Fairy Tale Day 8 Summary

Even though the hotel restaurant is closed Mondays & Tuesdays, they still put on an impressive breakfast. Walking down the hotel corridors to breakfast came across this meat curer. The hotel owner who I have known since the 90s is a hobby farmer and keeps a herd of organic cattle. These pieces will end up on the plates one day, not for us, though.

After breakfast, Annie had to spend loads of time trying to pack her Ryanair conforming tiny suitcase. Thank goodness I have never flown in the days of post 9/11security and cheap flights.

Then a slow drive down the road to Memmingen airport. Understandably, Annie anxious to get there in good time and not convinced by my "Memmingen you need to wake security up". Even our airport police have their offices next to a beer garden. As expected, there wasn't a single person queuing, and she very quickly disappeared into the bowels (about the size of an average front parlour) of duty free....

I guess Annie will remember Bavaria for the copious amounts of meat & beer, but also for the even bigger police presence for the G7 summary. It broke up today, she could have hitched a ride with Johnson. I'm glad she would have declined.

Well, what a week! The idea started as a bit of a joke at the start of the year and probably pushed by the Covid opening up, it became reality, no doubt accelerated by 2 years of lockdown and the still painful memories  of the untimely death of her beloved husband. For me it was my first holiday since 2011, first night away from home, apart from hospital beds!

However,, certainly for me, it was a huge delight and a big lesson. I suspect circumstances almost unique, strange to most, and indeed we both had our fears of what 45 years time-lapse had meant to our relationship. We had broken up in 1976 on a friendly basis, but I was unable to come to terms with it, cutting off all contact. I have learnt a lot this past week, it will have a special place in my heart, and I'm eternally grateful for having had the experience. Will it be repeated? No idea, but I hope so. A friendship on this level is something no money can buy.

The extra photo shows the final route but gets a bit complicated as I had to pop back home to unload the hire car which was full to the brim with everything except a kitchen sink, but certainly salt & pepper shakers, wooden boards with knives & forks, kettle... Angie then picked me up at the airport after returning the car, and in the evening went for a dog walk with Luna to Ottobeuren and get myself a Döner! One of the many things we didn't do, even though we had talked about during the planning stage as back in 1973, kebab takeaways from Tottenham Court Road were a cheap staple diet for us as the nurse's home & hospital, where she was training, were located nearby.

985 km for the week in the hired Škoda Kamiq. Even though the Average Speed & Fuel Consumption is based on entire car life of around 3,000 km, it was a very sedate week!