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Visiting America

So we were having lunch in a restaurant in the mountain of Vail, called "the 10th".  Honestly, we had not planned on stopping there, but we were hungry and it was convenient.  We didn't know we needed reservations, but still, they could accommodate us, which was great of them.  They could easily have told us to get lost.  

The food was fine, and the prices were what you would expect from a ski slope dining experience, expensive.  Our waitress looked overworked, but we were there late at around 1:30 so the rush was about over, I guess.

We had removed our ski gear and boots and were enjoying sitting there quietly when the table next door started talking to us, completely out of the blue.  I guess they heard my English accent.  For some reason, they were fascinated.  This was a mighty unusual experience for us.  Once they understood we didn't live in London but on the Eastern Coast, they started asking us if it was like New York, and I told them that it was more like Main.  Coastal villages and farms.

It was fascinating because we learned more about them than they did about us.  They were from New York, he was a banker and she was in advertising.  They were rather adamant that they took all their holidays in the US and had never travelled outside of the country (except Canada).  They were AirBnB in Vail and this was their first full day.  They left shortly after we started eating, my guess is that they had been there for a while.  It is very strange, we will never see these people again, why the friendliness?  Why talk as if we were long-lost friends? Both of us thought this behaviour strange.  I guess they were hoping to meet different people "Hey we met British people" but again they never asked what we did, but we were informed that they had two daughters one at Vassar College and the other one still in high school. I guess it's all part of the American experience. 

Vail is not cheap, but it's not expensive either.  It's certainly cheaper than any place in Switzerland, but then the entire planet is cheaper than Switzerland.  I would say, from memory, that it ranks somewhere between the chic Austrian resorts and the French in terms of prices.  We have been here for nearly a week now, and I can say with certitude that we will be back.  Jack was very clear that restaurant reservations are a must here if you want to eat in the good places, and restaurants close early, by 9 PM the place shuts down.  There are a few places that cater, which is something we intend to use, there's an Indian restaurant rather far away, but they deliver to our condo if we tell them early enough.

It has been the perfect holiday destination.  

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