We have a new toy.



Allan took these with our new Canon SLR.

Frappé Holidays

Me enjoying a frappe (iced coffee)

Last fall we visited friends, Mo, Nina and their 5 year old son Marco in London. While there we mentioned that we’d like to make another sailing trip with them the following summer. We’d been to Greece with them several times before.

We exchanged e-mails and schedule a holiday for the middle two weeks in July.

Mo bounced the idea off of Allan of maybe trying a large catamaran this time. We’d sailed a small one in the past so we agreed.

I had a devil of a time arranging the transportation with our travel agent. The flights we could get on points through Athens to Kos had a terrible connection. And we’d still have to pay more for the domestic flight than for a direct charter flight to Kos. There was a problem with the charter though, it only ran on Tuesday & Thursday and the boat we were renting was from Saturday to
Saturday.

After pouring over the brochures and detailing our plight to our wonder travel agent she called a few companies to see if one of them would give us a two week package and cut out the middle week while we were sailing. The first few said, ‘no’ but with persistence she found one.

I chose a large hotel with three pools that was near but not in Kos town. We had been to Kos 11 years earlier and didn’t much like the beer and beach scene. We remembered hotels and sunbed crammed cheek to jowl on the beach all amid loud blaring music. Not.Our.Scene.

Thursday July 12th

A very good neighbor drove up to the airport at 2:30 a.m. for our 5 a.m. flight.

There’s that word again ‘fanatic’. Here’s how to get a free cookie. Feel faint and nauseous so go to the bathroom. They’ll slap an oxygen mask on you and accuse you of fanatical dieting for not eating before a 5 a.m. flight. I don’t know about you but I never eat at that time. Anyway after that I needed a doctor’s release before I am allowed the board the plane home.

Oceanis Beach Resort

The Oceanic Beach Resort was beautiful. Maybe a little shabby but luxurious and quiet. Right on the Mediterranean(Aegean). I think Allan is the reincarnation of Moses. It sure felt like we wandered around for 40 years. We dine at a little open air restaurant across the road from our hotel. The power goes off from time to time. Which is no problem as the food is cooked over an open fire. After our meal the waiter- who is probably the owner/chief dish washer presents us with complimentary drinks. Al gets an Ouzo and I get banana liqueur/schnapps. I wasn’t going to drink but what the hell?

Window shopping in Kos town

Friday, July 13^th.

Breakfast is served buffet style. Nutella hazelnut/chocolate butter is served in a four quart bowl. Europeans must consume simply galloons of this stuff every morning. I wonder why you see; mud & Jello wrestling but never Nutella wrestling?

We explore all the hotels pools, the one near the beach is salt water. There is a freshwater pool in the front- Andy’s favorite. The beach is a stone’s throw away, first there is a grassy area with some large mature trees for shade. The hotel supplies some sun loungers and umbrellas on the mostly rocky beach. It’s heaven. I arranged to meet with the hotel doctor once I got back for her to issue a ‘fit to fly’ statement on my behalf. We hung out and enjoy gyros on the beach for lunch.

Later in the day we heard that our friends have arrived. We agree to meet them at their hotel in Kos city for dinner. They stayed at the newly remodeled hotel Art. It was quite stark and minimalistic. Andy has fun snorkeling in the Aegean. It’s hot.

We meet our friends and the other family that will be with us on the boat. They’re all Greek but have lived a time in London. Janni & Vasso have two adorable little girls, Christina 8- born the same week as Andy & Phedra 4) While the adults lingered over dinner the four children plot, I mean bond. I made the mistake of giving my digital camera to Christina. I thought she’d snap a picture or two but after about 10 minutes of Phedra Vogueing, I demanded it back. We ate at the hotel restaurant, H20 which offered excellent modern Greek fare. I loved the dishes the food was served on.

Mo told us the boat we had wanted to rent was never returned by the previous charterer. So the charter company had purchased another boat, the same make and size but with a slightly different configuration and that the boat should arrive sometime the next morning. We were given a discount because we would not be able to use the two front single cabins. Evidently Mo had sent Allan an e-mail detailing this but Allan had never opened it. Which is just as well, that way we never worried about it.

Saturday July 14^th

We ordered a taxi to take us and all our luggage from the hotel to the harbor in the morning. We took our time. We could stay in the hotel until noon and the boat would only arrive then. The chartering company said they would take a few hours to ready the boat for us.

It took a very long time for them to show the guys the boat and all it’s accoutrements. In the meantime Nina went to get provisions and I despaired over bringing to much, way too much, again.

Our boat- a Lagoon 440.

We got a very late start, it was very windy. Nicoli, from the chartering company maneuvered the boat out of the tight harbor, one of his colleagues collected him from the back of our boat in a dingy. I took a ginger capsule against sea sickness and gave Andy a package of kiddie Windmills cookies. Mo & Al thought it would take us about an hour to get to Pserimos but after 2.5 hours of going straight into the wind we finally arrived. The boat we had chartered was very large and it was very windy. Luckily a tire was tied to the dock as a fender. We stumbled off board and began to search for a restaurant for dinner. It was very late, the waiter took our order but it seems an eternity before any food or drink arrived. The children started falling asleep at the table. Many plates of food were left half uneaten because it wasn’t that great.

The wind howled much of the night. It was coming from the direction in which we wanted to sail.

Sunday, July 15^th

The wind was still blowing. Just about everyone told me in private that they just wanted to stay put for the day but they were afraid of telling the others. We were docked in an adorable bay, so why not stay? Andy and Al donned their snorkeling equipment and made their way to shore from the boat. When Andy came back he said, ‘This is the best vacation ever!’ Later Al and I enjoyed a frappe on shore while Andy played in the surf. It was extremely pleasant. I took several long walks during the day from our berth to the end of the beach.

Around noon I made Andy some French toast. When the other kids saw that they wanted some too. Later I had an apple with peanut butter which the other kids were also eager to try.

Some other friends of Mo & Nina had chartered a Bavaria 50 for the 11 of them. They joined us.

That night we had more time to choose a restaurant. Janni inspected the kitchens of several before deciding on one. We had the most amazing fresh white bream, fresh fried potatoes, squid, octopus, red snapper. I gave it 10 our of five stars. We cleaned every plate.

Monday, July 16^th

Sailing an 18 foot Hobie cat catamaran prepares you in no way for a 44 foot sailboat with motors. I felt like we were in a floating city.

The wind was still blowing hard but we wanted to see some more of the Dodecanese so we left. One of the local offered to help us with the lines. He let go too soon which made our boat scrape the anchor of the Bavaria 50. I tried to fend off the other boat with my feet but it was like pushing against a brick wall. There goes our damage deposit, we thought. It was a very bumpy ride. Later Al told me that the gusts were up to a force 8. Catamarans feel very different from mono-hulls. They are quite jerky sailing into the wind. I was nervous about having the four children riding on the flying bridge. You just can’t turn off being a mother. It’s hard enough managing your own child, multiply that by four and it’s impossible.

We arrived in Embrios where there are fixed moorings. But the boat was so high that we couldn’t catch one of the buoys from the boat. We lowered the dingy and Al went to take a look and figure out how to tie up the boat securely. The first attempt was not successful. The line was so long that even with no power the boat simply sailed itself over the buoy causing the taught rope to damage the boat. After some time we ended up tying the front of the boat in a “Y” shape to the buoy. The wind alternated directions so the boat would jerk from one side to the other.

We took the dingy on shore and found an amazing family restaurant. The other boat had already finished eating (the children ranged from age 1-12 so they were happy to eat earlier). That left the restaurant staff free to concentrate on us. Again the fresh seafood was amazing. They served something called whitebait. The best I can describe is that it’s like goldfish crackers made from real goldfish. Whole tiny fish are dipped in flour and then deep fried. You pop the whole thing in your mouth. Yum! We ordered schnitzel for Andy(breaded deep fried pork tenderloin) and I am happy to report that he actually ate some of it. It was good.

Here are before and after pictures of a 1.6 kg fresh white bream.

The other boat’s dingy wasn’t that great so they used ours to ferry the 11 of them back and forth. Al was going to take the last load but wasn’t too keen to come back alone so Andy and I said we’d join them/him. Well when we got close to the Bavaria 50 it’s anchor appeared to have drug and they seemed to have blown ashore. So we took everyone to our boat. In a very short time they reset their anchor and the whole party was transported back to their boat. That left Andy and me on board alone. I heard a might ‘crash’ which scared the bejesus out of me. A few minutes later Al and the rest were back so I told them about the crash. They decided that with the crazy winds we’d bumped against the buoy so they rearranged the lines so that one was shorter than the other. No other bumps were heard that night. Every star in the sky was visible. I could clearly make out the milky way.

Tuesday July 17^th

We had a lazy morning and then made our way to Lakki on Leros. It was hot. It was windy. Al found a restaurant that served frappe with…Bailey’s! The harbor had hot showers and we refilled the boat with water. That night we took taxis to another part of the island-Milos where we ate by a windmill. The Castro at the top of the island was beautifully lit.

Wednesday July 18^th

I guess I'm not nearly as fat as I thought.

I tried to take one last shower in the morning but the drain was blocked making the whole enterprise unpleasant. It was so hot that a one piece bathing suit was almost too much clothing. I insisted on finding a full English breakfast for myself. You know how cranky I can be if I don’t get my eggs in the morning. We walked around awhile in the heat first to find a place and by the time I got there all I could mutter was, ‘Eggs! Bring me eggs!’ Well they did but first I got some yummy apricot juice.

Finally the conditions were perfect for sailing a catamaran. You want flat water and a steady strong, but not too strong breeze.

Me at the helm. It drove like a Buick.

We anchored for a short time in the middle of nowhere. We were by two tiny islands. Later we moved the boat to a cove that we had to ourselves. The Bavaria came too. They invited us to a BBQ onshore. Once it got dark the stars were unbelievably bright against a velvety black sky.

Vasily and his catch.

Vasily (from the other boat) was a spear fisherman. He crawled out of the water around dusk with quite a haul. They made a fire and were prepared with grids to hold the sausages & rib eyes. Earlier they’d prepared baked potatoes. Plenty of wine and beer flowed. There was dancing. Someone had brought an I-Pod with a docking station. We’d contributed a salad and some bread. It was indescribably wonderful.

Andy (& honestly me too) were conking out so I asked Al to take us to the boat. He was to return with the makings for Gin & tonics. I put some ice in a Tupperware container and sent him back ashore.

Thursday July 19^th

In the morning Janni & Mo took some of the children for a walk. Andy and Al went snorkeling. After that we motored to Pendeli, another harbor on Leros.

Al swam with the three older children to shore. I took a nap. Janni went to pick up Al and the kids with the dingy.

A little before dusk I noticed that everything turned a wonderful golden color. I tried to take as many pictures as possible to capture this magic light.

Dinner at Pendeli.

The children played Anne Marie Kokook (Stop light/Go lilght) and the other children on the beach joined in. We ended up at a café for ice cream and Al tried a frozen frappe. It was a hit. Think iced coffee made in a slushy machine.

Friday July 20^th

I had strange dreams. We motored to Vathi, a last stop before returning to Kos harbor. On the way we saw one dolphin lazily porpoising in and out of the water. Vathi is very close to Kos, there are day trips that go there. It’s quite scenic tucked into a picturesque gorge. We moored stern to and I took a walk to explore the hamlet. One restaurant had a little stream full of fish. Andy snapped pictures of cats while Al & I enjoyed a snack.

Andy jumping off the front of the boat in Vathi.

Later I saw our little waitress swimming in the harbor. You can’t call it a beach it’s more like a concrete swimming pool that opens out into the water. Vasso had chosen the restaurant and the lady had already started making our meat & squid balls.

Again we’d stumbled upon some amazing home cooking. I doubt if Allan and I could eat so well without some native Greek speakers along. Our normal meal was served family style and consisted of; Greek salad- we encountered ones with hard bread at the bottom to soak up the yummy olive oil/vinegar dressing, tzatsiki, white bait, white wine, fresh fish, fresh potatoes, squid, octopus balls. With watermelon for dessert.

During the sail back Andy came to tell me that Marco was eating paper. When I went to look in the cabin Phedra had dismantled all her markers- a budding mechanical engineer? Marco had cut up his drawing and the pieces were scattered everywhere. I asked him if he was a good boy or a bad boy. He said, ‘good.’ I asked him then why he did bad things. He was mute. I asked him then what he thought would happen when his parents saw the mess he made. He said they’d be mad at him. I asked him then what he could do to prevent that. He on his own initiative cleaned up the paper.

Pretty, pretty.

We’d timed our arrival in Kos to not be too early so we enjoyed a stunning sunset on our last night. Before entering the harbor we radioed the chartering company asking for a pilot to come bring the boat in. It was a tight squeeze on the way out and we didn’t feel like risking any more damage. We kept thinking that it was going to be expensive, that we were sure to lose our damage deposit.

Nicoli came out in a dingy and climbed on board via one of the swim platforms on the back of a hull and easily put our boat in it’s berth.

We’d had a large late lunch in Vathi so we just went to bed.

Saturday July 21^st

I woke very early and went for a walk. I saw two really big boats one red and one blue. The blue one had a dog basket on the dock for people to put their shoe in. The red boat looked like a really cool racer.

The other family had to leave really early to catch a catamaran to Rhodes. They were going to stay a little bit longer over there.

I packed at my leisure and then we went back to our hotel. It turned out the chartering company was very generous to us and charged us only a miniscule sum for all the damage. Mo, Nina & Marco joined us at our hotel as their flight was later in the day.

We could not get Marcos out of the pool. I thought it was pretty funny. But I don’t think his dad did. He reminded me of Andy. Andy loves water. Anything to do with water. Fish, whales, dolphins, swimming, snorkeling, sailing. He loves to be wet. In fact I say if there is water, Andy will be wet.

We enjoyed a very lazy day and dreamt of the next time. Maybe the Southern Ionians. Nina said she didn’t need to bring any normal shoes nor as much make up. I’d vow that I really only needed 3 bikinis-tops! I was glad though that the only make up I’d brought or needed was; blush, bronzer & lip gloss. The only excitement that day was that I had the task of digging three sea urchin spines out of the side of Allan’s foot. I think he thought I enjoyed poking him with the needle. I didn’t. They’re not like normal splinters in that they have a barb at the end of them. So the only remedy is to dig them completely out.

During the holiday Al and I had dreamt up every vacation we’d ever like to take. I think Andy would like Maui with the whale watching. Al said you can watch whales in the Azores too. Of course some day we want to go skiing again with our friends in Colorado. We’ve always meant to return to the Schober mountains in the summer. And Andy would like to visit the Harry Potter Theme park they are building in Orlando. We'd all like to drive down the Florida keys.

We bid goodbye to our friends then later took the bus into Kos town. Andy ate his fill of McDonald’s chicken nuggets. Then we went to an intriguing restaurant that Allan had seen advertised. There was no one sitting at the tables out front so we hesitated. But then I said, ‘Sometimes you just have to take risks.’ And went in. The reason no one was sitting in the front was because everyone was in the exquisite back garden. We shared a mixed grill. I didn't finish my complimentary ouzo, we'd had wine- in the cutest decorated terra cotta pitcher with dinner and then lazily made our way back to the bus stop after Allan had stopped for an ice cream.

Sunday July 22^nd

Sometime during the night Allan took ill. That morning I took Allan some breakfast up to the room. Then in the late morning I took a very long walk on the beach. Soon it became very wild. There was a nature preserve. I’d only gone four bus stops but it took me over an hour. I was trying to find a hotel that l’d seen from the bus- Kipriotis Village. I was just curious to see how it compared to our hotel. I gave up before I found it and went back to the room. Al still wasn’t feeling well so after I got back Andy and I snuck into the hotel next door- The Grec Hotel. It was rather newer, and the pool was more modern, clear and extremely noisy. I savored my lunch from the poolside cafeteria while Andy enjoyed the pool. Later in the afternoon the two of us went to the beach where Andy played with the boogie board Marco had left behind. That night the only thing that appealed to Allan was pizza so we went into town. He had a romantica pizza so I felt obligated to order the erotica pasta.

Monday July 23^rd

We’d set two alarm clocks because my doctor’s appointment was at nine. That meant I would have to catch the bus. So far the busses had been fairy regular but you never know. I gave the driver the usual €1 and he handed me back 50 cents. Early bird discount? I’ll never know. I pushed the button before my stop but he didn’t stop so angrily I made my way to the front and finally he stopped two stops later.

Basically the exam consisted of her asking if I had problems with low blood pressure and I answered, ‘yes.’ She wanted to do a few blood tests just to be sure so then I was directed to the lab. The drew my blood quickly and efficiently and said the results would be ready later that day. I sent Al a text message that said since I was already in town that I was going to check out a flip-flop store I’d seen earlier. It was hot. Really hot. So first I had a granita (slushy) and then I bought two pairs of sandals. Do I look like Gisele Bundchen now? After all I’m wearing the same shoes as her.

I revived myself with a frappe with a scoop of ice cream in it and then took the bus to the hotel I was curious about (Kipriotis Village). It was big. Very big. You would need a bike just to get around the complex. The beach didn’t compare to our hotel’s though. I downed a sour cherry juice then took the bus the rest of the way back. Curiously this time the driver charged me €1.10.

Al still wasn’t feeling well, and Andy wasn’t hungry (he’d had some ice cream and a croissant) so I ate in one of the hotel restaurants. I’d seen tuna & spaghetti on the menu earlier and was curious. It was okay. I would have left out the tomatoes though.

Andy riding Shamu.

Andy had been an absolute jewel so we asked him what he’d like as a souvenir of the trip. He wanted an inflatable killer whale. So we walked across the road to a mini mart and bought him one. The nice man at the store even offered to blow it up for us!

Once my lab results were ready I went and collected them. I had an appointment Wednesday morning to go over them with the doctor. At which time she would issue my fit to fly letter. After examining the various boats and possibilities we booked a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey for the next day.

Andy had a crepe then we took the taxi to Nestorias, a restaurant we had visited and really liked on our previous trip. Andy was quite impressed with the 8 octopi drying in a case out front. You walk past the kitchen because the tables are on the grass in the back overlooking the water. Inside the kitchen I spied fresh seafood. Al and I enjoyed a lazy dinner while Andy fell asleep across two chairs. It was an interminable wait at the bus stop so Al finally flagged down a taxi.

How does that song go again, 'don't sleep in the subway, darling...'

Tuesday July 24th

Andy eating windmill cookies to stave off seasickness on the 40 minute boatride to Turkey.

Andy was very sleepy but we had a boat to catch. The bus finally came and took us into Kos town to meet the Maria Star. It was hot. We went a little ways and then were made to get off the boat to clear immigration. It was awful. My dear husband waited in line while Andy and I tried to find a patch of shade. I think our boat captain pulled a few strings because after awhile we were shuffled ahead of a bunch of other people. The immigration guy studied our American passports and then asked Allan where the heck were our exit stamps? We were sent to another window where the guy would have preferred to see our Dutch residents cards. I hadn’t brought them because advertised on the front of Maria Star it said ‘all you need is a passport!’ I’d left all my non-essentials including my Dutch resident's card back at the hotel. Al and the guy agreed on something I never understood and we were allowed to go to Turkey. I suspect Americans and their dollars are pretty much welcome there.

Right off the boat I saw a white leather bag to die for. I got the guy down from €150 to €80 but since it was the first thing I’d seen I said ‘later’ and walked away. We washed our feet at the mosque to cool off then made our way to the open bazaar. I found Andy a warm up suit and a polo shirt. We bought some pretty bowls and Andy some Pokemon cards. After that we took a taxi to a modern shopping center which had a gold center. It was huge. I spent some time dickering over a ring and some earrings but they really didn’t have what I wanted so we left empty handed.

Time was getting short and it was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really really hot. The first place Al picked to eat I just couldn’t sit there in the heat so we persevered on. Finally we ended up somewhere, where I ate something and then we tried to find that darn white bag. The first shop didn’t seem quite right, Andy said it was the wrong shop and led up to the right one. Thank goodness he was along- his memory blows both his parents’ away. So we found the shop and the bag and persuaded the guy’s brother to sell it to us for €80 (can you imagine the talk around the dinner table that night, 'you let her have it for what!?' and then we headed back to the boat.

The trip back seemed shorter, it was still incredibly hot. Then back at Kos town Andy and I had crepes (his plain, mine was white Nutella with strawberries- yes it was orgasmic). All Al wanted was ice cream from the bakery by the Art hotel. So that’s what we did then headed back. I would have liked ice cream too but the crepe was really filling.

Wednesday July 25^th

In front of Paradise Beach.

We’d decided to rent a large ATV to explore the island. I had to get to the doctor at 9:30 but of course they didn’t have the ATV, we got a dune buggy instead. And again I was late to the doctor. I was shocked to learn that I was anemic but the doctor still issued my release with the orders for me to drink at least three liters of water today before my flight the next day. Then we were off. It was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really, really hot. I was curious about the other side of Kos town so we sped off to Tigaki. It’s rather amazing that just a little ways aways things are wild and quiet. In Tigaki the people we nice, we had a frappe. We did a drive by of Marmari then stopped next in Mastichari. Both are remote and charming. Andy had some ice cream and we stopped at a wonderful grocery store. I wish I’d noted the name of the hotel outside Marmari (I think) but alas I didn’t.

Why do the Greeks hate

toilet seats? And say

'neh', when they mean 'yes?'

Next we crossed the island. It was rather like being in a world sized hair dryer, it was that hot. At Kefalos I hit upon the idea of getting my shirt wet. That helped for about 5-10 minutes until it dried. Then we swam for a little bit at Kardemena. Every little burg has it’s own personality. We never found a better beach than the one by our hotel. Although looking down on the Club Med beach we could see that it was very long and sandy, but still no mature trees. I can’t remember where but I had a terrible lunch of supposed bifteki- it was two bunless bugers. I guess it wasn’t served with bread because there was so much breadcrumbs in the patty. Andy tried to use a shower on the beach but the mean man said it was only for his restaurant! Somewhere I had a virgin pina colada. Andy didn’t like his strawberry slushy- no matter how much we watered it down it still was incredibly syrupy.

Allan was surprised that Zia, in the middle of the island was full of tourists. It was beautifully wooded. The smell of the cedar trees permeating the feverish air.

Allan explored some 300 bc ruins while Andy and I waited outside.

Our day ended at the Empros thermen (hot springs). After the last bus stop past our hotel you just keep going. First you come to a snack bar and then you just keep going. We parked our dune buggy and the bottom and then kept walking. Eventually we saw a ring of big stones in the sea. By it up the hill a little bit was the best restaurant. They had fresh fish but what I really wanted was spaghetti carbonara, which they had and was very very good. Andy swam a bit in the sea. I dipped a toe in the hot springs.

I had no trouble on the flight home. They showed the film ‘Wild Hogs’ which I thought was really stupid. Especially the scene where they're skinny dipping and the other family comes in and freaks out over the nudity.

It’s been three days and most of the laundry is done.

It’s so hard to believe that there are places in the world that are basically spontaneously combusting from the dry heat while here in Holland it’s its usual gray, rainy wet self.

Andy's school picture. He looks eerily like my second grade picture:

Dutch Apple taart

Make a pate sucree

2 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup butter

1 t baking powder

1 T vanilla extract

¼ C sugar

¾ egg beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F

Add the baking powder to the flour. Rub the butter through the flour. Add the vanilla extract & egg. If necessary add a few T of cold water to form a dough. Set aside.

Make the filling:

Peel & slice 6 apples (sweet/sour). Add the juice and zest of 1/2 lemon. Add 2 T cinnamon, ¼ C sugar (white, or brown or mixture of both) and ¼ cup raisins.

Butter a cake pan (+/- 8-9 inch round). Pat ¾ of the dough into the bottom of the pan, Make a rim with the dough (cover the sides). Put the apple mixture in the dough, pat it down. Drop small bits of the remaining dough on top. Brush the dough on top with the remaining beaten egg.

Bake for about one hour.

Variations, add 3 ounces of nuts.

Skiing in Canada 2007



Friday February 23, 2007

Who is Mountain Madness? We were to be asked that several times over the next two weeks. I guess the best answer is- a bunch of people who like to ski together. For two years we’d been dreaming of a ski trip to Canada. Our group of 9 gathered very early at the airport.

First we flew to Calgary. Andy took a Dramamine and fell asleep after watching a Star Wars DVD on my laptop.

Multiple crying babies made the flight unpleasant for the others. But I had my nose buried so deep in a good book (The Girls ( The Story Of Conjoined Twins ) by Lori Lansens) that I didn’t notice. In the book, set in Canada the girls travel to visit distant relatives in Slovakia. Their cousin gets Canada confused with the United States. He said, “they’re right by each other, they must be the same!” The girls replied, ‘Ít’s rather like Slovakia and Czechia.’ Canada and the states are like that. Close but with striking differences.

I finished my book with still a few hours of the looong flight left to go. 10 hours on a train or 10 hours on a plane to get to your ski vacation, what’s the difference? Not much.

Kindly women volunteers in cowboy hats greeted us. Cool. At the Calgary airport we collected two Dodge grand caravans. We had a two hour drive uneventful drive to Banff. As soon as we left Calgary we could see the big beautiful blue outlines of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.

It seems that I was to find out that everybody in Canada is immediately your best friend.

We were all extremely tired so decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. I was relieved. The thought of wandering around trying to agree on a restaurant with such a large group was rather dismaying. My concern would turn out to be unfounded. I really wanted a steak but I didn’t want a big one. I was relieved with the waiter said the steaks were 7 oz. That’s about how much I make for Allan and me but smaller than I expected. I ordered the rib eye, which hit the spot.

We found ourselves translating things to our Dutch friends. What a change of places! Normally it is the other way around. It was nice to give back.

Despite being extremely tired my sleep was fretful. I woke repeatedly and didn’t seem to ever sleep deeply. I got up at last after a bad dream in which multiple relatives had broken legs. And I had a recurring nightmare where my gym gets rid of all of it’s free weights.

Saturday February 24th , Norquay (Banff)

The first area was right outside Banff. Norquay is smallish but was perfect to start our holiday. As the day wore on it warmed up and turned the snow to slush. I remarked to Al that it was like trying to ski through chewing gum. I finished early and enjoyed listening to the singer in the lodge. I especially liked his rendition of “The Gales of November”.

That night I tried an elk burger. It was good but I swear it was a piece of garlicky lamb. Andy fell asleep before his food came. He’s really too big to carry anymore but somehow we managed to drunk walk him back to the hotel room.

Next to the restaurant I spied a Lulu Lemon store. Lulu Lemon makes yoga clothes that I’ve been lusting after for years. It’s a Canadian chain. As tired as I was there was no way I was going to pass up what could be my one and only opportunity to shop at Lulu Lemon. It was Saturday. The shop was already closed by the time I managed to get back there.

Sunday February 25^th, Sunshine Village, Banff

The three of us, Al, Andy & I would go up in a quad chair so frequently a ‘single’ would ride up with us. Remember everyone is instantly your best friend in Canada. Anyway, inevitably we’d strike up a conversation with the single. I’d usually drill them on the resort as to familiarize myself with it.

My shins hurt. I hoped it wouldn’t last the whole trip.

We had lunch on the mountain in an inflatable igloo. Sunshine Village is in a national park so while it certainly can accommodate a great many skiers it can’t get permission to build any more permanent structures to house additional eating establishments.

There was a run called “wildfire” that I really liked. Wouldn’t that be just about the coolest job in the world- naming ski runs?

At the end of the day I tried a white hot chocolate. Al saw a brick sized Rice Krispie treat on someone else’s table. He asked me to see if they were selling them there. He wanted the Mountain Madness team to try them. I did and they did.

Bound and determined to visit the Lulu Lemon shop, I was let off there immediately after skiing. Extremely funky, skuzzy and with wild hair I took an armful of clothes into the changing room.

There was a cute boy on the floor refolding stacks of jazz pants. I asked him a few questions about the merchandise but he scurried away like a frightened wild animal. I guess he was just for decoration.

I scored the cutest outfit- black reversible boot cut pants with a pink floral stripe around the hips. And a matching top that was on sale, probably because you needed a PhD to put it on. There are so many wrong permutations of how you can put your head and arms through the straps that crossed the back. I skipped happily back to the hotel. Al bought some chocolate fudge for the Mountain Madness people to try.

I enjoyed an Epson salt bath to sooth my weary legs which were beginning to hate me.

That night we dined in five star splendor at the Saltlik. I sat next to Bart whose job it was to pick up the tab. [We rotated putting expenses on all our credit cards so that the burden wouldn’t be too great on any one of us. A final reckoning would be made at the end]. Anyway, Bart finally leaned over and asked me just HOW MANY people would be serving us tonight?

So we counted.

1. The coat check girl.
2. The greeter/seater.
3. Shane, our official waiter.
4. Someone to fill our water glasses.
5. Yet another (or was it more?) to bring the piping hot plates of delicious food.
6. There was someone to bring the bread & starters.

And while I was the only one I could not resist ordering the berry crumble for dessert. It was with great difficulty I refrained from licking the last drops from the bottom of the individual caste iron frying pan it was served in. And then there was coffee that was so good you could taste the beans.

Allan and I had somehow become the ringleaders ordering all these various serving persons about. So I asked him, ‘Would you dare be so picky and demanding at home?’ He said, ‘No.’ In no time we had tapped into our inner spoilt prima donnas that had been there since conception. We even sent Andy’s French fries back because they had too much pepper.

Andy fell asleep at the restaurant, again.

Monday February 26, Lake Louise Banff

Today was the third ski area within driving distance of Banff. We’d packed the cars with all our stuff in the morning so that directly after skiing we could drive to Golden, the next stop on our itinerary.

The snow was groomed. It was like skiing on corrugated ice, which was fine for me. Since I’d learned to ski on an artificial surface I had learned how to really dig my edges in.

We charted our way down to lunch via run #34. It looked easy enough. We encountered a sign that read, ‘Marginal Conditions. Not recommended.’ Well, if it was really bad they would have closed it off entirely, right? I felt invincible so I sped on ahead of the others.

Stupidly.

We hit a slope of ice. I thought, ‘Fine. I’ll just side slip like I’ve been taught to do when I get somewhere I don’t think I can handle.’

Andy zipped down ahead out of sight so I released Al to go find him. The other guys were coaching us more unskilled skiers down. Ollie assured me that I could make I turn so I tried…and failed.

I sat down on my skis [never, ever do this on ice]. In a moment I saw the trees rushing at me.

But everything I thought to do at the speed I was traveling at seemed even more dangerous than the situation I was already in.

I thought, ‘I must dig in my edges.’ So with my hand I tilted the back of my ski into the icy slope. It slowed me down somewhat. What slowed me down even more was Bart putting his foot out and stopping me completely.

Thank you, Bart.

The adrenaline surge was incredible. I wanted to go! I was unhurt, shaken but not scarred so I skied the rest of the way much more aggressively than I had been.

When we sat down for lunch I realized that I’d scooped up gobs of ice and my back was full of the stuff- like when a baby has diarrhea out the top of the back of their diaper.

We’d scored some cushy comfy seats for lunch. After some tasty combine-your-own-pasta, I decided that I’d had enough excitement for one day and didn’t ski anymore that afternoon.

But I didn’t say this until another woman in our group said she’d decided not to ski that afternoon either. We weren’t very happy with the inferior equipment we’d rented at Lake Louise.

The approach to Golden did not look promising. But Golden tries harder, because it has too.

Everyone enjoyed the hotel hot tub. Andy loved the small indoor pool. I went to find the extra pillows that are stashed inevitably away in every hotel room but when I went to put them on the bed I saw that each bed already had 6 (!!!) pillows.

I looked in the city restaurant guide and noted that the Golden Grizzly- just across the street had won an award. Al and I loved the informal honky-tonk atmosphere. I ordered salmon.

In our search for restaurants we’d come upon The Timbermill. Al and I noted the booths and the Bob Evans ambiance and told the others that it would be a good choice for breakfast. It was. The nine of us taxed the single waitress, but she was game. I finally managed to enjoy my favorite breakfast of eggs and oatmeal. I don’t know, the day just doesn’t seem to go right for me if it doesn’t begin with eggs.

We rented our skis from a multi-purpose shop. There was a coffee corner, a side for climbing gear and another side for skiing stuff.

It didn’t take me long to realize that the toaster oven on the floor of the skiing side was for warming ski boots as part of the custom fittings they offered.

Several times on our trip we’d been asked if we’d been to Kicking Horse yet. It seemed to be many people’s favorite. This ratcheted up our expectations at bit.

We bought one day lift tickets- not sure that the snow would be good enough here or that the area was big enough to hold our interest for the 3 days we were planning to stay in Golden.

It was cold on the first ride to the top. We skied down to a café called the ‘Yurt.’ I looked over at Andy and saw that he was crying. ‘Had we burned him out on skiing?’ I thought. No. His gloves had gotten wet and we hadn’t noticed. So I have him my mittens and dry liners and I switched to my gloves.

I loved the run down to the Yurt called ‘Dutch Treat’ where it was a gentle slope through the trees. I was glad that my shins had stopped hurting.

In the Yurt you could see people who had been skiing off piste. Their avalanche transmitters were visible once they took off their ski jackets.

Several things struck me. First, everybody could ski. In Michigan and Austria where I’ve skied before I am constantly being run into by some kid being taught by it’s parents. Another thing was that the music being piped onto the slopes was really really nice.

Kicking Horse is arranged a bit like a woven basket. Some runs are the upright reeds and there’s a long gently run that is like the running reed that crosses the uprights.

I wanted to take a lesson but they weren’t really set up for an individual one like I wanted.

Since I learned to ski on what amounts to astro turf, moguls (bumps) , powder and such all mystify me.

When we got back to the hotel I took an Epson salt bath. I wondered how in the world would I make it to 8 o’clock for dinner?

Andy fell asleep during dinner. We were seated on a wall bench so we just made a nest of our jackets and let him crash there.

Wednesday, February 28th, -Kicking Horse, the 2^nd day

On the way we stopped at the grocery to get Andy something to eat. He had been falling asleep before we could get any dinner into him.

We had breakfast once we got to the resort. I was very relieved to find that they did have eggs on the menu. It was a white out outside which boded well for the rest of the day. New snow would be fun. Andy had appropriated my mittens the day before so I just had to put up with my cold hands.

We enjoyed lunch at the top of the mountain. But the visibility wasn’t that great.

The guys had mapped an easy route down for me and another less adventurous skier in our group. The men and one other lady wanted to try some ridge/bowl skiing. I was tired, cold and didn’t want to do that.

Everything was fine until we came to a run called ‘Show Off.’ I thought I’d skied on everything for the last 4 days so I could handle this too.

Half the slope was ice the other half was bumps! After I got going – I was unsuccessfully trying to get into a rhythm- I knew I could be of absolutely no help in getting the other person down so I just tried to save myself. Once again I lost confidence on a turn and went flying- or skidding. One of my skis popped off immediately.

When I finally slid to a stop, I tried to assess the situation. Not easy to do with so much adrenaline coursing through my veins. I wasn’t hurt.

One ski off and one ski on, my poles & one ski 50 feet up the mountain on an icy slope, I decided to crawl back up to my other ski. It was very slippery, sweaty going. The other lady, Suzanne, tried to slide my ski down to me but the sprung binding preventing that from happening.

The resort wasn’t very crowded but eventually someone came by and brought me my ski and poles. He also helped me back up on my feet. 5 days of skiing in a row had made me very tired.

We met up with the rest of our group. I followed the others to a bumpy slope which I grumpily made my way down.

We swung by McDonald’s on the way back so that Andy could have something surefire to eat.

At dinner we went to a very nice restaurant where I was served by the world’s worst waitress named Cheryl. My food came about 45 minutes after everybody elses. I didn’t want the complimentary drink or dessert she offered as an apology so I let someone else in the group have my free dessert.

Thursday, March 1 Golden-Kicking Horse, 3^rd day

Enjoying eggs and oatmeal for breakfast in the hotel in the morning started me off on the right foot like it always does.

There was new snow!

Al and I got to take off – just the two off us. Andy was happy to hang out with the other dare devils.

Falling in the powder was fun. It slows you down but you don’t care when you lose it because it’s like landing in a big pile of feathers.

The bumps we’d done the day before were much more enjoyable after a good night’s sleep. The thing is is that the surface has little relationship to what is underneath. So your feet are constantly registering the surprise of hard earth falling out from below you.

For lunch I took the tuna steak out of it’s bun and crumbled it up over my Caesar salad. That and a bottle of fruit juice made the perfect lunch.

That night we dined in Golden’s best kept secret. It was odd little steak house hidden in another hotel.

Friday March 2, Transfer day

We stopped at Revelstoke for coffee. Revelstoke is a very promising resort. Right now they are in the planning stage. The others took a gander at the plans and said they want to come back in 5-10 years. Right now the village is lined with upscale coffee houses. We enjoyed and I found some magic cookie bars for the others to try.

We made our way through Roger’s pass stopping at ‘Home’ restaurant in Sorrento overlooking Shuswap lake.

There was no snow on the ground as we approached Kamloops. But as we ascended up to the resort of Sun Peaks things began to look more promising. When we were only about 20 minutes away from our destination there appeared to be enough of a base for skiing.

We didn’t start off for dinner until late. Andy didn’t want to go. I think he’d been car sick at some point but I was too out of it to really know. I didn’t really feel up to a late dinner either. So all three of us stayed in the room. Al insisted that I eat something so when prodded I blurted out the first thing that came into my head which was spaghetti and meatballs. He gamely went out and found me some and brought it back to the room. It was very good.

Saturday- March 3^rd, Day 1 Kamloops-Sun Peaks

Breakfast was not included with the room. We all had the continental buffet. I looked longingly a the scrambled eggs on the hot breakfast buffet but could not bring myself to pay the additional CDN$8.50 for them. I helped myself to another toasted bagel with peanut butter to insure that I got enough protein in.

Sun Peaks is spread over 3 mountains. The connections are so well thought out that you don’t even notice. It’s like it’s all one big area.

I think that when I’m tired that I ski better.

Everything went smoothly. I didn’t force turns. The 1.5 inches of new snow helped. The scenery at ‘The Top of the World’ was unbelievably beautiful. Everything looked so perfect, like a fakey movie set.

I enjoyed a salad with brie over trout for lunch. Suzanne treated us to chocolate covered marshmallows for her birthday. We were unable to get reservations for dinner until 9:30 so I got carry out fish and chips.

Sunday March 4^th, Day 2 Kamloops-Sun Peaks

I took the next morning off from skiing. Andy and I and Suzanne and her sister was planning to take a dog sled tour in the afternoon.

You hear about how much these dogs like to pull but you just don’t get it until you see it. They are really quite small. I found their diet of meat, fat and a little rice interesting.

The scenery was extraordinarily gorgeous. After helping hitch up the dogs, Andy and I rode in the box while Josette (who ran the tours) mushed. We sped through pine trees heavily frosted with new snow.

That night we didn’t take any chances and ate in the hotel steak house. I had the most amazingly wonderful rib eye with an enormous baked potato. Kylie- our Australian waitress said she’d never seen anything so big. I thought but didn’t say, ‘poor thing.’

Monday, March 5th– transfer day to Whistler

It took me about 45 minutes to pack for the three of us. It was snowing when we left. I offered Andy a Dramamine but he refused on the grounds that he didn’t like the taste. I’d already popped it out of it’s blister pack so I took it myself. I fell asleep. And had creepy/trippy dreams about Kachinka dolls and evil curses.

For lunch I ordered a buffalo burger. I do believe it had not long ago been intimately acquainted with a freezer and then a microwave.

We found that making a dinner reservation for 9 at a decent hour was impossible. We ended up at a sports bar [Earl’s] with a bunch of high tables pushed together all hodge-podge & willy-nilly. I lost count of the number of big screen TV’s. The ubiquitous curling was on.

Bart told me that at home no one would believe that he’d gotten his black eye in a flight. He’d fallen the last day Sun Peaks and blackened his eye. But in Whistler no one believed that he hadn’t gotten his black eye in a fight!

Tuesday March 6^th, Whistler/Blackcomb, day 1

My day started right! I had eggs for breakfast. It was pretty warm at the bottom. We took the gondola up to Blackcomb. We skied some nice blue runs including one called Jersey Cream. After a hamburger lunch we rode up and up until we were on a T-bar which went up as far as possible. We shouldered our skies and walked up even higher! I felt so hard core. Even though I was huffing and puffing way behind the others. Eventually someone helped me carry my skis. It was windy but not cold, odd. At last we reached the summit and traversed a ridge to reach the top of a blue run.

Once at the bottom of the bowl I looked up and thought, ‘I did it!’

The rest of the way was slushy-mushy.

I sat in the hot tub while Andy swam in the open air pool. I went out and bought him a crepe just in case he didn’t make it dinner.

That night we dined at Rik’s. It was a bit too pretentious for my taste. I ordered cognac for after dinner.

I keep wondering what that smell is- I’m afraid it’s me.

Wednesday, March 7 – day 2 Whister/Blackcomb

It was really warm. So warm that it was raining down in the village. But we were reassured that there was +/- 9cm of new snow at the top.

Allan said that skiing in that warm, wet heavy snow was like trying to ski through Plaster of Paris.

Not only was there new snow at the top but it was still snowing. Eventually a lift we wanted to take up higher started running.

It was a miserable white out. I asked a boarder sitting next to me on the lift the quickest way back to the lodge.

Only by following the backs of Thomas’ skis could I make my way down the hill. Both my goggles and glasses kept steaming up from the strange weather.

Andy and I quit. We’d skied enough over the last 2 weeks. We took the gondola down and turned in our rental skis. I spotted a Nanaimo bar at the crepery when getting Andy another. It was something I’d been meaning to try. It was like a straight shot of sugar to my brain.

The hot tub had a view of the mountains. I watched the weather roll in from the hot tub. Way cool.

Andy had been picking up pennies that he’d find on the ground. Oh! To be 7 again and think you’re rich because you have a pocketful of money that jingles!

Thursday March 8, transfer day Vancouver

It was a pretty drive to Vancouver. British Columbia is very green and wet. We’d expected harshly cold weather when skiing but that never materialized.

In Vancouver we stayed at a cool/funky hotel in the heart of downtown.

Al took me walking so we could shop but I just didn’t have the energy. I tried a pick-me-up coffee and a scone at Tim Horton’s but all I wanted to do was take Andy back to the hotel swimming pool.

My heart just wasn’t into checking my e-mail either. The pool was charmingly set inside a conservatory. In one corner was a postage stamp size gym and in another corner were some yoga sticky mats.

By the time for dinner rolled around it was raining so we headed for the nearest restaurant “Milestones.”

They had a separate seasonal menu that cleverly combined ingredients. I was hoping I could pull it up on the internet later at home for inspiration. But alas it’s not there. I had a Cajun seafood dish. The shrimp were amazing!

Aaron was the last waiter we got to push around. I ordered cornbread muffins for everybody to try.

I slept poorly with all the city sounds.

Friday March 9

I woke early and put on my new Lulu Lemon yoga clothes. I went around the various workout rooms turning off TVs. Who wants the doom and gloom of the news with their morning exercise? Not.Me.

There was a scale in the ladies changing room. Of course I was shocked.

Our flight wasn’t until late afternoon so we drove to Lynn canyon where there’s a suspension bridge. Hiking in the cool rainforest Andy turned to me and said, “This place is nice, Canada.” After a roundabout quest in the rain we finally found Casa de Gelato.

This place had 200+ flavors of ice cream- some of them rather odd, like, pear & blue cheese or balsamic vinegar. The staff was eager for the 9 of us to try them all. What fun!

We blew the last of our CDN$ at the airport on diet A&W root beer, some English language magazines and a stuffed deer’s head for Andy’s room.

It took me a week to lose the seven pounds of bloat I accumulated on the trip. And nine days to get over the nine hour time difference. It was a trip of a lifetime. I wasn't entirely pleased with my skiing ability so I've signed up for a fifth (!) year of skiing lessons on the artificial slope.