08 Nov Are the Alps colder than Manchester…….
Today’s the day I leave for the Alps, in effect, the season is beginning, right now! Am I excited? Certainly not about the 12hr drive and 2 hr ferry crossing ahead of me, although the company of the worlds funniest barman will no doubt ease the boredom!
Car packed with everything that is essential for the season, like PG Tips tea bags, mince pies, Marmite, HP sauce, Branston pickle and untold amounts of herbs and spices you just cant get in Austria. Kaluma Travel are stocked and ready to get to St Anton. The French side head to Courchevel in a few weeks time, with a very similar stock pile crammed into the boot of our lovely Landrovers.
Now, it’s cold in the Alps, we all know that and it’s snowing there as I type. But todays question is, is it colder in Manchester? I was lucky enough to be taken to Old Trafford to see the mighty Utd crush Wolves in a 2-1 thriller on Saturday. OK, saw Utd scrape to a “deserved” win on Saturday. I’m a northerner at heart, with roots on both side of the Pennines, so am well aware how cold it can get. I havent been back that way for some time, but arrived on Saturday morning in Manchester ready for a great day. Sun was shining, blue skies, but very cold.
11am, the day is almost at its warmest, so everyone could be excused for wearing T-Shirts and T-shirts only. Amazing the first thing that you notice about a place! As the day went on and the more £1.30 pints we had (yep, you read it correctly!) the warmer we got. So maybe, just maybe lots of people in Manchester drink £1.30 pints for breakfast? I doubt it, but you never know.
15.00hrs and kick off. Looking around and there are still lots of people in T-shirts (granted..also with Man Utd hats and scarfs and gloves, but T-shirts non the less). By now I was cold in my jeans, jumper/track suit top and scarf, drinking hot chocolate (living the dream!)
18.00 and leaving the ground T-shirts still on parade and not a goosebump in site. My comment of “S**t, it’s cold, colder than the Alps” was met with a few “Toughen up” looks!
20.00 and into the first bar in Manchester, Deansgate Locks. Walking in I noticed three things. 1. Almost every bloke was in a checked shirt 2. If it wasnt a checked shirt it was something by Superdry (or a Superdry checked shirt) 3. If it wasn’t checked or Superdry, it was a tight T-shirt…..still!!
By 03.00 hrs I could have been eating my curry in speedos and a vest and I wouldn’t have felt the cold, but in the hours leading up to it, it was cold….so very cold.
Either Manchester is colder than the Alps or Mancunians and all those that visit this lovely city are tougher than a bathing Eskimo! A great night and a great day, with a cracking result!
Now, onto the Alps and just to check the statement in the title of this blog, I may well turn up to resort on Tuesday around lunchtime wearing a T-shirt!
It is snowing, everyone is excited again and the season is definitely shaping up to be a good one! Deals galore for early season skiing at the moment, we have some crackers in both Courchevel and St Anton / Lech, so get in touch for some early season skiing!
Ski ya later……
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