A long weekend ahead, an excellent weather forecast, and a fistful of dollars left over in the travel budget are the best ingredients for a last minute weekend getaway.
Both being huge fans of jazz music (classic, funk, fusion, basically everything but free-style) we decided to spend the weekend in Whistler and attend the newest
Jazz Festival, a three-day open air event with free (and some ticketed) concerts.
Originally we had planned to travel by Vespas but hubby's shoulder was acting up again, so he preferred the car. And knowing well that I would be grumpy all weekend if I didn't get my two-wheeled fix, the best husband of all let me lead the way by Sportster.
Traffic up to Whistler was an ordeal, cagers everywhere, going 70 km/h where signs allowed to go 90 km/h, slowing down to snail speed before every turn, and panic brake maneuvers before merging lanes. Some people simply shouldn't be on the road!
Lots of riders were on the road as well. I gave up on waving at all of them, my hand was getting tired...
We had made reservations at the
Aava, a newer, reasonably priced, clean and quiet contemporary hotel, located on the edge of Whistler town site. The room was already available, and we could move in early after we parked our vehicles safely underground.
After settling in we explored the pedestrian zone in order to get a decent food fix. The ride in fresh mountain air had made me hungry, and I was in the mood for Italian, which means authentic cuisine, and not Spaghetti Factory stuff.
The husband knew where to get a fix for my craving, and guided me straight to
Il Caminetto Di'Umberto, probably the best Italian restaurant in town.
We had excellent halibut and veal parmigiana, plus half a liter of white wine. After that we were not only filled up but also reasonably tipsy (not used to alcohol...), and staggered back to the hotel to sleep off our inebriation.
Somebody's having fun!
Pretty girl!
Yours truly with helmet hair.
The rest of our time was spent on listening to all varieties of jazz music, but the highlight was certainly
Spyro Gyra, an American Jazz fusion band, originally formed in the 70's, and today better than ever. The stage was state-of-the-art and the sound (especially given it was open air) was awesome, a real treat for the ears.
Monday morning we beat traffic by heading home early. We hit the road by 8AM, and I was thankful for my Olympia jacket with the inner liner, and my leather pants, because is was friggin' cold! Two and a half hours, 150km and a few foto ops later we arrived back home. It was a smooth ride sans traffic, with clear skies and crisp air (and did I mention cold?).
All in all a wonderful weekend getaway.
Life is good!
Es ist das letzte lange Wochenende vor Schulbeginn und Ende des Sommers: Tag der Arbeit (an dem eben alles andere, nur nicht gearbeitet wird).So machten wir uns gestern morgen auf (Roland im Wagen, Sonja auf der Harley). Ein sauberes, preiswertes Zimmer hatten wir am Abend zuvor bereits im Hotel Aava gebucht, und konnten es - da bereits verfügbar - schon mittags beziehen.
Nach dem 150km langen Ritt hatte Sonja Heisshunger... auf italienisches Essen, und Roland fand prompt ein Gourmet-Restaurant, das Il Caminetto, welches unsere Vorstellungen bei weitem übertreffen konnte. So genossen wir dann bei einer guten Flasche Weisswein den exzellenten Heilbutt und das butterzarte Kalbsfleisch a la parmigiana. Zum Nachtisch gab es dann unitalienisch Pistazien Creme Brulee. Es war köstlich!
Etwas angeheitert ging danach es zurück zum Hotelzimmer... erstmal ein Mittagsschläfchen abhalten.Spyro Gyra war das Event des Abends, ein Ohrenschmaus der besonderen Kategorie. Die Band spielt seit 35 Jahren zusammen und hat in der Zeit über 30 Alben veröffentlicht! Bühne und Equipment waren erstklassig, die Akustik - trotz open air - fabelhaft. Ausserdem gab es endlich mal wieder keine bescheuerten Fotografierverbote, so dass sich Roland zeitweise direkt vor der Bühne aufhalten und die eine oder andere Nahaufnahme machen konnte. Wir waren begeistert.
Am nächsten Morgen traten wir bereits gegen 8 Uhr morgens die Heimreise an, da mit hohem Rückreiseverkehrsaufkommen (manchmal vermissen wir diese zusammen gesetzten Substantiv-Ketten richtig!) gerechnet werden musste.
Aber feiertags um diese Zeit waren die Strassen schön leer, und wir konnten die Fahrt entsprechend geniessen.
