Episode 33: Rustic Mountain Lunch & Planning Activities — 5,000 Core English Words

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Chapter thirty-three. A free day in the mountains.

It is the fourth morning at Silver Falls. Ryan and Emma have walked to the hot springs, sat in the warm water in complete silence, and watched the sun come over the slope. Now it is almost noon, and they are hungry, with nothing planned.

Listen to how they look for a place to eat, ask what there is to do in the region, and book an activity.

Emma: That was pure pleasure. I could have stayed in the water all day.

Ryan: My knee doesn't hurt. For the first time in a year, it's not painful at all. Clearly, hot water was the missing strategy.

Emma: I told you. Now, lunch. Do you want to eat at the hotel again?

Ryan: Let's try the town. Let me look something up. There's a listing of restaurants here. This one has four and a half stars, and two hundred reviews.

Emma: What kind of food?

Ryan: It says, "Small family kitchen. Local produce, home-made bread, soup that changes every day." One review says, "A unique setting. Cute, quiet, and the owner is a master of pie."

Emma: That's the one. Is it open now?

Ryan: It opens at eleven thirty. It's a five-minute walk from here, across the bridge.

Emma: Do we need to book?

Ryan: It says no reservations. First come, first served. Therefore, we should go now.

Emma: Let me put on my shoes. Careful on the stairs. Your hair is still wet.

Waiter: Hello, welcome. Table for two?

Emma: Yes, please. Could we sit by the window?

Waiter: Of course. Here you go. Can I start you off with something to drink?

Ryan: Just water for now, thanks. What's the special today?

Waiter: Today's soup is mushroom, and the special is trout from the lake, with potatoes and a green salad. We also have a vegetable pie, which is what we're known for.

Emma: I'll have the trout, please.

Ryan: Is the pie big?

Waiter: It's a grand piece of pie. Nobody has ever complained about the size.

Ryan: Then the pie for me, and a bowl of the soup to share.

Waiter: Good choice. It'll be about fifteen minutes. Everything is made to order.

Emma: Look at this place. Every wall is covered in artwork. Is that a comic?

Ryan: It's an illustration from a children's book. It says the author lived upstairs. A novelist who came here to write, and never left.

Emma: What a plot. I'd read that.

Waiter: That was my grandmother. She wrote forty books in this room. Mostly puzzles and stories for kids. Her studio is still upstairs, exactly as she left it.

Emma: That's a wonderful coincidence. I teach art to children.

Waiter: Then you must see it after lunch. I'll take you up.

After lunch, back at the hotel, Ryan stops at the front desk.

Ryan: Excuse me. We have a free afternoon. What is there to do around here?

Receptionist: Quite a lot. Are you looking for something active, or something relaxing?

Ryan: Something in between. My wife is the active one.

Receptionist: Then here are a few ideas. There's the boat on the lake, which you've already booked for Thursday. The captain lets guests sail for a few minutes, if the wind is gentle.

Ryan: She'll love that.

Receptionist: There's also kayaking. You can rent a kayak by the hour at the outdoor center, and they give you a kit with a life jacket and a spray cover. You don't need experience.

Ryan: Is it safe? I don't want to drown on vacation.

Receptionist: It's very safe. The lake is calm, and nobody is allowed to dive from the boats. The water is cold, so we forbid it.

Ryan: How much is it per person?

Receptionist: Twenty dollars an hour. Then there's the village. There's a small market on Wednesdays, a potter who lets you throw your own bowl on the wheel, and a wood shop where a man carves animals.

Ryan: And in the evenings?

Receptionist: Tonight there's live music in the bar. A local band. They play a mix of genres, and the theme is old film tunes. It's not too loud.

Ryan: Do we need to book in advance?

Receptionist: For the kayaks, yes, a day ahead. For the music, just come down. I'll put your name on a table.

Ryan: Thank you. You've been very thorough. I'll talk to the leader of our expedition.

Emma: Well? What did she say?

Ryan: Kayaks, a pottery wheel, a man who carves bears, and a band tonight.

Emma: All of it. I want all of it.

Ryan: I knew you'd say that. Can I make a small speech?

Emma: Formally?

Ryan: Formally. My expectation of this holiday was to do nothing. Instead, I have walked every day. I have climbed to an upper pool. My ankle is the size of a ball.

Emma: It's not. I looked. You hit it on a rock, and it has a blue dot.

Ryan: It's a deadly injury. I could injure it again. Therefore, I vote for the pottery, which is done sitting down.

Emma: And I vote for the kayak. So it's kayak versus sofa. Again.

Ryan: It's a continuous competition. A tournament. You're the winner every time.

Emma: Because I'm more aggressive. In a good spirit.

Ryan: You'd tackle me to the ground for a mountain.

Emma: I would. Here's a creative solution. Today, pottery and the band. Tomorrow, the kayak. I book it now.

Ryan: Adequate. No. Better than adequate. That's vital to our relationship.

Emma: I learned from the best. You marry a planner, and you start to plan.

Ryan: One condition. You don't take photographs of me in the kayak. No lens. I'll pose for nobody.

Emma: I can't promise that. Your face in a life jacket would be a discovery for science.

Ryan: I'll look stupid.

Emma: You'll look identical to every other man in a kayak. That's the beauty of it.

Ryan: Fine. One shot. And I'm allowed to shave first.

Emma: Do you know what I noticed? The noise in my head is gone. No electrical hum. No school. I can peer at a tree for ten minutes, and it's enough.

Ryan: The reduction is real. I was reading the hotel magazine, and there's an article about it. A diver wrote it. She says the mind needs contrast: deep and shallow, loud and quiet. Without it, there's a kind of slow destruction.

Emma: That's a powerful thought. I'd like to reflect on it, in a kayak.

Ryan: And I'd like to reflect on it with a pie. Did you see the photographs in the hall, by the way? Churches, a mosque, a temple, all carved out of ice by a man in the village. He had a commercial agent in the city, and then he quit.

Emma: Everybody here has quit something. It's the script of this town. Cast: one novelist, one ice carver, one tired engineer.

Ryan: The composition isn't finished. Add one art teacher who will ban me from the sofa.

Emma: Clap for her. She just booked two kayaks.

Ryan: Already? Did you run a marathon to the desk?

Emma: I used the phone. Imagination, Ryan. Come on. Let's go and pitch some clay at a wheel, and I'll punch your bowl into shape.

Ryan: Shoot. I forgot my wallet upstairs.

Emma: I have mine. Eliminate the excuses. Let's go.

That is the end of chapter thirty-three. A pie, a studio above a restaurant, and a plan: pottery today, kayaks tomorrow.

Keep these with you: "Is it open now?" "What's the special today?" "What is there to do around here?" "How much is it per person?" "Do we need to book in advance?"

In the next chapter, ten days have gone by like one. They carry their bags down to the lobby, and it is time to check out.

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