2018: The Year of Wondrous Reading Adventures!
Hello All!
It's Emmaleah, yes I am still alive and how I have missed you all. I am so sorry for my lack in posting lately, I haven't had access to a laptop for a few months and then when I received my school laptop, someone accidentally split my juice all over it which effectively killed it! So now I have a spare and now I can finally post, as it is Friday! Yay!
So, my Musketeers, it is finally 2018, the year of the Puppers. As I write this, I am just silently appreciating the beauty of my dog. A natural born model. I hope your puppers are well. It is also the year of my Goodreads challenge reaching 50 books and it is also my final year of schooling, and then I can start flying people around the world! That's right, I have the most amazing ambition to become a female pilot, one of the few but thankfully increasing women flying in the world.
So far, this year has been EXTREMELY eventful. The story is long and I'll probably wind it out into some grand adventure as I do love to do, but indeed, it was a grand adventure so I will do exactly that, wind it out.
I am lucky enough to be given access to travel the world quite frequently due to my father working for an airline. Therefore, my school holidays usually involved big, long European adventures that last a fair month once or twice a year. This year, starting from the 7th of January, my family and I flew out to London for a second time in my life, and it was just as stunning as the first time I went in 2015. I spent my Pounds on books of course, both new and wonderfully old pieces from the early 20th century and later. Though it was winter, we were given glimpses of the sun which the English were positively thrilled about but for someone who comes from Australia and whom experiences the gorgeous waving of the sun every single day of the year, I was happy when it rained, when it was misty and cold and cloudy. My family and I were those bright faces in the crowed of rainy-blue Londoners.
Anyway, we then flew out from Heathrow so Zurich on Swiss air and I had the scariest landing of my life, ever. The wind was crossing at two different points that the aircraft landed sideways in a cross wind landing and the cloud was so heavy with sleet and so thick and low that we never saw the ground from the sky while over Switzerland, not once. We then traveled by several trains through Bern and many beautiful landscapes to the alps, or the Valais. Then, we went by a small and extremely slow train that climbed the alps like a goat to the village of Zermatt, just under the Matterhorn to which you may recognize as the mountain on the Toblerone bar or in the Paramount Pictures logo. It was so unbelievably beautiful and so cold and just so amazing that I have no words to describe how it was, you must simply just travel there.
We were meant to be catching a Glacier Express train to St. Moritz after 4 nights in Zermatt (The top half of this train is made completely from glass so that you can look at the glaciers and the villages and landscapes as you pass through) but the snowfall was so heavy and continuous that it caused several major avalanches that cut us off from the world. The trains tracks were ruined in a rockslide in the village below and avalanches had blocked the tunnels and remaining tracks so no trains were running at all, it was so chaotic that people were being air-lifted out by helicopter, as it was the only way out of this alpine village. We had to line up for days on end just to get a ticket on the helicopter and then more lines were required to pay for the ticket and then to get helicoptered out. It was so dramatic that it was displayed on the news around the world. News also came in of avalanches destroying villages in the Italian alps which was literally just over the mountain crest. Thankfully, we had found a hotel which had existed since the 1800s and it was absolutely amazing, with wonderful food, Ill link it below. This hotel and the people who worked there were some of the nicest people I have ever come to meet, they understood our issues and understood how stressed we were and they really helped us out and made us feel at home and this, I am so thankful.
On the day that our helicopter was meant to be flying out, I witnessed the biggest avalanche to hit Zermatt in around 60 years. The first symptom of the beast was when I was laying sick as a dog on the chairs of my room, reading. I heard a massive, long crackling noise, like a thick piece of dried clay and ice slowly cracking along the center. Then there was a boom, like a rocket and then a blackout. My little sister, who so diligently waited in the heavy snowfall outside with my mother and father for hours while waiting to pay for out tickets came rushing inside, tears in her eyes telling me of the massive avalanche that had hit us. Being half asleep and sick, I was extremely confused but not scared? Then she told us to bring our suitcases as we needed to wait for our call to the helicopter as our tickets had been accepted. After saying goodbye to the hotel and the wonderful staff, we pulled our extremely heavy suitcases down the slushy road among the hundreds of people, myself about to die because of how badly my chest hurt due to being sick and while trying to balance several bags and yes, I slipped in the snow a whole lot, it wasn't very enjoyable.
As we waited in this second train station with my father lost somewhere in the throng of pushing people waiting to pay after getting their ticket confirmed and as people who hadn't even bought a ticket yet tried to push through in impatience and confusion, I found myself outside and I found myself a little bit scarred. Let me tell you this, Avalanches are horrific and they are more hellish than what you'd see in a move or on TV. The sound and the sight together, I will not forget it. For one, the sight of an Avalanche as it comes straight for you and the thought in your head that you have weaken muscles from catching the flu that you won't be able to run, closely resembles those scenes in books when the characters whole life flashes before their eyes before they pass on, my happiness of the holidays so far certainly did flash before my eyes but the most horrific, was the sound. I'd say it is like a really low fighter jet mixed with heavy thunder and the sound of ice against ice, which resembles the screaming of human. Thankfully, the avalanche diverted after taking out a large stretched on pine trees and it ended up covering the middle half of the valley, also taking out the heli-pad. This meant, one more night in Zermatt.
Finally, we got to fly out after several days of stress and push-back. Despite being relieved to fly out, I was sad to leave for I feel as if I have left a piece of my soul in that valley, on that mountain and in that historic hotel, I will return for sure. We missed our flights home, but I got to stay in Zurich for a night! I missed my first week of school which was also my last first week of school and when I finally arrived home, the most holiday depression hit hard. Despite being so stressful, I honestly want to go back! This heat is too overwhelming. Stayed tuned for some photos!
So, that was my start to 2018! I hope yours hasn't been as stressful but still so wonderful in all!
So, I will finally say, that this year will be great for both life and bookish experience! So have a good one all, I am here for you all.
Love Emmaleah,
Your fellow Book Musketeer Xx
It's Emmaleah, yes I am still alive and how I have missed you all. I am so sorry for my lack in posting lately, I haven't had access to a laptop for a few months and then when I received my school laptop, someone accidentally split my juice all over it which effectively killed it! So now I have a spare and now I can finally post, as it is Friday! Yay!
So, my Musketeers, it is finally 2018, the year of the Puppers. As I write this, I am just silently appreciating the beauty of my dog. A natural born model. I hope your puppers are well. It is also the year of my Goodreads challenge reaching 50 books and it is also my final year of schooling, and then I can start flying people around the world! That's right, I have the most amazing ambition to become a female pilot, one of the few but thankfully increasing women flying in the world.
So far, this year has been EXTREMELY eventful. The story is long and I'll probably wind it out into some grand adventure as I do love to do, but indeed, it was a grand adventure so I will do exactly that, wind it out.
I am lucky enough to be given access to travel the world quite frequently due to my father working for an airline. Therefore, my school holidays usually involved big, long European adventures that last a fair month once or twice a year. This year, starting from the 7th of January, my family and I flew out to London for a second time in my life, and it was just as stunning as the first time I went in 2015. I spent my Pounds on books of course, both new and wonderfully old pieces from the early 20th century and later. Though it was winter, we were given glimpses of the sun which the English were positively thrilled about but for someone who comes from Australia and whom experiences the gorgeous waving of the sun every single day of the year, I was happy when it rained, when it was misty and cold and cloudy. My family and I were those bright faces in the crowed of rainy-blue Londoners.
Anyway, we then flew out from Heathrow so Zurich on Swiss air and I had the scariest landing of my life, ever. The wind was crossing at two different points that the aircraft landed sideways in a cross wind landing and the cloud was so heavy with sleet and so thick and low that we never saw the ground from the sky while over Switzerland, not once. We then traveled by several trains through Bern and many beautiful landscapes to the alps, or the Valais. Then, we went by a small and extremely slow train that climbed the alps like a goat to the village of Zermatt, just under the Matterhorn to which you may recognize as the mountain on the Toblerone bar or in the Paramount Pictures logo. It was so unbelievably beautiful and so cold and just so amazing that I have no words to describe how it was, you must simply just travel there.
We were meant to be catching a Glacier Express train to St. Moritz after 4 nights in Zermatt (The top half of this train is made completely from glass so that you can look at the glaciers and the villages and landscapes as you pass through) but the snowfall was so heavy and continuous that it caused several major avalanches that cut us off from the world. The trains tracks were ruined in a rockslide in the village below and avalanches had blocked the tunnels and remaining tracks so no trains were running at all, it was so chaotic that people were being air-lifted out by helicopter, as it was the only way out of this alpine village. We had to line up for days on end just to get a ticket on the helicopter and then more lines were required to pay for the ticket and then to get helicoptered out. It was so dramatic that it was displayed on the news around the world. News also came in of avalanches destroying villages in the Italian alps which was literally just over the mountain crest. Thankfully, we had found a hotel which had existed since the 1800s and it was absolutely amazing, with wonderful food, Ill link it below. This hotel and the people who worked there were some of the nicest people I have ever come to meet, they understood our issues and understood how stressed we were and they really helped us out and made us feel at home and this, I am so thankful.
On the day that our helicopter was meant to be flying out, I witnessed the biggest avalanche to hit Zermatt in around 60 years. The first symptom of the beast was when I was laying sick as a dog on the chairs of my room, reading. I heard a massive, long crackling noise, like a thick piece of dried clay and ice slowly cracking along the center. Then there was a boom, like a rocket and then a blackout. My little sister, who so diligently waited in the heavy snowfall outside with my mother and father for hours while waiting to pay for out tickets came rushing inside, tears in her eyes telling me of the massive avalanche that had hit us. Being half asleep and sick, I was extremely confused but not scared? Then she told us to bring our suitcases as we needed to wait for our call to the helicopter as our tickets had been accepted. After saying goodbye to the hotel and the wonderful staff, we pulled our extremely heavy suitcases down the slushy road among the hundreds of people, myself about to die because of how badly my chest hurt due to being sick and while trying to balance several bags and yes, I slipped in the snow a whole lot, it wasn't very enjoyable.
As we waited in this second train station with my father lost somewhere in the throng of pushing people waiting to pay after getting their ticket confirmed and as people who hadn't even bought a ticket yet tried to push through in impatience and confusion, I found myself outside and I found myself a little bit scarred. Let me tell you this, Avalanches are horrific and they are more hellish than what you'd see in a move or on TV. The sound and the sight together, I will not forget it. For one, the sight of an Avalanche as it comes straight for you and the thought in your head that you have weaken muscles from catching the flu that you won't be able to run, closely resembles those scenes in books when the characters whole life flashes before their eyes before they pass on, my happiness of the holidays so far certainly did flash before my eyes but the most horrific, was the sound. I'd say it is like a really low fighter jet mixed with heavy thunder and the sound of ice against ice, which resembles the screaming of human. Thankfully, the avalanche diverted after taking out a large stretched on pine trees and it ended up covering the middle half of the valley, also taking out the heli-pad. This meant, one more night in Zermatt.
Finally, we got to fly out after several days of stress and push-back. Despite being relieved to fly out, I was sad to leave for I feel as if I have left a piece of my soul in that valley, on that mountain and in that historic hotel, I will return for sure. We missed our flights home, but I got to stay in Zurich for a night! I missed my first week of school which was also my last first week of school and when I finally arrived home, the most holiday depression hit hard. Despite being so stressful, I honestly want to go back! This heat is too overwhelming. Stayed tuned for some photos!
So, that was my start to 2018! I hope yours hasn't been as stressful but still so wonderful in all!
So, I will finally say, that this year will be great for both life and bookish experience! So have a good one all, I am here for you all.
Love Emmaleah,
Your fellow Book Musketeer Xx
Sounds amazing! You have such wonderful adventures.
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