My weekend

Originally I had to work on Saturday, but then the Welfare Committee at work organised a small trip to their lodge in the mountains for people who had never been there before. And it sounded just like something I would like. Plus, it would be a free trip to boot! So, with the help of the traffic controller, I changed my shift and would be able to come. 

The above zero temperatures plus the rain caused some great waterfalls!

The start of the day was by no means promising: it was absolutely chucking it down! It was pouring, raining cats and dogs and basically it was kind of wet. The worst thing? It would even be raining up in the mountains, so the five pairs of skis that were taken along, would probably go back down without being used.

We stopped for some food, got more drink in and then proceeded our way down to the ferry. Because in this country, if you want to go somewhere, chances are, there is a ferry involved at some point! We had to wait awhile, but the ferry ride itself was short and after that it was only twenty more minutes to the lodge. As we were driving up the mountain, the rain slowly changed to sleet and then to wet snow and then to proper snow. The joy!

SNOW!!!

Fortunately I had put on my sturdy new boots, since we couldn't park next to the lodge. We had to go a little downhill and then a little uphill. Through snow, sludge and mud! And me with my suitcase!! But, one of my colleagues wanted to save me for the ski tour later on and carried my suitcase for me. So kind.

The lower bunk on the left was mine.

We made it to the lodge and it was very nice. Three bedrooms for seven people, so plenty of space (one had double bunkbeds) for us all to sleep. A living room/kitchen/dining area, a bathroom with two toilets and a shower and even a shed and a terrace. Those two toilets however were something else. One was a bark one. Do your business and throw in some bark after it. Quite smelly. The other one was a bit more complicated. Put small paper bag in bowl, do your business, close lid, push button and then the whole thing would be incinerated! Not as smelly, but not much.

During the evening we just enjoyed ourselves. We had a lovely Thai inspired dinner, we had some drinks and by eleven everybody was in bed. I slept okay, considering the two gents who both had a bit of snore going on. Thank goodness for earplugs. But I was the first one up again. So, I pottered about, put the heating back on, did the dishes and then one by one everybody (6) made an appearance. After which I started breakfast: bacon, sausages, eggs and beans. 

We had our lunch half way through the afternoon and it was left over time plus salad. And then we had to clean the whole place again. Take the rubbish with us, the left over food, and of course our own stuff. I have however very nice colleagues and one of them had taken my suitcase over earlier. It was a bit later than we wanted when we finally made our way down the mountain again and into lovely dry weather. It was a great weekend in a great location with lovely people. Well worth changing my shift for!!

The alpine ski slope as seen from the lodge.

Of course now you are wondering about all this snow though, aren't you? And did we do any skiing? Well, come back tomorrow and I will tell all!