Forget every nice thing I said about the mountains..it snowed, really snowed here. Frederick was beside himself with joy. Snowball fights with the Swiss kid (adorable) who owns a holiday apartment in the building.
Today is warm and tomorrow should be warmer still.
tomorrow night we go to dinner chez Schneider. Frau Schneider herself will be there (she lives, in summer in Salzburg and Tuscany, only visiting here occasionally). So far, Katia has made us leg of veal (outstanding) cream of celery soup, beetroot soup, (amazing) creamy mushrooms and Knödel, pasta carbonara, pasta with ginger, herb salad, lamb something, Aubergine mousse, and she threatened to make rabbit.(we admitted there was absolutely no way) Every night there is a cheese course, and a tort with fruit from the tree of a fabulous friend in France(FFF). And somehow she is never, ever distracted or stressed and the kitchen is always clean. Also she once came home 2 minutes after we got there after having been on a hike with Ida and she was wearing a funky purplish leather skirt with the seams showing, a turtleneck sweater and hiking boots...put on an apron, talked to me while she was swinging around the leg of some animal, got us drinks, and made us laugh.
They do not let you, I really mean this, lift a finger...not allowed to clear a plate, pour wine, nothing but unfold your own napkin. Thomas protests and she tells him to behave himself and be a good guest.
I however have taken to it like a duck to water (I am after all Kathy Harper's niece) and now allow them to feed me whenever they want. The problem is there is absolutely no way to reciprocate: there is nothing to buy in town, and if your last name is not Schneider you will not get the right cuts of meat, or cheese or anything.
I plan to bring some gum and some nail polish remover tomorrow as hostess gift.
Thomas will perform an interpretive dance.
Laugh not. We are out of ideas on what to do for these people. You cannot mention anything without them fixing it.
Tomorrow lentils and chicken and god knows. Here is an interesting statistic. Thomas has this horrible watch that tells you how high you have climbed, heart rate, and calories burned. It is not unusual for me to burn 1000-1500 calories on a walk. And, yet my pants are all tight. Got to be water retention.
Bad news on pictures...brought wrong cable from home...will keep trying but no pictures for moment to download. Arrrrrgh,
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