Monday...yes the NEXT Monday...for just a moment…
Leaving Switzerland. Just changed trains in Brig and and got on the Italian train to Domodossola. The last 3 days have been so fun and busy there was no quiet time to write but the train is the perfect place to reflect.
OK- I’m usually really annoyed when I have to change seats. Since we didn’t know how to read the electronic tickets on our phones we just sat down...of course in the wrong place...wrong car...wrong seats. But voila! Our real seats are across the aisle from an extraordinary couple that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss! The fifty-ish woman has on a pretty ordinary tight black jogging suit and turquoise and fuschia tennis shoes. Her fingers are full of diamond rings and have loooonnnggg unpolished nails. But her “hair” was unbelievable. The thick 60’s bangs are neon pink and then all of the sides and back are shaved to the skin...except for the very puffy sideburns...neon pink. But on TOP the hair is divided into 1” sections and braided into 18” long PLASTIC TUBING the size of my index finger! Some are clear pink, some white sparkles, and some multi-colored sparkles! She keeps flipping it around like a valley girl, WAY outdoing My Little Pony. Her gentleman escort is your normal kind of goth guy in black leather jeans and jacket with a mop of black hair hanging over shaved sides and green and black checked glasses.
Not much shocks me but I’ve never seen plastic tubing for hair before.
So back, back to Champex…
Friday morning was grey and lovely and after the fog burned off it became sparkling and cool.
We all felt we deserved our lovely lunch out on a patio. Sarah and Sallie and I had a delicious flat bread with vegetables while Peter and Martin had roti...a plateful of hash browns and sausage covered in grated cheese (this IS Switzerland) and topped off with a sunny-side-up egg...the healthy choice.
By the time we got back up all the switchbacks to Champex the kids were home from school, so we played games and prepped dinner. There was so much chicken we had to use the oven upstairs in our apartment. Sarah’s rental kitchen is tiny but we still had fun cooking together and dinner was yummy and full of family cheer.
So Sarah, Sallie, Martin and Peter and I headed off for their easiest hike through sloping vineyards and up into the forest. Hmmmm...Sallie is a mountain goat and I am a turtle. She likes to forge ahead...I like to stop and look at every little thing and take pictures. She doesn’t even breathe heavily and I’m sweating buckets. I hated to slow them down, so after walking across the top of narrow rock walls and climbing steep steps, I peeled off ⅔ of the way up, and Martin...being the gentleman he is...escorted me back down through the breathtaking scenery to the town below while S&S&P climbed even higher and went through the woods back to town.