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Published: March 5th 2012
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So I’m currently flying back to the States on the second of three flights today (and all of them about 7 hours!). It’s been one of my longest trips ever – 12 days – and I spent time in London, San Vigilio, and Kuala Lumpur.
Whew.
We left approximately a gajillion years ago on flight 1 of 8 for London. Next year’s annual conference and 25
th anniversary meeting is going to be held there, and we needed to do a few site visits to figure out what our program will be. But first, we were off to San Vigilio again. So after a quick dinner at our airport hotel, a fairly decent (and VERY quiet) night’s sleep, we were off to Gatwick and on to Innsbruck!
It was my first time flying Easy Jet, and it’s essentially like cattle being herded into a cramped truck. There are no assigned seats on these flights – you just get on, and choose a seat. We managed to meet up with one of our clients/friends at Gatwick, so the three of us got a row to ourselves and chatted on the short flight to Innsbruck.
Once there, we met up
with one of our other friends, got our respective rental cars, and agreed to follow the other two….which promptly got us lost (despite this being our third trip to San Vigilio). After a brief pause to pass along the GPS to the lead car, we were finally off and arrived in what felt like far less time than usual.
San Vigilio was just as I remembered it…well, minus the snow. It has been an extremely cold winter in Europe (unlike in the States), so we expected there to be quite a lot of snow, but it was actually too cold to snow for a little while. When we arrived, it had turned quite warm, so the little snow they did have was melting anywhere that the sun hit.
It was the first time in the three visits that we’d made that I could see the sidewalks and the road.
For me, the weather was perfect, because I’m not a skier. The skiers weren’t so happy on the first day, when the snow was “sticky,” as they reported, and meant a lot more work for them.
But, as usual, we greatly enjoyed our time together. The first
night was spent catching up, joking and laughing, learning about the new addition that is being put on La Bercia, and having a wonderful dinner with the family that runs the little B&B, Joanna and her two children, along with her brother, Giulio.
For the first time, I was in a room by myself, because my normal roommate had brought along her neighbor, a lady doctor. Both of them have small children, who had been quite sick in recent days, so they were happy to get a bit of a break. Although, they were both sick, our friend with the tail end of the flu/cold combination, and her neighbor with the beginnings of it.
Since I’m a magnet for germs, particularly when I’m traveling (I always seem to get sick on this trip, and our European trip in the fall, or at least on the way back), I caught the bug, of course. Though it didn’t show up until we were back in London.
The bed at La Bercia was so comfortable, and I fell right to sleep, wishing I could sleep in the following morning despite hearing the banter of our friends/clients downstairs at breakfast. I
had been tasked that morning with hunting down some wool to use for crocheting hats for everyone in attendance. Crocheting five hats in less than two days was quite the challenge, but I felt up to the task.
My dad and I headed into the little town for three purposes – to walk around and see the snow sculptures that are part of the annual competition, to get some wine for the evening’s dinner, and to hunt down my wool. We’d been assured by our host that there was a limited supply somewhere, but after the one craft-type shop was a bust, I despaired of finding any. But I finally did, and was excited to get going on the hats, using some beautiful pure European wool (not the synthetic stuff I get in the states!).
After that, it was off to lunch at the little Apres Ski bar at the bottom of the slope. We decided that our adventures with heights the last two visits proved that we needed to stay at the bottom of the mountain, so I was quite happy with the arrangement. We shared some delicious pizzas, enjoyed the sun and the chatter, and soon
left the skiers to their slopes for the relaxation of La Bercia.
I took a lovely nap, worked on my hats (I got three and a half done the first day!) and we shared another dinner with our hosts before turning in. Everyone was so exhausted that some of us were falling asleep at the table!
The next day was more of the same, but this time, with a final dinner at our “regular” place – Fana Ladina. We’ve gotten to know Alma, the owner, over the last few years, so it was wonderful to see her again and sit at our regular table. When we first met her, she was pregnant with her only child, Mia, who is now four years old. It’s amazing how time flies!
We stuck with our regular dishes as well – to start, some pastry pockets filled with spinach and cheese, or cabbage, and what we refer to as “meat donuts.” Then, most of us had the pumpkin soup, followed by our main courses. We were all so full that we split them, and my dad and I shared the venison. Yes, I was eating bambi, but it was delicious. I
mentioned that I get a chuckle out of a sign that I’d seen not too long ago that said “Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.”
Dessert for me was a strudel type dish, that capped off the meal. I was so full, as we all were, so several of us decided to walk back to La Bercia (mind you, it’s all uphill, as I’d found out earlier in the day when I’d walked back and forth to town twice for more wool – this time for scarves for myself). The night was cold and clear, and I had a lovely chat with one of our friends as we headed back.
Then, it was back to reality. We drove from San Vigilio back to Innsbruck for our third of eight flights, and I had a nice fight with the gate agents about bringing two pieces of hand luggage – one carryon and one personal item. It hadn’t been a problem on the way there (same airline), but suddenly on the way back, it was. Annoyingly inconsistent!
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