Day 4 - Lake, and a broken Kirsten

22:45
I once again wake with a fuzzy wine head. It’s about 08:00. I pad out to the bathroom, and find Kirsten in a state of disrepair. She’s due on a work call in an hour, but looks like this might be a significant uphill struggle. I return to bed, and whilst I don’t sleep, the following couple of hours helps me feel a lot better. I shower while Kirsten finishes up her call. She quickly declares overhung. I ask if she’s fit enough for a trip to the lake as we’d discussed, and she claims yes. We head out around 11:00, after we’ve given the handful of ibuprofen she’s taken time to work.

The drive over to the lake is stunning. We head over a couple of valleys from our guesthouse, and pass countless signs to wineries. Kirsten groans at most of them. We pass through Ljutomer, a similar size to Ormoz, and about 7km North of our cottage. There are a couple of new supermarket chains here - Jager and Tus. Jager particularly interests me, for obvious reasons.

We arrive at the lake, and find fishermen parked up. The combination of dogs and fishing is not a happy one, so we quietly reverse out, and head further round. Our second stop is more successful, and we let the dogs out to run. We pass a very lovely German family, who inexplicably have no teeth. The dogs are loving the extra space. We find a quiet little cove to occupy, and let the dogs swim. Juancho is a confident swimmer, and furiously doggy paddles in circles while yapping away. Mila is a little more cautious. According to Kirsten, she’d never been away from home until a few months ago, so traveling is unfamiliar. She’d also not swum until recently, so she’s understandably a little nervous. She does really well though, building in confidence as she swims out to collect the tennis ball time after time.

Kirsten is beginning to sound more human. We briefly discuss why she’s so broken. We come up with a range of pretty specious suggestions - that we drank Slovenian wine last night, and it doesn’t *agree* with her as much as Spanish wine, that the bee sting on her arm has poisoned her, and made her incapable of ingesting wine efficiently… She’s putting a broadly brave face on it. After an hour of knackering out the dogs, we head back to the car.

We’re still in search of lamb, and stop at what claims to be a butcher in Ljutomer, but which simply does not exist. We stop at Jäger, and find no lamb. We do pick up some groceries we need, and head back to the cottage. The sky is brooding, and we suspect rain. Kirsten showers, and has a nap. I have a light lunch of leftover bulgar wheat salad and a couple of Radlers. Sitting under the vine covering, I can hear the patter of gentle rain, and elect to shelter indoors, on my bed, in the hope that nap may come. It does - only for an hour, but it’s a super luxurious way to pass the time.

When I wake, Kirsten is finishing up her last work call of the day. I comment that she seems to be doing a lot more work on this part time contract than she’s actually contracted for, and she doesn’t disagree. I think she has an exit plan on the horizon. Honestly, it just seems to be getting in the way of having a good time. The clouds have passed, and the evening sunshine is glorious. I recline in one of the garden sun loungers and read my book. Kirsten suggests a glass of wine. I’m surprised - I thought she’d be rabidly anti booze today, but she feels she’s reached a stage where a glass might help. We share a bottle of a fab white blend I bought yesterday. Kirsten’s cooking dinner, so I’m on lazy patrol. The sun poking through the vineyard next door as it sets is a pretty breathtaking moment.

Dinner is fab - some stuffed marrow that our hosts have grown, and a simple tomato and cucumber salad. Kirsten has proposed (and I have agreed to) a bottle of Italian red to accompany our food. Once again, it’s a great slurp - around €10 in Italy, and never found outside of the country.

Around 21:30, Kirsten announces she’s off to bed. I don’t blame her - she’s had a very tough day…Leer más