We've been away for the last few weeks, mostly walking in Bavaria, however, we found time to spend an evening and most of the following day with some old German friends we've known since our twenties, and lunched with another friend, a colleague of Judith's who was herself holidaying near Salzburg. It's always a lovely thing to see and revisit friends. We've been to Salzburg several times now but always in a hurry it seems, so can't claim to have explored the city beyond the level of a cursory glance. This situation is of course unacceptable and must be remedied at some point in the future once and for all! It's the birthplace of Mozart, for goodness sake! We did however bring back some Mozart Ball sweets for family and friends, though not the official ones that you can purchase at only one shop in Salzburg that always appears to have grafted to it an eternity-long queue.
Most of our other time in Ruhpolding, where we were based at the very agreeable Hotel Maigerschwendt, was spent walking and swimming. The hotel's meals were so unreservedly excellent, not to mention brilliantly varied, that exercise was most definitely required if we wished to return home with the same sized waistband we'd arrived with. We swam every day possible in the marvellous Vita Alpina swimming pool and gradually built up from zero to a respectable twelve lengths of their Olympic-sized open-air pool. Vita Alpina is really a swimming complex; it contains various outdoor pools to satisfy the requirements of all its visitors - swimming, diving, fun etc; its indoor facilities include a massive slide, wave pool, several pools for families with small children, and our favourite - the Wellness Pool. This is accessed from inside but is in the open-air, it's heated to something like blood temperature and contains all kinds of fountains, waterfalls and jacuzzi-like offerings - bliss! We generally finished off with ten minutes in the steam room before reinvigorating ourselves under the cold shower before leaving Vita Alpina in search of a coffee like a couple of inanely grinning Telly-Tubbies!
The remarkable thing about holidaying in Ruhpolding is that all this was absolutely free, because if you're a guest of one of the hotels you are given an Extra Card, which gives free daily entry to the pool and free bus travel as well as use of the local chairlift and cable-car - other things are free or at a reduced price too. I imagine this must make it a particularly appealing destination for families with children. We had some great walks, probably my favourite being a five hour round-trip along an old smugglers' route to Austria where you actually walk underneath a waterfall.
Most of our other time in Ruhpolding, where we were based at the very agreeable Hotel Maigerschwendt, was spent walking and swimming. The hotel's meals were so unreservedly excellent, not to mention brilliantly varied, that exercise was most definitely required if we wished to return home with the same sized waistband we'd arrived with. We swam every day possible in the marvellous Vita Alpina swimming pool and gradually built up from zero to a respectable twelve lengths of their Olympic-sized open-air pool. Vita Alpina is really a swimming complex; it contains various outdoor pools to satisfy the requirements of all its visitors - swimming, diving, fun etc; its indoor facilities include a massive slide, wave pool, several pools for families with small children, and our favourite - the Wellness Pool. This is accessed from inside but is in the open-air, it's heated to something like blood temperature and contains all kinds of fountains, waterfalls and jacuzzi-like offerings - bliss! We generally finished off with ten minutes in the steam room before reinvigorating ourselves under the cold shower before leaving Vita Alpina in search of a coffee like a couple of inanely grinning Telly-Tubbies!
The remarkable thing about holidaying in Ruhpolding is that all this was absolutely free, because if you're a guest of one of the hotels you are given an Extra Card, which gives free daily entry to the pool and free bus travel as well as use of the local chairlift and cable-car - other things are free or at a reduced price too. I imagine this must make it a particularly appealing destination for families with children. We had some great walks, probably my favourite being a five hour round-trip along an old smugglers' route to Austria where you actually walk underneath a waterfall.
For the first time ever I forsook reading books (well, not really!). What I mean is, I took no printed books with me and relied on Kindle for my reading supply. The main book I read was The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It is a mystery novel, published in 1859 - Collins is generally acknowledged to be the father of detective fiction. It is an epistolatory novel, with accounts given in the first person, much like testimonies, by different protagonists from the story. It also highlights the poor legal rights accorded to women once they were married - Collins had a legal training, so I daresay this was a point of some importance to him. The book's main character, Walter Hartright, a humble drawing master, assisted by the immensely characterful Marian Halcombe, assumes the role of 'the sleuth' throughout most of the story. We are never in any doubt about who the novel's baddies are - I mean to say, how could anyone called Sir Percival Glyde be viewed with anything but dark suspicion? And as for Count Fosco, an Italian no less - he seems to possess diabolically inspired powers at various times! The task Hartright commits himself to is uncovering a terrible secret, which, should it ever be revealed will undoubtedly ruin both men. Collins skilfully manages to make us wait until the very last chapters of the book before we are certain of 'the secret'. A hundred and fifty years after it was written the book remains a page-turner. Did I have any reservations? Well, yes, it's rather long-winded and probably contains a bit too much exposition and repetition for a good many modern readers - but of course we must always bear in mind whilst reading that the book first appeared in a serialised form which probably accounts for some of this. However, the book's overall effect and its place in literary history makes it well worth an occasional struggle with exasperation and impatience when the story decides to meander along for yet another fifty pages. I must admit I found the character of Laura Fairlie a little over-romanticised and sentimental - however, this is an accusation often made against Dickens' females too - I guess it was a requirement of Victorian fiction that its love interests were sweet and pure and accordingly rather brainless. Anyway, who would have the temerity to suggest Collins and Dickens were doing it wrong? They knew exactly what they were about and wrote specifically for the times they lived in. This is a great read and one that definitely contributed to my holiday pleasure!
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