Bro and Sis

Part of the family arrived just before 10.00 am as arranged. Papa, Son2 and daughter greeted me for the first time since the end of last year. We settled into catching up on news as we sipped green tea and munched cakes. Papa and Mutta have an important meeting on Tuesday about being able to stay or have to leave.

There were other discussions about my new internet and tv boxes and connection. We also went through bags of clothes donated by my Kowalke Gang. I needed help with the front brakes of my shopping bicycle so Papa, Son2 and I went into the cellar to repair it.

We left daughter alone. On returning we could not open the door. For some reason daughter had put the security chain onto the door and locked it! Papa and Son2 tried to explain what to do in their language. She either could not understand or not do it.

I got permission from my neighbour to go to his balcony and from there Son2 climbed onto my balcony. Dangerous! Daughter opened the balcony/kitchen door, as directed, and Son2 entered. He could not open it so I told him to open my workbox and take out a hammer. He was then able to open the security chain and the door.

Daughter got a severe telling off but did not answer why she had done it. Before this unfortunate event, I had taken photos of Son2 and his 'modern' hairstyle. What do you think? There is also a shot of him with sister before she played around with a security system she did not know about.

Tomorrow I'm off to Hönow to visit Oldie H. Next week I have no teaching because the building is being renovated so I have more time for myself. Looking forward to that!

Sorry Box(ening!)

Okay Silsdeners, stand by for another German lesson. Don't worry for it is a short one. It begins with the nearly 4 weeks of no internet connection thanks to the inability of my provider, Deutsche Telecom, to get their act together and do what they are in business for.

I got a letter from Telecom. It was dated 14 Feb. but posted nearly a week later on 20 Feb and I got it on 22 Feb.  It was from Herr Olaf Schlegel and headed (der) Servicenachweis. The first part of this collective noun is English so you can understand that.

The second half means evidence/proof/verification. The time it took to connect me is given as 15 minutes. This makes me wish I had been there. I wonder how long it really takes to press a button or throw a switch?

I also got another letter from Telecom HQ in Bonn on 16 Feb. The heading is, "Ihr Geschenk is da!" That means 'Your present is here!'. It came in a package. In this was a flat wooden box called "Sorry Box". When I opened it I saw some chocolates forming the words "tut uns leid". That means 'We are sorry'. It is their way of apologising for no-service for nearly 4 weeks.

Later I got another letter saying my bill for March would be reduced by €52,-. I shall believe that when it happens. Meanwhile, I am thinking of sharing the chocs with my Kowalke Gang when we meet for lunch next Thursday.

Latest on my wonderful world of the internet and computers is that my Acer laptop, running Windows 10, is very ill. I cancelled a 6 plus hour download. Big mistake. Stefan from my Photoshop Gang is trying to breath life into it again. Meanwhile, I have replaced it with my even older MacBook on which I am writing this update. Hoping to see The Family tomorrow. More about that in my next post.

Postscript - Contrast

I've now shared with you the main details of my skiing holiday in Grossarl. As I told you at the beginning of my posts, I returned home after a 12 hour journey to discover my internet connection was out. It took Deutsche Telecom 3 weeks and 5 days to re-connect! I listened to news over a crackly radio and watched TV in the old low quality format before HD entered out world.

I also continued to take pills for my persistent bronchitis and deal with trying to sleep in my bed when I had neck/collar pains. I got more pills for this and am going for a MRT check next Wednesday morning. I also began to settle back into daily routine in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Ian and Birgit had left with me and at Salzburg we said our goodbyes as they left for the airport with Tony and Rita. They arrived in London and visited friends among other things. Birgit went to Germany to see family. Ian went to Heathrow for his plane for the long flight back to Sydney.

There he had a few problems and booked a later flight. Birgit joined him and they set off again. They had a stopover and finally arrived home in Sydney. They quickly noticed I had no internet/telephone connection so he called me on my mobile to check on my health.

He then sent me a photo of their hands holding what I hope are glasses of red Australian wine against a background of part of Sydney harbour. I decided to add another one they had sent earlier. They form a very interesting comparison to the town and valley photos of Grossarl I have shared with you in recent posts.

Many thanks Ian and Birgit for your generosity in allowing us to share your chalet, skiing and long evening chats. And of course, making it possible for me to improve my skiing :-))

Two Skiing Heroes

After my success on the slope, I invited my ski teacher to coffee and cake after the lesson. He agreed and we chatted about our lessons and my performance. We later had a glass of something nice as we relaxed and got to know each other better.

I discovered he was studying to become a sports teacher and working at Grossarl was part of his wider study and qualifications. He added that he really liked skiing and teaching people to ski and/or improve their skiing. He comes from The Netherlands and speaks 4 languages fluently. What a talent!

His name is Jassin and when you are next on a skiing holiday in Grossarl you have to ask for him as your skiing instructor. A real skiing hero and one of the best of two skiing instructors I have ever had. Thanks Jassin for your patience, knowledge, humour and knowing how to use my camera :-))

 I got back to the chalet and told everyone about my amazing skiing session. I wish they had been there to see my transition from A to B. They were also pleased for me so next day they gave me a medal. I bought some nice liquid things so we could toast my success. Prost!!

Ski Oldie

When I arrived at the chalet I was not the healthiest 'kid on the block'. I got my bearings and tried not to cough too loud and often. Even so, I realised things were not too good on the Monday of the first week. I bought a ski pass, registered with a school, got my skiing equipment and had a lesson with a teacher.

From that I learnt I was not fit to continue. After the lesson, the lady at the school suggested I stay in bed/take medicine and get better before I return. I took her advice and retired to my bedroom. The problem was that I could not always sleep in my bed(s) or bedroom.

I had pains in my neck/collar bone when I put my head on a pillow in addition to bouts of coughing. I ended up propped up in the sauna, or dozing on the sofa in the communal room, before ending up back in my bed. What a strange week!

The second week started better so I returned to the piste. This time I joined three senior gentlemen to form an Oldie Ski Gang! I coped with that okay but after a couple of days the course ended. I wanted to continue so I took private lessons.

I was very lucky to have a superb teacher. He took me on some slopes to see what I could still do and decided I could ski on blue and red slopes okay but I needed to improve my turning technique. We set to work on this and I just copied what he did. At first nothing happened. I just made all the old lazy moves and could not get my left leg/ski to move to the right position for a clear short turn.

I think it was on the Wednesday of the second week when I took my camera with me and decided to take some shots of me trying to be 'Oldie Perfect'. Before then we practiced again and suddenly WOW!! everything clicked into place. I followed the teacher and did what he did. And I did it correctly. I had a very strange feeling and cannot even now explain what happened but I did everything right and without thinking.

I gave the camera to my teacher and he took a series of shots. Here you can see me starting the lessons with Herr Flachmann hidden in the inside pocket of my ski jacket. Then I started down the slope and you can see from the shots that I had the correct posture and movement of the legs when  I turned, did a small jump sometimes and repeated it. We were both more than surprised and happy!

The valley

I always enjoyed getting out of bed and pulling the curtains back to see what the valley had to offer that morning. Sometimes I went onto the balcony to breath in the fresh cold air and look again at the view. How very different from the flat lands of, and around, Berlin!

The first photo is of that view and it was taken on the second morning of my stay. It shows the landscape to the south.  A couple of days later it was just white as the snow poured down and blocked any view of the valley. Only the brave went skiing on such days!

The second photo is in contrast for it shows a view to the north of the valley with clouds sitting on the mountains and with clear blue sky. On my first stay in Grossarl in 2010, we were in a chalet to the north and outside the town. We took the ski bus into town each morning and got off at the Panorama Ski-lift. This time you could walk there in 15 minutes from the chalet.

The third shot was taken from the top of the ski slopes. About 2,350 metres high. The summit is behind anyone taking such a shot and comes in at about 2,500 metres high. I really like the perspective and contrasts in this view and you can see just how high and wide the valley is.

The final photo is of the end of the Panorama Ski lift. There are other smaller ones that take you nearer the summit but this is the main exit point for the slopes. It has a large restaurant and huts where you can swig beer and listen to loud 'Volksmusik' - a matter of taste but for me I can imagine you have to listen to such rubbish when you arrive in hell!

The town

The town is called Großarl. Some of your computers cannot read the 4th letter so I shall write it in a way your machine perhaps can. How about Grossarl - can you read it now? I told you it is in a very large valley in the centre of Austria.

If you go west and down a bit and follow a rail line you will come to another large and long valley. This houses a town called Mallnitz. I used to go skiing there a few years ago. I was with Jan a few times and the last time was a skiing holiday with Marita. I think it has more tourists than Grossarl because it is on a main road and has a railway link.

Grossarl is about the same size as Silsden, or perhaps a little smaller!  It runs along the valley bottom and up one side opposite to the ski-lift and main ski-slopes. The first photo is of the town as you enter from the chalet. Only a few steps to the centre where I enjoyed coffee and cakes in two bakery cafes plus restaurants in local hotels. You can also see a Spar shop in the centre. I went shopping there on more that a few occasions.

I climbed up the steep hill to get to the church. There I got some superb shots of the town and the valley. The next photo is the view of the town and its eastern slopes. The final shot I took into the sun as it settled into later afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised that my camera was able to capture such a shot. I always enjoyed just wandering around the small town when I was not having fun on the slopes.

It all started with

It all started with a call from Ian and Birgit. Yes, from Sydney where they live most of the time. They said they were going to rent a chalet in Großarl and invited me to stay as a guest. You may have forgotten that they did the same thing in March 2010 and I had a great time back on the slopes there.

They invited a number of friends from different countries and backgrounds. In the first week there were two couples with children. That was great and very different for me. If you remember Großarl is a small town in a valley in the middle of Austria. Here is a map of the valley to help. To get there you fly to Salzburg, hire a car and drive to Großarl as some of my fellow guests did.

I took the train from Berlin. Is that a long way and time! Reckon on 12 hours travel if you choose this way. Berlin to München. Change and go to Salzburg. Change again into a train heading west to Innesbruck. Get out at a town/station called St. Johann im Pongau. What a name! There you have to take a taxi and head south. Takes about 20 minutes and costs 40 Euros, but at least you will be delivered to the door of the chalet.

As I found my big wheelie travel case in the cellar and started to pack, it snowed in Berlin and I saw this as a good sign for my skiing holiday. The snow stayed in my garden as I later packed. As you can see, I did not forget Der Flachmann (a flask) and two top-up bottles. I learnt years ago that many ski classes start with wetting your lips with the help of Herr Flachmann!

I started with a bad cold over Christmas and got antibiotics. This later turned into bronchitis and I got different medicine to take with me to Großarl. I was determined to go despite my health problems. I had the rather naive belief that the fresh mountain air would quickly get rid of my health problems. A mistake. I dozed through the long journey there and took my medicine as prescribed.

Was I pleased to enter the chalet and see my hosts and other guests. Here is photo of my skiing home. I took the upper room on the right of the photo. It had a balcony and I could talk to the head of Freddie the Deer each morning when I went out to check the weather. He didn't say a lot but I enjoyed seeing him each morning.  Living in the chalet was great. Lots of space and I really enjoyed the evenings with communal cooking, eating, drinking and talking. I miss it.

I think I gave you details before but if you missed that here are some basics. It was 160 square metres on three floors, we had a WLAN for our different devices, a sauna with two different kinds of sauna rooms, a large communal living, cooking and dining room, tv in each room with cable connection, and 7 bedrooms with bathrooms and toilets. We also had a room with a washing machine and for drying ski clothes. All you need for a great holiday.

February 2017 Things

I'm online again! It happened yesterday evening when Deutsche Telecom connected me to the internet. It only took them 3 weeks and 5 days of visits to their local shop and lots of telephone calls. I wonder if this is a German record of non-service.

 I had no access to my telephones, WLAN including internet radio, or main cable connections. Communication was only via my old mobile phone. I missed the internet radio and telephone most. Here is a photo of my new router but doing nothing except showing it has a power connection!

Thanks for all your calls, e-mails which I could only read today and the nice comment on my last post. I notice the statistics when I opened my blog to write these words. I had 651 page views last month = when I could not post. Russia was at No.1 followed by German readers. I even had 30 page views today = before I added this post. Thanks to all for your understanding and patience.

I also got some fantastic news. Jan and Arancha had a daughter on Tuesday 10 January at 5:30pm. Her name is Emma and she arrived healthy and at just over 3 kilos. This morning I was able to open an E-mail account I use to communicate with Jan. I found some photos of her. I shall not post any until and unless her parents give me permission. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all and picking up Emma to give her a kiss and a big cuddle :-))

Who had/will have a birthday in February? My oldest and best friend Alan hit 74 on the 3rd. I'm sure he celebrated with Lynne in Casland! Jens W. was 47 on the 5th and celebrated with his family at their house near to the lake called Muggelsee in the south east of Berlin. I like going there in summer.  My old boss Frau Dr. Inge P. will be 69 on the 18th. She was recently in St. Petersburg and Moscow and I look forward to seeing her and hearing about her time there. Eleonora will be 58 on the 22nd. I'm sure she will celebrate being the grandmother of Emma as well as her birthday then. Adrian Bridge in London will raise a glass to celebrate his 57th on the 25th February. Prost Adrian! Alan's son Peter will celebrate his 37th birthday on the 28th February in Melbourne and so ends our birthday month. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE AND ALL