a hatful of memories

I bought this wee badge sometime in the mid-60s on a trip to Austria.  It was the thing to do apparently - everyone on the coach was buying them at each place we stopped.  Some even bought a hat to pin them on.

It was the first time I’d been abroad and although I don’t remember every detail, two things in particular have stuck in my mind, as vivid now as they were nearly 60 years ago.  

I can still recall the first time I saw an Alpine lake.  I had no idea that such a colour existed.  Not even on a Farrow & Ball paint card.  Not that I knew anything about F&B paint when I was a teenager.  That would come much later.

The other was sitting outside a cafe in Innsbruck eating chocolate cake.  Not so much the taste or texture - more the idea of it.   I vaguely recall a wide street and colourful buildings against a backdrop of mountains.  It seemed exotic and so far away from the life I knew.  It left me with a yearning for high places and chocolate cake, which I still have to this day.

I saw it again today - or something like it - when I got back from the gym.  Anniemay was on her bike, Zwifting through the streets of that very same Tyrolean town.  

It gave me a idea. To be continued…..