Arinsal Andorra

   What a glorious week for weather, we have just had. Since last Friday until this Friday we have enjoyed wall to wall sunshine with the vivid deep blue sky that we rarely see back home. We had great spring snow skiing and fairly high temperatures during the afternoons.  I was using my factor 50 sun cream. When we stopped for our coffee break the girls in my group were sitting on the sun terrace in their Tee shirts. However, I did meet one holiday maker in the gondola, who was unhappy with this marvellous weather he wanted to know if there was any snow forecast. This was on Monday and at the time, we had stationary high pressure, so snow was not imminent. He finally got the bad weather that he craved for, early on Saturday morning, it started to snow. When I woke up, there was snow on the roofs of the cars in Erts.  By the time I had finished breakfast, the snow had turned to rain in the village with wet snow and poor visibility on the mountain. Last week people were asking when would we be having sunshine. It is impossible to please all the people all the time.

     My intermediate class mainly consisted of charming ladies who wanted to enjoy the skiing and to stay well within their comfort zone. We all had a very enjoyable week.

    I am back to England next week for a few days, so there will not be a report unless I can get another instructor to be a guest writer for that week.

POSTSCRIPT TO YESTERDAY'S REPORT.

   After Saturday’s snow and rain, we had a fairly sunny Sunday. There was a lot of new snow and at the top of the mountain it was light and of course, untracked. I had a wonderful morning’s off piste skiing until my first lesson at 1 pm. The snow was not exactly “Champagne powder” but definitely worth skiing although it did become quite heavy on the lower slopes. The on piste skiing was fantastic. As it was transfer day, there were very few people on the slopes. Anyone arriving today should have a great week’s skiing.

    I have not written a report for two weeks as I have been in England. My journey home was uneventful; I was picked up at my hotel by the Novatel mini bus and taken to the bus station where I transferred onto a coach that took me to terminal two at Barcelona airport, in three hours. This terminal is almost deserted as only Easyjet and other budget airlines use it. All the main carriers use the new terminal one.  As I had time to spare I followed the signs for the railway station where there is a greasy spoon type of cafe. They do a steak, egg and chips sort of menu. It has a bit more atmosphere than the rather sterile terminal eateries. I enjoyed my stay in England; everything seemed so fresh, with new daffodils, blossom and other spring flowers. I was able to see my daughter perform in Thoroughly Modern Millie with the local musical society.

    Unfortunately things were not alright with my eyes and I had to stay an extra week for treatment. Then another uneventful journey back to the Palarine, where Stuart BBA served me with my first pint of San Miguel for a fortnight. I must admit I did enjoy some real ale, whilst in England, which I much prefer to the local lager type beers that I get in Arinsal. Not getting real ale out here is a small price to pay for spending a fun packed winter in a ski resort. I had two great days of spring skiing on Thursday and Friday in Arinsal. On Saturday, I went with Kevin, Matthew and three other instructors to Soldeu for our yearly refresher course. It was both interesting and enjoyable.

    Later that evening I attended my End of Season Ceildh in Bogart’s bar. Sadly this was poorly attended, some people had already left the resort and it clashed with another instructor’s birthday party. Kevin did a great job as stand in disc jockey and those that attended appeared to enjoy themselves. We did plenty of dancing and a few party pieces. One of the hotel guests did a funny but rude parody on a Burns’ poem. It was a good night but the was some food left over from the buffet that the Princessa Parc had laid on for us.

    We have very few new arrivals today, so we are wondering how many of us will get a group. There is only one more week after this for British tour companies, although the resort is staying open until 25th April to deal with the Easter Holiday.

This week it snowed every day except Friday and Saturday.Iit was glorious clear blue skies and great snow on both days. I had beginners this week and I had forgotten how much fun you can have on the first day with a jolly group. This group was definitely jolly. We had some great après ski evenings watching the day’s videos. One lady was a bit slower than the others. Fortunately, she had a very sensible boyfriend who booked a couple of private lessons for her. We had a great time and she was able to keep up with the group. Most of my other private lessons were with people whose friends or family had pushed them too far, too fast and too high too soon. I had to restore their confidence and then improve their skiing. One exception was the husband of a lady in my group; he was having difficulty keeping up with his beginners’ class, so she bought him a private lesson. I managed to improve him so much, that the following day he was the fastest in his group’s race and was very proud of his Gold Medal.

This week produced a very mixed bag of weather conditions. We had a couple of days of snow and a couple of very warm days, with strong winds. It was the English half term holiday, so most of our clients were here with their families. There were 24 classes of children. Most instructors had a morning and an afternoon group. Next week looks a lot quieter and of course, a lot cheaper. We are expecting more young people and livelier evenings.

I had a very jolly evening at the Palarine this week.. Every Thursday they put on a super Chinese buffet, which is open to non residents. It was so popular this week that the restaurant opened at 7 pm, so that they could fit in a second sitting. The menu was very impressive; soup, prawn crackers, sushi, pickled ginger, spareribs, spring rolls and crispy aromatic duck with pancakes. That was just the starters. I grazed on the starters and did not have any room for the main courses, although I did manage to squeeze in a little teriyaki steak. In the bamboo bar drinks were being serves by Stuart (BBA) our very cheerful barman.(Liverpool scored a lucky late goal to win in Europe earlier that evening)) Mike (Elvis) entertained us after dinner. We enjoyed a some singing and dancing until about midnight.

The Palarine has themed dinners on five evenings during the week. These dinners are open to non residents. I especially like the Indian Curry evening. Again there are a wide range of dishes. The hotel is aware that not everyone likes hot curries, so the dishes are fairly mild but they do provide a weapons grade sauce on the side. This is for those who think that a curry should burn the mouth and burn the bum. Personally, I mix only a little of this lethal sauce into my curry. The option is there for you to decide how hot you like your curry.

They also have Italian and Tex-Mex evenings but their best is on a Sunday when they produce an English Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Puddings and a large selection of perfectly prepared vegetables. Also there is as an alternative; roast pork with stuffing and crackling, which some have as an alternative, however others have it in addition to the beef. This evening is very popular with expats and Tour Company Reps. They usually book a large table for late evening when they have finished their welcome talks.

It takes a lot of will power not to put on weight staying in the Palarine. Sadly, I lack the will power.