)

The porch of the abbey

The ceiling of the abbey

A closer view of the abbey's windows -- just beautiful!

I couldn't resist this bark!
The house/newer abbey grounds

I loved this building!  There wasn't a marker of any type,
so I can't give any information on it...

A view of the church
A window of the church

Closeup of some text in English

Interior of the church.  Being an Anglican church,
the inscriptions were Bible verses in English,
rather than being pictures of saints.
Interesting note from this one detail: the church builders
rejected Latin and the concept that the Bible
is for the cognoscenti only, and they assumed literacy of the populace.
A view towards the screen in front of the altar

There was the most beautiful red-twigged shrubbery along the road!

We had really lovely scenery all along the drive...
Love,

Alexandra