“We are each a river with a particular abiding character, but we show radically different aspects of our self according to the territory through which we travel.”
David Whyte
Monday
The realisation comes that we are not in Damüls, we are in Lech am Alberg. Today we depart for nearby Damüls. Only an hour away, it is an hour in the opposite direction we are heading.
Never mind. These next few days are about getting some rest, not driving.
Breakfast in the apartment.
I don’t want to leave Balma. I have no doubt our next place will be fine, but I doubt it will measure up to here. I am just not sure how I will manage without a sauna in my bathroom.
“I am going to outlive myself. Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. Exist slowly, softly, like these trees, like a puddle of water.”
Jean-Paul Sartre
It is a short drive to Damüls so we check out late.
As monotonous as it sounds, this landscape is truly extraordinary.
As we drive my mind wanders to the start of the new school year. I can imagine the first meeting, the Principal getting the team together and asking if we are all refreshed from the break and ready for a big year.
Right now, I do feel refreshed. I also feel an overwhelming urge not to return to the hot, sandy, polluted, superficial shit hole that is Dubai.
I have a feeling in a few weeks, rather than feeling refreshed, I will feel desperate to be back here.
You don’t realise what living in cool, clean air, surrounded by majestic mountains does for your wellbeing until you experience it. There is a calm to nature, particularly the mountains and the sea, that the body and soul need to be happy.
Dubai could not be further away from this place.
We stop at Eñgerstuben Restaurant for lunch. Schnitzel for both of us.
And beer to wash it down.
We arrive at our place and as we suspected, it does not live up to Balma.
Our host is René and he serves us Prosecco when we arrive.
Checked in we make our way to a local café for some strudel.
Home and the rain has set in.
I don’t think I will need dinner.
I will just listen to the rain, in the mountains, and read.
Kiss me with rain on your eyelashes,
come on, let us sway together,
under the trees, and to hell with thunder.”Edwin Morgan
Tonight’s wine –
2021 Weingut Lehensteíner Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Achleiten (Wachau, Austria)
This is an excellent wine from an outstanding vineyard, Achleiten, terraced with stone walls from the Danube to the forest. Famed Gföhler gneiss soil, high altitude, and the warmth of the river all wind up in a bottle of balance and complexity.
