Lisa and Paul for one night only!

Noah, Milly and Emma

Two weeks after Stinky left (as in Peta, not the cow poo, that remains as strong as ever!) our Scottish friends Lisa and Paul with wee Emma came to stay for a night during their holiday in Garmish, not too far from here, in Germany.  We met Lisa and Paul a year ago when we were travelling through Austria staying in campsites, and dropped in on them again for dinner when we were in Scotland, so it was so nice to see them again here in Austria where our friendship began (with me latching on to the first English speaking person I came across in the supermarket on our first day at the campsite!)
Their arrival coincided with Sommer Fest, the end of year celebration/school fete at work for which I had been roped into doing face painting with English Emma!  (The English Station, we called it!)  We set up a table and prepared all the stuff and Emma gave me a quick course on how to face paint!  I was crapping myself as I have never in my life painted so much as a heart on a child’s cheek never mind these fancy butterfly masterpieces or a spiderman (HELP!)  Emma showed me pictures of the options the children had to choose from which included pages of the aforementioned works of art.  But also hidden away at the back of her folder were a page for boys and a page for girls of really simple drawings that could be easily done on a cheek or a wrist like a flower or some paw prints!  I successfully convinced Emma to pack all that fancy stuff back into her case and we rolled with the simple stuff!  Soon enough there was a massive queue and my first customer wanted words,  ‘Best’ on her arm and ‘Friends’ on her friends arm decorated with paw prints (Thankyou God!).  Success number one.  Next customer wanted a butterfly.  I showed her the simple picture and asked her where she wanted it.  On the head.  I knew in the pit of my stomach that she wanted a magical looking creature all over her face complete with glitter and a mixture of beautiful colours and swirly bits.  But I proceeded with the simple drawing smack in the middle of her forehead.  It looked just like the picture.  And it was afterall a butterfly on her head, just as she asked.  But she wasn’t happy.  And the queue for Emma’s side of the table quickly grew much longer than the queue at mine, and I suddenly realized I was stuck with all the boys wanting a football or a smiley face on their wrist just so they could collect the token that passed them onto the next station!  I did do a Hello Kitty that I was quite proud of, and a monkey, and became pretty good at winding snakes around eyebrows and I even did a matching pair of snakes, one on each cheek!  My concentration was interrupted briefly by a tap on the shoulder and a deep voice asking for a tiger face!  It was only Paul!  Phew!  Maciek had met them at our place and brought them along to the fete.  I got into the swing of it after a while though and really enjoyed it, and by the time I actually lifted my head and checked my watch 2 ½ hours had gone by!!  I had to leave to have dinner with our visiting friends and left Emma painting away for another couple of hours I believe.  Perhaps a new business idea for me.  I could call it ‘Keep it Simple Face Painting’, ‘Get Your Face Painted – No Frills’, or ‘Just Snakes-No Butterflies Face Art’, or 'Not so Ace Faces'.  Thoughts?

Dinner at the Grander Schupf

So, on to dinner at the Grander Schupf.  A place we’ve come to enjoy due the traditional atmosphere, good food at reasonable prices and a playground for the kids which makes for a very peaceful dinner!  I had my usual and recommended it to Paul who was equally impressed, and we introduced Lisa to the ‘Hugo’, a mixture of sparkling wine, elderflower syrup, mint and lime, and perhaps a few other things I can’t remember.  It’s my new favourite drink.  And after a few turns on that famous slide that goes to the loos, we retired home for an early night.



Saturday was the day of Maciek’s first mountain bike race.  We had an easy morning lounging about with breakfast and coffees and then left Maciek to prepare while the rest of us set off for Schwarzee, the black lake, for a walk and lunch.  Great weather for a bit of a hike, overcast and cool, bit of drizzle here and there.  The kids had a brilliant time running ahead and spotting frogs on lily pads, fishes at the edge of the lake and even an abandoned cocoon left behind by a brand new butterfly! A wander through the woods brought us to masses of blueberry bushes and so it was slow going while the kids got stuck in!  A relaxing lunch at the half way hotel while the kids played on the playground left us full up and ready for an afternoon nap!  But unfortunately Paul, Lisa and Emma had to drive on back to Garmish to prepare for their flight home the next day.




Meanwhile……Maciek was the only rider without all the fancy gear but full of enthusiasm all the same!  Luckily his friend Gordon joined him so he didn’t have to do it alone (which was a relief for me as I was really nervous for him – awww!)  The race was about 11km long, most of it climbing to a height of 1150m at the top, so pretty tough, especially for a newbie!  But he managed it and also managed to beat his best time and made it to the top in 54min 43secs, and was rewarded with a few beers at the top with all the riders.  The ‘professionals’ raced afterwards and the winning time was 28 minutes!  On a not so happy note someone fell and broke their arm on the way up (see dramatic picture of rescue helicopter!) and also not good but a little bit funny because he was possibly a little bit drunk, someone else broke their leg on the way down!!  A big big thank you once again to those who helped us raise money for the race by way of sponsorship/donations to put towards the ‘Ride to Conquer Cancer’ fundraising event taking place in Perth in October, which a friends of ours is participating in and raising money for.  So well done Maciek and well done you!

Dramatic rescue!

Amelia, Noah and Emma had great fun playing together and actually it was a nice break for all of us as they kept each other amused which gave us a chance to chat!




A packed weekend full of art (albeit simple!), eating and sliding, catching up, hiking and nature spotting, and racing and drinking beer!!!

Race over, beer at the top!

Goodbye and Goodluck Lisa and Paul and Emma…..hope it’s not too long till we see you again!