At the terminal, it was time to say my goodbyes. This is what I had been dreading and sure enough, there were a few tears. I was reluctant to leave them and walk through Security, but finally Duncan gave me a push in the right direction and I made my way onwards.
My flight with KLM started off well, but the pleasantness began to erode as our flight became delayed and the clock ticked nearer and nearer to the departure time of my connecting flight. When we finally landed at Amsterdam, the plane seemed to take forever to taxi and I was practically tearing my hair out. There were now less than 5 minutes left until my departure gate would be closed! Schipol Airport turned out to be huge and in a panic I ran along with no idea where I was going. Needless to say, I missed the flight and ended up rather tearful at the KLM desk asking for help. Fortunately for me, the lovely assistant arranged a new flight and even gave me some vouchers to apologise for my inconvenience. Much cheered up, I decided to kill time waiting for my new flight by using my 10 Euro food voucher at Cafe Chocolat, where I treated myself to a delicious chocolate milkshake and a dark chocolate mousse! Extravagent at 10am? Definitely, but it made me feel better after all the drama!
When my new flight arrived in Zurich (after an unexpected changeover in Geneva) it was 4pm; a whole 5 hours later than originally planned. Joyously I was reunited with my suitcase - which had thankfully followed me despite my crazy altered flightpath - and dragged it behind me as I made my way through the airport to the trains, bought my ticket and hopped aboard. It was a very different train than I'm used to seeing. It had an upstairs and a downstairs! I found a space for me and my case and settled in for the 3 hour trip. Once or twice I definitely nodded off; I was exhausted by this point, but I was concerned about keeping an eye on my luggage, so I sort of lay across the bags and shut my eyes for a little while.
Once at Frutigen station, I caught my bus connection over to the village and was then picked up by a Chalet staff member and brought, at last, to my final destination!!
It was 8.30pm and all was dark by this time, but I could see the scattered lights of the town across the valley, and the snow covered peaks of the mountains lit by the moon. Snow lay thickly all around the Chalet too; a fact which greatly excited me as I'd been hoping for plenty of whitestuff!
Upstairs in the attic bedroom of the Chalet, I met my five fellow Spring team members busy playing an exciting game of 'Pass the Pigs'. They were all very friendly, and from different parts of the world. We will all be sharing a room for the first week to give us the chance to get to know each other better. Can't wait for tomorrow when training begins!
