My skiing holiday got off to a good start when Austrian Airlines dished up lunch an hour or so after take-off from Edinburgh.  It was only 11 o'clock but I'd had breakfast around 6 a.m. so I was ready for it. That coupled with the spacious legroom was such a treat compared to the budget airline experience that has been the norm for my holidays in recent years.

Flying into Innsbruck with jaggy mountains on either side more or less on a level with the plane is a great experience on a nice calm sunny day but I'd hate to be coming down that valley in the dark in pelting rain with a vicious crosswind. I'd find it difficult to hold down that tasty pasta bake.

Then it was on to San Vigilio, the lovely little village where I was staying in the very pleasant and comfortable Hotel Teresa. They were not having a busy week and for a couple of nights I was the only client in the hotel. The waiting and kitchen staff who had been on when I arrived disappeared and people I took to be from the family who ran the place did the business except for one evening when they invited me to eat at a restaurant fifty yards away where the menu focussed on local specialities. The food was lovely, as it was in the hotel.

Davide, the main man in the hotel, was an avid naturalist (whether academically trained or just a keen amateur I don't know) and waxed lyrical about the wildlife in the nearby national park. If I'd been there for longer I'd have enjoyed a trip into the park, perhaps seeing the golden eagles that he said nested there. He'd been to Scotland looking for golden eagles and apparently the best book on the birds was written by someone based in Scotland.  He also reminisced about the Cannie Man's and showed me some of his whisky collection. At 15 euros a glass (twice the price in Milan I'm assured) I didn't try any of them.

They hadn't had much snow over the winter and I was there in very much the dying days of the season but there was more than enough snow for me.

You can see in this picture how the hillside is almost devoid of snow except where they have skillfully kept some pistes in goodish nick.

In the village there was no snow at all but up on the plateau where half a dozen lifts converged it was remarkably well conserved.

You can see also that it wasn't too busy and that it was beautifully sunny.  Perfect conditions to my mind provided you either don't mind trying to fight your way through slush in the afternoons or you're happy to pack it in at lunchtime.  The latter is my preference.

Apart from photos I've got a little video souvenir thanks to BMW.  It's not quite a Ski Sunday Slalom and merits a good strong shout of bend zee knees but a bit more practice and then the FIS World Cup  maybe.