But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We all met up by the main office at 3:50pm Friday afternoon, and got loaded into three busses that would drive us the 150km to Ystad. Once there, we were immediately QUITE impressed by the place. It was big, luxurious and as always, a large NC banner had been hung in front of the place, so everybody would know who we were ;-)
We were more or less the only guest there all weekend. But granted, with 173 people with money to burn, they didn't really need to have all rooms occupied ;-)
After we'd arrived and gotten checked in, we all migrated to the outdoor grill area where welcome drinks and chips were being served before dinner.
Dinner was a really nice grill-buffet, and afterwards the grill area was turned into a dance area instead :-D I didn't stay for much of that though, as I was really tired, and wanted to be my best for the following day's activities! :-)
The weather the following morning could NOT have been better. We ate breakfast outside in the sun, and then eagerly awaiting our guides' arrival, so they could take us to the various activities.
Unfortunately, this was where we received the bad news - there wasn't enough wind to go paragliding. HUGE disappointment! We were 28 people who'd signed up for that activity, and couldn't believe that now we wouldn't get to go! Actually, I think it was bad planning that they didn't have a backup plan, but they kept waiting for the wind to pick up, so perhaps it was a very close call.
Anyway, while waiting we got to sit on a nice green hill and enjoy the sun, so not all was lost ;) It wasn't quite what I'd signed up for though. They also brought out a giant ball where two people could be strapped inside, and then roll down the hill.
I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to try, because I don't do well with being dizzy, but it looked fun, and rolling head-first is usually less of an issue than rolling on my side, so I decided to give it a go after all. I'm glad I did! I got a lot less dizzy than I'd feared, and it was so much fun! (Apparently the others could hear me laugh all the way down ;-) Jesper - my partner in crime - later said that I laughed and he squealed. LOL!) It was a lot more fun than I'd expected it to be. Still not what I'd signed up for, but at least I'd gotten something out of the morning.
We were driven back to the hotel for lunch and regrouping before the afternoon's activities. I'd signed up for 'Spa and massage' and had a lovely time first enjoying the outdoor spa with a glass of champagne in my hand and the company of about half of my female colleagues, and afterwards getting a nice, relaxing massage :)
Because there were two who'd cancelled at the last minute, two of us got to have two massages, and the others very kindly offered it to the two of us who'd been supposed to go paragliding. I thought that was really sweet of them :)
Once we'd gotten showered and dressed we met up by the outdoor grill again, to sit and relax for awhile before dinner. I don't do well with company 24/7, so while I love my colleauges, I also need some 'me' time, so I found a chair in the sun in a quiet part of the grill area and sat there with my book for awhile. I could have curled up on my bed instead, or in one of the many lounge areas, but I wanted to be outside, and I wanted to be together with my colleagues, even if I was on the outskirts of things. Another colleague came to join me later with his book, so I wasn't completely alone in feeling that way ;-)
Dinner was good, and nicely interspersed with various speeches. Naturally our boss had to give an anniversary speech, and as there'd been a contest of the best/funniest anecdote of the past 10 years, we also got some of those retold. The winner (no surprise) involved mooning a Scientology church, breaking the window and falling through, getting arrested and using the "one phone call" to order a pizza! No, I am NOT kidding. And no, he's no longer working here... although not because of that ;)
Oh! So funny! I sat next to one of the three founders of NC. Constantly through the meal he'd say stuff like, "Could you pass me the wine, sweeti... Maria?", "Swee... Maria, would you please hand me the salt" etc. Finally, I just laughed and said, "It's okay, Andre, you're allowed to call me Sweetie!" Teehee!
After dinner the bar and dancing area opened, and I had lots of fun mingling and talking to my best friends among my colleagues.
The busses arrived to take us back to Copenhagen shortly after breakfast the following morning, so we didn't even have a full 48 hours there, but I enjoyed myself SO much the time we did have. I think I may even have enjoyed myself more here than I've done on the skiing trips in years past. I felt more included (being an introvert in a group of extroverts can make one feel slightly left out at times), and I actually liked that it wasn't for as long, so I didn't even have time to miss Lars :) Besides, the weather could NOT have been more perfect! It would have been quite a let-down if it had rained, but we were blessed with warm sunshine from lovely blue skies the entire weekend. Lovely!
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