Or some other such cyber sign to say we are 'on holiday'. Actually we've gone skiing. For 4 days.
Take two. After our mildest Macedonian week in 60 yrs with NO SNOW, we decided to try another Balkan country beginning with M - Monte Negro (where the men are all incrdeibly tall. Taller than my 6ft 3 husband) Now how does that happen? How does a whole nation get tall??
So we drove for 5 hrs through non stop rain (it's been the wettest winter ever in Albania too) into Monte Negro where it continued to rain. My husband's mutterings grew louder as we progressed. Let's just say he was 'not a happy bunny'. He is in fact a 'ski bunny' (if men can be such things) Mad as mad can be about it. So things were not looking good.
Was this to be our second wash out ski trip? In the year when everyone everywhere had excessive snow except the Balkan elbow of Europe?
The Good News: by the time we got to 1450m there was snow, & the tiny resort was operating (ie half the lifts were open, that wd be 3 then, 1 of which is the pull rope for baby skiers......) We got the wettest I have ever got skiing. We skiied in rain which was a 1st for me. At the top it turned into snow.
More Good News: the restaurant serves those really thick hot chocolates which are like mousse, ubiquitous in Albania & the children love them.
Other Good News: the resort had been developed & had one of those zooty tooty 6 seater zippy chairlifts which whisk you up in minimal time & eliminate the usual Balkan frostbite hazard. We felt almost "European" (in an almost Val d'Isere kind of way. Only not quite)....
Bad News: it's the law in Monte Negro always to drive with your lights on . All the time. Guess who left the lights on all day, resulting in flat battery (as we discovered back at our car wet through & very cold?) No, not me, my husband. Suffice to say I was not a happy bunny.
Good News: We had jump leads under our seat & an empty, rather lost looking coach still in the car park for some reason, (as we were the last punters to leave the ski resort), attempted to jump start us to no avail.
Best news of all: the only other car in the car park was a Lada. The guy arrived with a cable & hooked our heavy tank of a 4x4 to his little Lada & pulled us across the car park & we successfuly bump started it.
Resolution. I will never be rude about Ladas again. I will endeavour not to be rude about my husband's absent-mindedness. After all he was VERY excited to see the snow....
