Running Man

“Running in the wind, in the pollen and dust, a flower in flight”

Vladimir Nabokov

I slept poorly.

Our air conditioning system kept turning off, making it a particularly hot night.

It’s a cool, overcast morning, and all I want to do is run. An odd feeling for someone who does not enjoy running. Or at least never did.

A beautiful day for a run, cool, overcast, and the maze of trails through the forest are fun to get lost in.

As we walk out into the town, we come across even more stunning gardens. Bad Füssing is giving Budapest a run for its money in the flower stakes.

This place is a giant retirement village, and it makes Bad Füssing thrive. The locals and visitors are pouring money into an economy that is moulding itself into a haven for the elderly. It suits us fine, it is quiet, clean, the people are pleasant and polite, but most of all, no kids.

We head home for breakfast. I forget to take photos, again.

A great day for doing nothing and reading.

Lunch rolls around, and we head to the local bakery.

It is a mild 20 °C and Shell is acting like we are living above the Arctic Circle. Jeans, jumpers, asking for gloves and socks.

Home, and the room is made up. Shell straight under the covers, narrowly avoiding hypothermia and frostbite.

And it rains, and I have never seen her so happy.

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.”

Vladimir Nabokov

I fall asleep and wake up at 3.00 pm.

Shell has decided that eggs are required for breakfast. I explain that we are delivered a huge breakfast hamper every morning and that it is not reasonable to cook eggs as well. I am accused of being rude and selfish.

I make her a cup of tea, and all seems well. I remind her of the time and suggest a wine. Eggs no longer in the conversation.

We make quick work of the remaining Pinot Gris. The weather is cool, the rain is falling, Shell makes the call, and we switch to red.

Barolo is famous for its Nebbiolo. After Burgundy, it is my favourite wine. We picked up this Lombard Nebbiolo a few days ago, and as soon as Shell tasted it, she called it as Barolo. Great drinking at 1/4 the price.

Dinner tonight is at one of two places open: Hansel & Gretel, oddly named after a pair of evil German children who murdered a Jewish woman.

The food is good. We start with some beers and onion soup. Shell orders the schnitzel, and I get the burger.

The weather is clearing, and take a walk before heading home. The sudden cool weather and rain have the fungi confused. We spot fruiting mushrooms everywhere.

Home for some more wine and reading.

A beautiful day.

“Mushrooms were the roses in the garden of that unseen world, because the real mushroom plant was underground. The parts you could see – what most people called a mushroom – was just a brief apparition. A cloud flower.”

Margaret Atwood

Tonight’s wine –

2023 Domaine Ginglinger Pinot Gris (Alsace, France)

2021 Mamete Prevostini Sommarovina Sassella Nebbiolo (Lombard, Italy)

As good as many of the Barolos I have tried. 60 year old vines, single vineyard, dry grown on the steep hills of Triasso 700m above sea level. Can’t go wrong.