Month: January 2014

Dear Europe (Day 4)

The one thing I had insisted on doing while I was in Switzerland was to visit the Jung Frau. And while I was the one who originally insisted upon it during planning, everyone was super excited about by the time we got to Switzerland.  So we woke up super early on day 4 and raced to our local bus station to catch the first bus out of town.  Now a lot of people will suggest that you buy tickets to go up via the internet the day before.  This is a brilliant plan as long as you’re not African.  You see…we tried very hard to book our spots before hand, but none of the African countries were listed as “approved” on the website, so we were unable to secure our tickets and therefore had to leave as early as possible and hope for the best.  Sadly….this particular dream of mine was not to come true.

We were super early and managed to catch the sunrise en route...it was spectacular!
We were super early and managed to catch the sunrise en route…it was spectacular!

We were there super early, but all the spots for the day had been filled.  For a while we walked around town feeling all sulky and miff and without any real plans for the day.  We had been so sure that we’d be able to go up that we never even considered the possibility of failure. Then finally we decided to have a cup of coffee and a croissant at one of the little coffee shops.  I’m not sure if it really was the very best coffee and croissant I’d ever had…but it certainly felt that way and the friendly manner of the people around us and the realisation that we were in Switzerland and surrounded by beauty no matter where we went soon dawned on us again and we were determined to save the day.

The water around this area was very different - still en route
The water around this area was very different – still en route
Attempting to cheer each other up...our sulkiness was quite bad...I won't lie
Attempting to cheer each other up…our sulkiness was quite bad…I won’t lie

 

With some advice from my friend’s mother (who knows Switzerland better than most) we hopped on the first train to Murren.  This little town was super beautiful and had amazing views, and while it might not have been going up to the Jung Frau, it was still pretty spectacular.

How gorgeous is the little town of Murren?
How gorgeous is the little town of Murren?
The train going up the mountain from Murren
The train going up the mountain from Murren

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Our lunchtime view
Our lunchtime view
An OLD swiss home
An OLD swiss home
More glaciers! It's a bit ridiculous how excited I got every time I spotted one of these
More glaciers! It’s a bit ridiculous how excited I got every time I spotted one of these

We ended the day with a beautiful ferry ride across Lake Lucerne from the station in Lucerne to the port closest to home.  I could help but think how awesome it must be to live and work there.  Take the trains/buses to work in the morning, then after work you take the ferry home, have a drink on board and see the beauty all around you.  I would be the calmest and nicest person ever. No traffic, no rude people..amazing no?

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Because sometimes you have to look at the world through rose tinted glasses
Because sometimes you have to look at the world through rose-tinted glasses

Dear Readers

So here I am once again apologizing at being terrible at keeping my blog updated.  It’s been 4 months since I returned from holiday and I still haven’t finished all my holiday posts, nor have I been keeping you updated the way I normally would.  The truth is there are plenty of reasons for this.

1) Shortly after posting my last post I discovered my site was broken.  It was still there but it had somehow lost the last 6 months’ posts AND the latest post was only 50% visible.  We tried everything.  Unpublishing and republishing stuff, talking to people who know their stuff AND a friend of mine actually started helping me design a whole new site.  Then, one day late December I decided that today is the day I fix this problem.  After hours of trying various things I started randomly unpublishing and republishing RANDOM posts again and would you believe it…..blog fixed.  I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or angry…but hey, I’m back:)

2) I didn’t have all that much to write about (apart from the holiday posts, which I promise to finish soon) and the things that have been happening are somewhat personal

3) It seems some things in my life are about to change.  2013 certainly lined up one or two things that promises to start 2014 off with a bang, and I look forward to sharing these when the time is right.

In the meantime: I am happy, happier than I’ve been in a while.  I have amazing friends who love and support me every day.  I’ve learnt that life will surprise you with amazing things in the weirdest of ways if you’re open to it. My family…well, they are just the most amazing people ever and I thank God every single day for them. 2013 was a great year for me, and by the sounds of it 2014 plans on being even more spectacular, and I look forward to sharing these moments with all of you:)

Love
Ruby
xxxx