Family ski holiday - Off Piste no but Pissed off certainly!

Wow! Just back from skiing with the family and the bank account has been cleaned out. The strong Euro (or weak pound depending on your viewpoint) had made a huge difference to all those extra costs even for an inclusive chalet deal as we had. Lunch was never less than £100 for 5 of us and a beer in the evening cost £7.50 per pint. Wine was at least £20 per bottle and even the local dish of Tarte Flette (potatoes, bacon and Rebluchon cheese) was around £13! It was hard to enjoy eating out with prices so high but when your kids have been skiing hard all morning in -14 degrees you can't just ignore their lunchtime hunger.

So glad to be back in Oban - we went out for dinner a couple of days later to celebrate both being back in the home of seafood and shellfish (try eating fish in a ski resort - not a good idea) and having change left over after paying the bill. There was a time in Oban many, many years ago when you would struggle to eat our well in the winter. What a different story now. The range and quality on offer here (and open all year) competes on equal terms with the best in the central belt and as far as seafood goes, Oban is far superior. It's nice to see the restaurants here still busy in the winter. Visitors come to Oban all year round now and the tourism industry is far better geared to the off season than in previous years.

I hope the Europeans take full advantage of the weak pound and come and visit us - they will surely find us a very cost effective destination. If you are thinking of going to Europe for your summer holidays beware the costs! Even better, book a holiday in the UK - save money, get a gold star from the Green Lobby and do your bit to support the tourism industry. Go one better and come to Oban. Sometimes you have to go away to appreciate what you have on your doorstep but after a week in the Alps I am delighted to be back home.