Nessun Dorma

None shall sleep,
None shall sleep!
Even you, oh Princess,

Vanish Oh Night....

Fade, stars! Fade, stars!
At dawn, I will win
I will win
I will win 

Puccini's Turandot

The documentary on Pavarotti was playing on the plane coming home from Chicago- highly enjoyable. You fall completely in love- with him, with opera, with pasta, with everything.

Anyway, this song has been playing in my head since my return.. the perfect background music as I paw my little blanket waiting for a remotely Christian time to get up. At 4 a.m. I allow myself tea; coffee not until 5. Thank God for my trusty four legged side kick who will rise with me no matter the time.

Thomas and I have a fantasy that someday we will forgo adjusting to local time. When we arrive somewhere, we will simply rise and sleep and eat as we wish without looking at the clock or the dark sky to dictate our movements. And then we will be happy.

Below a few final photos including one of me and the Queen on our last night. She was sharing health tips that included (thank ya Jesus) a stiff shot of whiskey immediately before bed. She swears this is the secret to a long life, and being nothing if not pro long life, I asked her for details.

She ran back and forth to the kitchen several times to produce the exact size glass, then explained I needed to belt one just before sleep. She clarified this would have no bearing on wine at dinner..of course that was also ok, and she added my favorite part: to make absolutely sure that one did not forget this life saving nectar, one needed to put the bottle right next to the bed.


check and check.

London

on Queen Mary

Feeling sentimental about ol Lech and her people after all some old photos came up on my feed. Luis has been with us on so many trips!

with Harumi

Don't forget to keep the bottle by the bed

New Year's ice cream

Dynamic Duo 

This group broke the record for the most Topfenpalatschinken ever ordered on room service. 

Made it to Chicago

Well that was a madhouse.... O'Hare after the holidays is not for the faint of heart. But room service is on the way; Chico is in the room next door; fluffy bed scattered with melatonin awaits; Star Wars movie tomorrow.
Missing the Almhof and Harumi and Fuyuki and Johannes in the dining room and K and G and and and....
Will add a few loose ends when I come up for air in a few hours.
 Xxxx
Zzzzzz

And Then There Were None

We are the last of the Christmas crowd left, and it feels like being in an Agatha Christie novel.  Thomas finds this just fine- he misses the old faces, but strangers are ok too. For him, especially this year, it is all about the skiing (AATS) ; or more accurately: all about the hiking before the skiing (AATHBTS). I have attached a photo Harumi took when she was with me hacking around on some other lesser cliff, and we looked over and she said there climbing up another mountain, were three dots, one of whom was my husband.
They skinned up the mountain, then walked across the top, then skied down the other side and because this is Austria, they returned for lunch.
Thomas said it wasn't as steep as it looks in photographs, but Michael said at the last part where they put the skis on their backs and walked in ski boots to the top, he had visions of falling backwards.

There are three little dots in the couloir

Three little dots magnified

The staff has taken their game up a notch this year- hovering over us as if they are auditioning for job as Almhof waiter. New Year's eve they stay awake until 5 a.m., and then turn around for breakfast at 7; but aside from a certain giddiness, you can't tell they are exhausted. At breakfast, Frederick remarked that our candlestick was incredibly heavy and this set the Teutons off on the path to discover what the material was. To do this they would need to know how much it weighed and how tall it was, then they would extrapolate using the periodic tables. While they were discussing this, the staff silently brought a scale to the table, next to (of course) a bouquet of flowers. Then they brought a ruler. 

Spoiler alert: the Schneider candlesticks are brass with lead. 

For me this was also a rather ski focused year, which was not always pleasant. H is not happy with status quo, which means I have to suffer, at least until 1 p.m. Sometimes I invited others (men who shall remain nameless) to ski with us. And each time Harumi told them brutal truths- truths about their skiing that no one had told them before. Usually she wanted them to turn more, or at all. (If a person, has enough strength and courage he can sometimes try to affect a non turning thing, and aim straight down the hill). Harumi, a woman who spent five years perfecting the ready position, is not impressed. If they refuse to  listen, she takes them somewhere really bad until her point is made and they go home. 

Do not ignore the instructions given in polite baby German from this woman; she is not making casual suggestions.

I just said goodbye to her and she was going to ski something called Cold Mountain to get to her house two towns over. She has a headlamp because she won't be home before 6 p.m.

Below selfies from New Year's eve; Thomas' guide (Harumi's husband) all around good egg and award winner of mountain guide with longest eyelashes; blurry but handsome trio at NYE- Luis putting our men's wearhouse navy tuxedo to shame by pulling out a navy velvet dinner jacket; (lesson: never ever try to out-fashion a Schneider man. G is wearing culottes as we speak). Me in leopard head to toe, with my waiter who has donned a mouse costume from the children's room in honor of my animal theme. And finally me doing push ups on the QM2....must do more if I am to keep running after my Japanese comet. 

So 2020: Onward..! if you are reading this, chances are I love you and will see you soon. Here is to more snow, more love, more jokes, more navy blue tuxedos, more making Harumi happy with tiny imitations of her; more hard things with breaks for lunch, more holding hands, more schnapps when we have colds; more Haikus; more telling people how glad we are they came along.

Christmas 2019 over and out.