11 Years of Blips!

Today is my 11th anniversary, and like most people here on Blip, when I started I never knew I would continue for so long. In fact I started when I was in Switzerland 11 years ago on 2 January but due to leap years the anniversary date has been brought forward. I do like looking back at older journal entries to check facts of what I was doing when, and it's a good record of one's life as much as a record of one's photos. The Blip community is so welcoming and supportive, a very unique and special experience, so thank you to everyone for that.

As planned I was up early and Luke, Adam, Tommy and I caught the 7.45am bus to the ski lift. We walk there in the summer as it is only about 10 minutes away, but in winter it's not advisable to walk that distance wearing ski boots as one can easily slip. Also, the ski pass includes free bus and train fares for the area (well it should as the price of it is astronomical!) so we might as well make use of the bus service.

It was a perfect day - blue skies, not cold, wonderful snow on the ski runs, and not at all crowded at that time of day. Luke and I skied various runs non stop, my legs were burning by the time we stopped for a coffee break. As the conditions were so good, I loved my morning skiing and was not nervous at all. At our coffee break we met up with Adam and Tommy, and the four of us actually ordered breakfast with our coffees as none of us had eaten properly before leaving this morning. The mountain cafe does a delicious 'spiegelei mit speck' (fried egg and bacon) and with the view of the mountains below us it was a wonderful treat after some calorie burning skiing - see extra.

By late morning it was getting busier and the runs were starting to get a bit churned up so I decided to leave on a good note and went back down the mountain. Gavin had spent the morning walking Xena and once I was back home he decided to go up the mountain to ski.

Adam met up with a university friend who had tickets for the Spengler Cup - its an annual ice hockey tournament held in Davos and is the oldest invitational ice hockey tournament in the world, started in 1923 so this was its centenary tournament celebration. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have a history with this tournament, as the first tournament was won by Oxford University, so their students who are part of the current ice hockey team get free tickets to attend the Spengler Cup. Adam's friend, who is on the Cambridge University team, had a spare ticket so Adam was able to attend the match today.