Fiddle Weekend

After last weekend of violin this weekend was another Ceilidh band performance.

The venue was a mountain chalet, part of a small resort where a Swiss doctor was having his 40th birthday. He had apparently said he wanted dancing at his party and we were the surprise which meant we came quite late in the evening.

The night started first with dinner with band members at Isa's house, then we drove up the mountain to the parking lot. The original plan was to hike up with snowshoes and headlamps but since there hasn't been much snow this season we couldn't do that. Instead we were driven up... and that was the adventure!

The road to the chalet is closed during the winter without special authorization, and the company that runs the resort had the necessary 4x4 vehicle. We piled all the instruments in the back and started heading up. The man who was driving said it would be a little bit scary because he had to go fast to get through the snow drifts. Oh. Em. Gee. The road was mostly clear, but there were parts where the entire road was covered in ice, followed by a patch of snow. We slid over the ice on this narrow mountain road but kept up the pace. To one side of the road the mountain fell away steeply and I looked to the trees at the side, hoping they would be big enough to stop our descent should we slid off the road. Isa had grabbed my arms and I told her I was too young to die.

However, the truck couldn't go all the way to the chalet, we pulled up next to a snowmobile and loaded all the music and several people into the trailer. I was precariously balanced on the edge of the trailer holding the two violins so they wouldn't be bounced too much. It was an interesting experience, it was dark so the road was lit by the snowmobile headlight and we bounced along under the trees with the wind blowing. At this point I had to move into the trailer and ended up sitting on N's lap, and it turned out he was sitting on Isa which I didn't know. In one section the snow was on a bit of a slant so our driver (concerned that the trailer might tip) had us all lean over to one side. Not very easy squished in as we were!

We got the chalet, all the instruments and people were intact and made our way into the main hall to set up. We didn't start playing until late and we were a very welcome surprise. The performance wasn't mic'd so we had to play loudly to be heard over the dancers. In the end we headed down (after midngight) the same way we arrived. Stuffed into the trailer (I got to ride on the machine this time) and then the death run in the truck.

I didn't spend the night at the chalet because I wanted to get to the lab to finish these important experiments. However, here I am today and my stupid e coli's didn't grow.

So that was the first fiddle gig I've ever played where I had to arrive my snowmobile!

Also, apparently when I say Cully (a nearby town) and try to do it with the correct pronunciation, it sounds like I'm talking about some bit of male anatomy in French rather than the town. Something about the ewe/ough sound (which is what double l's sound like) that I can't quite get and now I can't remember which sound was the right one. Well, if I get that uncomfortable pause in conversation I'll know I've picked the wrong one...