…. And with it went Liverpool’s hopes of a trophy in either the Carabao Cup or the Champions League. The Premier League table still looks good

However a loss to PSG (albeit on penalties) in the Champions League and losing the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle United after a rather pathetic performance, together with various injuries from international duty and speculation about the future of some of our key players, has left most of us feeling somewhat nervous. Still we only have one thing to focus on and 9 games to go, starting with Everton tomorrow.

Time for us all to step up, the team and the fans …. In Jurgen’s words, to become “believers” again.

If it’s been a disappointing month for football it’s been equally bad for the house sale. Apart from an early frivolous offer from someone, which came to nothing, and a viewing which did likewise, nothing has happened. We have had words with the estate agent and are reducing the price in the hope that along with the arrival of Spring that might spark some interest.

The weather has got a bit warmer and the nights are staying lighter for longer so we decided to use the barbecue. I leave Denis to it as it’s still not warm enough to sit outside

And April brings with it our 70th birthday celebration present to ourselves- a holiday in Japan. Anna is coming with us and we have plenty of things planned – Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and (for me and Anna) hiking some of the Kumano Kodo trail.

We will be away for 10 days, starting Thursday and, technology permitting, there will of course be daily updates

After a great holiday it would be good to say we are home refreshed but actually we are all wiped out and so, in the words of the great Canadian drinking song, which we learnt last summer, it is nice to get “home for a rest”.

Nevertheless , having chilled out once I got home yesterday, we have had a busy day today. It is Denis’ birthday so I had planned a few things centred around a candlelight classical music interpretation of some Pink Floyd songs.

This was in Liverpool so we decided to go over earlier so we could watch Manchester United take on Arsenal. For once we were on the same side. It ended a draw, 1-1, which was a tad disappointing as United were for a long time in the lead.

And so the table looks like this. 16 points needed from 9 games ..

Before that we had bad a late relaxed lunch at albertschloss.

But first of all – before we left Huddersfield- we attended the opening of the bridge club’s new premises. And very nice they are too.

We made our way to Liverpool by train (only slightly delayed). Our planned train home was cancelled. I felt I had given Denis a good understanding of our usual trips to Liverpool!

And so to the concert which was the original focus of the day out. St George’s Hall is just opposite the train station and is a lovely building.

I’m not a classical music fan, or a Pink Floyd fan, but Denis assures me that the Rondino Strings Quartet who performed for us were very accomplished musicians. They are available for hire if you’re interested!

https://www.rondinostrings.co.uk/

I’d like to say I now have some time to relax but there is a very busy week ahead : the small matter of LFC v PSG in the Champions League; Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup at Wembley; welcoming Aussie Dave back for those events; meeting friends for lunch Tuesday and other friends for curry Friday…. and having a word with our estate agent about why the house isn’t selling!

An update will be provided as appropriate

I had an early night, ready for the last day on the slopes. Unfortunately I woke up with a very bad back so decided against skiing and instead went for a low level walk.

Anna, on the other hand, had a very late night but to her credit she got up early and went out to make the most of the morning while the snow conditions were not too bad. It’s another hot sunny day.

https://www.saalbach.com/en/service/infrastructure/local-history-and-ski-museum_a_1360

I’d planned to visit the ski museum on my walk but it is only open Tuesday and Thursday! Which would have been useful to know on Monday but less useful today

I met up with Anna and Jamie at Luis Alm, at the top of the mountain, and we sat on deck chairs in the sun.

Then we did the leaving admin stuff: taking skis and boots back; giving tips where deserved; packing and repacking etc. We ended up at our usual bar and Jamie decided to try the nail and hammer game.

He didn’t win but was very pleased not to come last – a decent performance for his first ever game. Finally we said our goodbyes, went out for dinner and then finished packing and had an early night.

We all agreed that we had had a great week that had gone by far too quickly. Ready to start planning for next year…..

The warm weather is taking its toll and a long day on the slopes feels like it would be very hard work. Once it gets to about 11.30 the snow has turned to slush and skiing takes a lot of energy. So Anna and Jamie were up and about on the 08.00 lift for early morning skiing while the snow conditions were at their best.

I joined them a bit later and we did a few runs before finishing for the day. We sat in the sun and had a long leisurely lunch before heading back to the Airbnb.

In the evening we had a break from apres ski and went to watch the free style event on the lower slopes. It was fun and with a bit of a light show too.

After that it was an early night for me.

Last day tomorrow

Today was my planned non-skiing day and I had booked myself on a guided snow shoe hike. I had to get the ski bus to the far end of the valley but they’re fairly regular and I didn’t have to be there until 10.00 so I had a very relaxed start to the day. Once again the weather was fabulous.

Anna and Jamie were off skiing together for the day; they could go further and faster without me so I think they were looking forward to it. Although they had both also stayed out later than me so didn’t get the early start they had originally planned.

I’d never done snow shoe hiking so it was a bit of an adventure for me. First of all, though, I had to find the meeting point which was “where the little train reverses”. The train in question being the tourist little train. I couldn’t see anything that might be such a place but I then found a sign which looked promising – and with the help of google translate I discovered where I was

That didn’t seem too promising so I wandered a bit further and eventually found the right meeting point. There was a group of about 10 of us on the walk and our first job was to strap the snow shoes on and learn the basics of walking in them

It was a bit harder than I expected but we had a lovely walk to a secluded little restaurant for lunch and then back again

After that I caught the bus back to the Airbnb and met up with Anna and, later, Jamie. We had a few hours of our usual apres ski before heading to Bobbie’s Bar to watch PSG v LFC. Liverpool were completely outplayed by PSG but with the help of a spectacular performance by Alisson Becker and a lucky late goal we came away as winners.

Two more days of skiing to go…..

The weather started off a bit colder and cloudier today- but that didn’t hold for long and then we’re back to blue skies and sunshine again. Anyway, having been reasonably sensible the night before, we were indeed up and out early and on the lift shortly after 8.30

We skied across to Hinterglemm where Anna and Jamie skied the World Cup run from the races which had been held there a few weeks ago

We all met up for lunch. We have discovered that – unlike in the UK – many restaurants are cash only. So in this case we had to pool our resources to make sure we could pay for our food

We got back to Saalbach in our separate ways. I got the bus. Anna and Jamie skied across and then Jamie took one final black run down. Anna took the gondola and was able to get a great video of him

The rest of the day followed the usual pattern with drinks at Schwipps Bar and Off Piste but I finished fairly early and headed somewhere quieter to watch the football.

Tomorrow I’m trying snow shoe hiking and of course there is the small matter of PSG v LFC in the Champions League to watch in the evening.

Another glorious day weather-wise, which doesn’t always make for great snow conditions. Our plan was for another early start and to head over to Hinterglemm.

In the end the effects of two nights at the Off Piste bar took their toll and we decided to stay in the vicinity of Saalbach and have lunch on the mountain.

Jamie skied a bit more than we did. In my case I didn’t ski at all so that wasn’t difficult. We all agreed that the conditions were such that early morning skiing was our only chance of decent skiing and so tomorrow we would be up and out early again. And so an early night was called for. And after a bit of apres ski (most in Swedish!) we headed off.

The sky was completely clear as we walked home and Anna got some great photos of the Plough

And Orion

We had pasta bake for tea with red wine, and listened to Taylor Swift. Then off for our early night and – hopefully- some decent snow conditions tomorrow morning.

And what a lovely day it was. The weather was just perfect and inspired us to be up and out early despite some of us potentially overdoing things the night before.

We had breakfast and then walked to meet Jamie at the depot where we are storing our skis etc overnight. It’s right near the main ski lift- “The Schattberg Express”

It was busy at the top of the Schattberg Express. And it’s fair to say that there was a bit of faffing by all parties before we eventually got going.

Here’s what we did before we made our first stop

We intended to head towards Leogang and lunch at the top of the mountain there.

Which is what we did. I took an early break and Jamie and Anna did a bit more skiing. Jamie had a new camera to try out so used it to take some videos of Anna ….

After lunch we came back to Saalbach- Anna and Jamie skied and I caught the ski bus. The rest of the day followed the usual pattern except for a quick visit to meet Anna’s friend Jonny at his bar, Taverna. Not my sort of place but Jamie apparently ended up back there in the early hours of the morning….

With our flight at 6.10 in the morning we only managed a few hours sleep before we set off for the airport at 3.15, with Denis driving. At least he could just go back to bed when he got back home.

We got to Saalbach at lunch time and had a fair bit of logistics to cope with – checking us in at our Airbnb, checking Jamie in at his hotel, doing a “big shop” at the local Billa, getting skis and boots, sorting out lift passes and lockers and generally getting ourselves ready.

We got our skis and boots from Hansi’s, a small independent shop which has the added benefit of giving you a shot of schnapps as part of the deal

Once all that was sorted we went for food and then we went for apres ski (despite not having skied). First we popped into Schwipps Bar

And then we headed for our favourite place

Jamie Rae was on guitar and we met his mum who was visiting for the weekend.

It’s fair to say that things got a little bit messy after that

But we all had a good time and a fairly early night. The weather is due to get warmer as the week progresses so we expect our first day skiing to be the best, so it will be up and out early for us tomorrow.