Dear Europe (Day 1)

I’ve been exceptionally bad at blogging lately.  The fact that i returned home from my holiday 7 weeks ago and still haven’t blogged about it is staring me in the face….hating me.  Also..the fact that I just had to realise it was that long ago makes me sad.  I wish I could go back and remain in a state of permanent relaxed adventuring…wouldn’t it be awesome?

BUT I’ve finally managed to navigate my way through my over 1 700 pictures and narrowed them down to just a few.  Even so the holiday was action packed and I’ve decided to break the trip down into 1 and 2 day posts in order to make it easier to read:) So here we go…Day 1:)

As a lot of you know my cousin’s wedding was the day before I was due to depart on my holiday, and due to a lot of work and a lot of wedding arrangements I wasn’t even halfway packed by the morning of the 11th, the day I was due to leave and I had a house full of guests.  The parentals and my aunt were awesome by making me breakfast, helping to tidy the house and reminding me of small things I would need to remember to pack. And shortly after lunchtime we were on our way to the airport, where i spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around reading and drinking the free wine while feeling super excited.  It should be noted that this is not day 1, this was Day 0:P

The obligatory wing picture...I was told I wasn't officially on holiday until I posted one of these
The obligatory wing picture…I was told I wasn’t officially on holiday until I posted one of these

I landed in Frankfurt on the morning of the 12th (super tired as my superpowers include the ability to NOT be able to sleep on a plane and we had spectacular turbulence for the entire 10 hour flight) where i tried out my broken German on the passport control dude. He pretended to be impressed and waved me through without any issues.  I proceeded to my departure gate for my flight to Zürich and waited.  The time to board arrived and there was no sign of the gate being opened.  I asked around, checked the boards and bugged a number of airport staff, but no one could tell me what happened to my flight. 15minutes before my flight was due to depart they finally figured out that my newly assigned gate was 2km down….I nearly died.  Metal ankle or not, I ran the 2km and was rushed through an already closed door onto my connecting flight.  The fault was entirely that of the airline, to which they admitted and my fellow passengers were only mildly annoyed. Crisis only narrowly averted.

I finally arrived in Zürich and had to wait 2 hours for my various traveling companions to arrive from South Africa and Ireland.  The wait was made more bearable by a bucketload of Starbucks. From there we took a bajillion trains and buses (missing 1 or 2) until we finally arrived at our new home in Emmetten. The one thing that completely astounded me was how incredibly CLEAN everything was.  The train and bus stations were all sparkly and non-foul smelling. Not to mention how beautiful and clean the entire country was. Switzerland had managed to steal my heart within minutes.

SEE??? This is the main train station right by the airport...so clean
SEE??? This is the main train station right by the airport…so clean
Tired happy faces:) Waiting for our train
Tired happy faces:) Waiting for our train
Our first glimpse of the Swiss countryside from the train
Our first glimpse of the Swiss countryside from the train
One of the many little towns where we had to change trains/buses
One of the many little towns where we had to change trains/buses
Emmetten! We finally made it:)
Emmetten! We finally made it:)

After a brisk 1km walk from the train station to our apartment with our suitcases in tow, we refreshed our weary bones with a much-needed shower and headed out in search of dinner and to have a good look around the little town we would be calling home for the next week.  Here are some snapshots of the town…..and guys…it was waaaaay past 8pm, but we were convinced it was like 4pm latest.  The looong summer days really messed with our heads.

The little hotel where we had dinner
The little hotel where we had dinner
The start of a beautiful sunset over Emmetten
The start of a beautiful sunset over Emmetten
The little church...guys seriously..this was like just before 9pm
The little church…guys seriously..this was like just before 9pm
I couldn't get over how incredibly and intensely green everything was...so beautiful
I couldn’t get over how incredibly and intensely green everything was…so beautiful
Sunset over Emmetten
Sunset over Emmetten

IMG_4310

We wined and dined ourselves at the local hotel where NO ONE spoke a word of english.  Let’s just say it was a rather entertaining affair with our bit of broken german and the help of google translate in order to figure out the menu and order. And then it was time for bed, as tomorrow we would be heading off to Zermatt, the home of chocolate mountain, more commonly known as the Matterhorn. (To be continued)

Ruby
xxxx

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