the evenin before, still naw ideal but. Above aw: she’d cooked summit nice. Even fae a distance it smelt guid.
Ye dont hiv tae cook fur me!
Ah wantit tae. It distracted me a bit.
Wur gaun tae Spain themorra, Regi!
Who?
Jist us. Jist you an’ me!
Me? How me? Ur ye mad? Ahv nae mair holidays tae take.
Wur naw goin oan holiday. It’s an educational trip wur gaun oan. Tell Pesche it’s personal development. The course lasts a fortnight. Or get the doctor tae write ye a line.
It’s naw as if yir short ae reasons.
It took a while – in the end ah persuaded her but. Sometimes it’s handy tae hiv the gift ae the gab a bit. Ah called Dr Wydenmeyer.
Whit’s it aboot, the receptionist wantit tae know.
It’s a very delicate matter. If at aw possible, ah shid only discuss it wi the doctor.
Wait a moment, please. Ah’ll see if he’s free tae come tae the phone.
Ah’ll wait, thanks, yeah.
He tellt her tae come an’ see him first thing the next mornin. An’ when he seen her, he said she shoulda come straight tae him. Right away, when Buddy battered her. He wrote her a
line fur an unlimited period an’ they made an appointment fur eftir the trip.
As ahm aye sayin: if yiv a doctor like Dr Wydenmeyer, yiv summit solid tae build oan. Wydenmeyer’s someone who his a feel fur people. Who knows who needs whit an’ when. In addition
tae that – an’ that’s naw tae be sneezed at eether – Dr Wydenmeyer’s oan the side ae they folk who hivnae got it easy. Whit mair kin ye ask fur in a doctor?
That eftirnoon, we took the train tae Paris, via Berne an’ Neuchâtel. Ah hidnae been able tae get haud ae a car. It didnae matter but. It wisnae as faur as ah thought. We’d tae
get fae wan station in Paris tae anither yin, then in – Gare Austerlitz, it wis cawed – we took the night train that goes tae Hendaye via Bordeaux. An amazin journey. Above aw, if
Regula is wi ye an’ yiv enough rid wine.
The next mornin, we crossed the border oan fit. Ah know the area. Hendaye an’ Irún hiv grown tae become wan place, practically. Ye kid take a kinda tram an’
aw. Ah preferred tae walk but.
So we foot it across an’ in Irún go tae where the intercity buses set aff fae. Afore we leave, we hiv an aniseed brandy oan the rocks an’ some guid ham. Then it’s aboot
five oors oan the bus, then the ferry, fae the toon o’er tae the village.
Wee Stofer’s hoose is pretty high up oan a hill. Course, it’s in a village. It’s jist at the very top but. Fortunately, we hidnae a loatae luggage, cos
itherwise, itherwise we’d’ve been flaggin oan the way up, Regi wi aw her worries, an’ me wi aw ma muscles (not).
That it’s so faur up isnae whit sets the hoose inherited by wee Stofer apart the maist. Whit sets it apart is above aw the wee ferry ye take tae get tae the village. Ye kin, in fact, drive
a car up tae it. Ye hiv tae hiv wan first but – a car ah mean. Fae the toon, ye see, the bus takes ye tae, ye kin
see
Stofer’s village oan the ither side ae the bay. If ye want
tae go there but, ye kin eether dae a massive detour by road or take the direct route across the water. Course, we preferred the sea option.
It’s ferryboats wi naw much ae a hull we’re talkin aboot. They’d be constantly runnin ashore itherwise. Oan sandbars. Even wi naw much ae a hull but, yiv nae guarantee ye wont
run ashore suddenly an’ be stuck fur an oor, waitin fur high tide.
That’s how the ferrymen need tae know the route like the back ae their hauns. Sometimes, it’s centimetres that ur at stake. That’s whit wan ae them tellt me anyhow. Aboot
sixty, he wis, an’ he immediately started tae chat oan the ferry. His German wis really guid. Turned oot, he’d worked in Germany furra lang time. Near Karlsruhe, in a carpentry shop. A
really nice guy, honestly.
When we tellt him we wur fae Switzerland an’ wur goney spend a few weeks in anither Swiss guy’s hoose, he said he knew the hoose we meant. It hid belonged
Ye dont hiv tae cook fur me!
Ah wantit tae. It distracted me a bit.
Wur gaun tae Spain themorra, Regi!
Who?
Jist us. Jist you an’ me!
Me? How me? Ur ye mad? Ahv nae mair holidays tae take.
Wur naw goin oan holiday. It’s an educational trip wur gaun oan. Tell Pesche it’s personal development. The course lasts a fortnight. Or get the doctor tae write ye a line.
It’s naw as if yir short ae reasons.
It took a while – in the end ah persuaded her but. Sometimes it’s handy tae hiv the gift ae the gab a bit. Ah called Dr Wydenmeyer.
Whit’s it aboot, the receptionist wantit tae know.
It’s a very delicate matter. If at aw possible, ah shid only discuss it wi the doctor.
Wait a moment, please. Ah’ll see if he’s free tae come tae the phone.
Ah’ll wait, thanks, yeah.
He tellt her tae come an’ see him first thing the next mornin. An’ when he seen her, he said she shoulda come straight tae him. Right away, when Buddy battered her. He wrote her a
line fur an unlimited period an’ they made an appointment fur eftir the trip.
As ahm aye sayin: if yiv a doctor like Dr Wydenmeyer, yiv summit solid tae build oan. Wydenmeyer’s someone who his a feel fur people. Who knows who needs whit an’ when. In addition
tae that – an’ that’s naw tae be sneezed at eether – Dr Wydenmeyer’s oan the side ae they folk who hivnae got it easy. Whit mair kin ye ask fur in a doctor?
That eftirnoon, we took the train tae Paris, via Berne an’ Neuchâtel. Ah hidnae been able tae get haud ae a car. It didnae matter but. It wisnae as faur as ah thought. We’d tae
get fae wan station in Paris tae anither yin, then in – Gare Austerlitz, it wis cawed – we took the night train that goes tae Hendaye via Bordeaux. An amazin journey. Above aw, if
Regula is wi ye an’ yiv enough rid wine.
The next mornin, we crossed the border oan fit. Ah know the area. Hendaye an’ Irún hiv grown tae become wan place, practically. Ye kid take a kinda tram an’
aw. Ah preferred tae walk but.
So we foot it across an’ in Irún go tae where the intercity buses set aff fae. Afore we leave, we hiv an aniseed brandy oan the rocks an’ some guid ham. Then it’s aboot
five oors oan the bus, then the ferry, fae the toon o’er tae the village.
Wee Stofer’s hoose is pretty high up oan a hill. Course, it’s in a village. It’s jist at the very top but. Fortunately, we hidnae a loatae luggage, cos
itherwise, itherwise we’d’ve been flaggin oan the way up, Regi wi aw her worries, an’ me wi aw ma muscles (not).
That it’s so faur up isnae whit sets the hoose inherited by wee Stofer apart the maist. Whit sets it apart is above aw the wee ferry ye take tae get tae the village. Ye kin, in fact, drive
a car up tae it. Ye hiv tae hiv wan first but – a car ah mean. Fae the toon, ye see, the bus takes ye tae, ye kin
see
Stofer’s village oan the ither side ae the bay. If ye want
tae go there but, ye kin eether dae a massive detour by road or take the direct route across the water. Course, we preferred the sea option.
It’s ferryboats wi naw much ae a hull we’re talkin aboot. They’d be constantly runnin ashore itherwise. Oan sandbars. Even wi naw much ae a hull but, yiv nae guarantee ye wont
run ashore suddenly an’ be stuck fur an oor, waitin fur high tide.
That’s how the ferrymen need tae know the route like the back ae their hauns. Sometimes, it’s centimetres that ur at stake. That’s whit wan ae them tellt me anyhow. Aboot
sixty, he wis, an’ he immediately started tae chat oan the ferry. His German wis really guid. Turned oot, he’d worked in Germany furra lang time. Near Karlsruhe, in a carpentry shop. A
really nice guy, honestly.
When we tellt him we wur fae Switzerland an’ wur goney spend a few weeks in anither Swiss guy’s hoose, he said he knew the hoose we meant. It hid belonged
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