Again and Again
Again and again, however we know the landscape of love and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names, and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others fall: again and again the two of us walk out together under the ancient trees, lie down again and again among the flowers, face to face with the sky. Rainer Maria Rilke

A Walk

My eyes already touch the sunny hill. going far ahead of the road I have begun. So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp; it has inner light, even from a distance- and charges us, even if we do not reach it, into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are; a gesture waves us on answering our own wave... but what we feel is the wind in our faces. Rainer Maria Rilke Occasionally I find a poem that exactly describes everything I am feeling. This is one of them. I really want a book of Rilke's poetry, I think its absolutely beautiful.

I got it! Finally, after I thought it was too late, got the email today! Full scholarship for next year and an answer to prayer :) But I'm even more scared now... so so much pressure :/ ah well, one step at a time. I don't really know how to blog about the trip I just returned from, there is just too much to remember- too many stories to tell! So top 5 highlights of Switzerland: 1. fondues (obviously)- they add kirsh and white wine to emmental and gruyere cheese- amazing 2. Chocolate and tour of chocolate factory with free samples hehe 3. skiing and Chatal, the little french town we visited because the slopes near us were closed- I love the fact that greg and my skiing mostly consisted of riding up chairlifts to the top of the mountain, finding the nearest cafe and guzzling hot chocolate and pizza whilst pretending to ski- lovely. 4. Christmas markets, and visiting the castle of Byron's poem, and walking along lake Geneva- so beautiful! 5. It was Gregzi's first time in snow so watching him get all excited to make his first ever snowman, and have his first real snow fight was so cute :) Oh and Vevey was one of my favourite places I've been too- stunning little town all lit up with Christmas lights on the water's edge. Oh and raclette night and the fondue we had on Dave's birthday :) Oh and curling- which I sucked at but was lots of fun, mostly because dad and I won :)

Okay now for Grundlesee in Austria: 1. getting drunk with the locals and being reminded to not take myself or life so seriously (good advice, particularly well received by my 2nd bottle of wine) 2. Christmas eve- homemade christmas decorations, twig for a tree, and charades and other games, and the worst snowman ever :) 3. Salzburg and the Christmas market there, and my Christmas prezzie from greg- a swarovski crystal gingerbread man charm- very sweet. 4. Walking around the beautiful lake with greg (was romantic at first then got over walking... was sooooo far!) 5. View from my hotel room, supper with mum, and table tennis battles

Vienna: 1. Christmas day and new year's eve- amazing night of different concerts and a spectacular fireworks display at the hofburg palace. 2. The fact that we were staying in an incredibly dodgy neighbourhood called rank gas (still makes me laugh) 3. Pandas 4. The leopold and Belvedere- love Klimt, and the Michaelangelo drawing exhibition- the biggest exhibition of his work in 50 years- was so beautiful and inspiring 5. Greg and my cake tour of Vienna- there are two very old cafes that claim to have the original recipe for sachertorte- chocolate cake with apricot jam and chocolate as icing- so we made it our mission to try both to judge for ourselves- mmmmm died and went to chocolate heaven. Have to also mention butterfly world and the serviette folding exhibition- now I realise this does not sound that fantastic but the step by step dvd on how to make a lily and shoe from serviettes really excited me :P

England: 1. The farm we were staying on and seeing my family 2. meeting up with Andrew and his friend Estelle and all staying together in London for the weekend 3. The panda hat, and the Cotswolds, and our trip to Oxford 4. Our supper at the pub full of Kenneth Graham memorabilia- love Wind in the Willows 5. Gauguin exhibition and trip to Camden market

So there we have it, top five of each place we went to :) It really was an amazing trip, had so much fun, but I was so happy to be home. No matter where I go I always come back and realise that I really do live in the most beautiful city in the world- nothing compares to home. And it was so so nice to see my friends again- love them all and missed them ridiculously! So now I'm back and we'll just have to wait and see what happens next :)

restless and afraid I don't like change, falling down the rabbit hole for real, its a dark scary place and I drank the potion and I'm growing to big to fit, door forever shut, secret garden remains closed, perhaps the robin holds the key. who are you asks the caterpillar? The girl walks away in a red dress, autumn leaves scrunching underfoot. because she doesn't know? maybe, or perhaps its because she does. The cheshire cat grins and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. and somewhere, softly a fox pads away leaving foxy footprints in the snow.