Ski Instructors Report 26th February 2012

I am now back in England, having travelled home on Saturday. I had a brilliant week, great weather and a really super bunch of dry slope/advanced beginners. Not only did they all ski very well they were great fun on and off the slopes. When we stopped for coffee someone would start gathering tables together so that we all sat as one group. This contrasts with some classes, who all split up into couples and family groups, when this happens I feel that I have failed to gel the group into a team. Om Friday I went to hear "Velvet Blues" play in Bogart's bar. They are a great blues band consisting of: a very raunchy keyboard player, who does a smashing cover of Amy Winehouse songs, a brilliant harmonica players, who gives the group a really bluesy feel, a lead and bass guitars and in the engine room, a great drummer. It is not all blues they played a wide range, including soft rock and even some numbers from my teenage years. A guest singer did a tremendous version of Johnny B Goode. I try to be positive with these reports but I must mention a down side to Bogart's. As you enter you are met by a wall of smoke. However if you have the courage to walk past this and turn right at the end of the L shaped bar you are into quite clean air, as they have an efficient extractor system. They reason for the wall of smoke is that the adjacent Piano Bar is non smoking, so the addicts come into to Bogart's and sit at the first two tables to pacify their addiction. This lead me to mention other bars with a non smoking policy.( Andorran has not yet caught up with the civlise world. They will eventually, after all they gave women the vote in 1970). El Moli allows smoking in the bar but NOT in the upstairs restaurant. Cisco's allows smoking in the bar but not in the restaurant until 9 pm. Smoking is allowed then as this is when the Hispanics go out to eat. They are afraid to lose this custom as some Hispanics will smoke before, during and after dinner. Strange people. The Derby has an innovative policy; they discourage smoking in the bar until 8 pm, whilst there are children present. Dean and Darren have provided a sitting area outside with tables , T.V and a heater. This is a great public facility, as smokers can meet other smokers (If a leper wants to meet a partner the best place is a leper colony) I think that it is nice that smokers can meet other smokers, fall in love and breed baby smokers. After all, the country needs their taxes, which more than covers the extra hospital care that they will need. I think that the Department of Works and Pensions should give a badge to everyone smoking 40 a day, as a thank you, for volunteering to die younger, so easing the Country's pension burden. Finally, the Palarine's dining room is strictly non smoking but it is permitted in the bar/Bambu restaurant. There are tables where non smokers can escape to if there are too many Catalans smoking in the Bambu. The Chinese banquet is very popular with the Catalans. I will declare am interest, as some of my readers will have worked out already, I am a non smoker myself. As a footnote,I would like to mention the following: In the Autumn, I invited 43 people back to my house, after a very successful performance of my daughter, as Anna in the "King and I" at the local theatre. These were mostly from the 50+ badminton club and they were all non smokers. It would have taken just one smoker to ruin the atmosphere for the other 42. Bring on the Ban.