Dear Mother and Father,
These past few weeks have been so exciting! Lina organised a secret journey for anyone who wanted to visit a certain hobbit on his birthday, so we all gathered in Stock the middle of the night, so no one would catch us. I was quite surprised at how many hobbits turned up! I don't think we can keep our secret journey very secret for long if so many hobbits know of it!
Once we had a sizeable group gathered, we lit our lamps and headed over the Brandywine Bridge, ready with the excuse that we were just going to admire the view there if anyone happened to catch sight of us. No one did and we passed Buckland without any trouble.
It wasn't until we got to Bree that we met with any trouble, which is where Jardic disappeared on some business. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but I heard rumours of him meeting with a Prince or even of him being one! Such nonsense! I'm sure he was just stealing a few freshly baked breadrolls or something naughty like that!
A few people joined us while we passed through Bree and Lina said there was no point in holding up the pretence any longer. Not as if anyone would have cared any more anyway, we were well out of the Shire so no wagging tongues to let on besides our own. The Lone Lands were as yellow and dry as ever but we had been travelling for so long that some hobbits were convinced that Ost Guruth was Rivendell! How disappointed they were when they found out we still had a long, long way to walk!
The view from the Last Bridge was admired when we finally got there, but not for long. Everyone was anxious to get past the Trollshaws, worried that we might run into a troll or worse, more than one! Luck was on our side however and we didn't meet a single one on our trek.
Once past the Ford of Bruinen, we climbed a very steep hill that had more than one hobbit huffing and puffing for breath. Short legs and stout tummies are not the best figures for hillclimbing. But we pressed on, because we had been told our journey's end wasn't that far any more. And then we had the very great luck to meet up with an elf or two who guided us to our destination.
And what a destination it was! The view from the hillside looking down into the valley was simply incredible. The Last Homely House as it is called looked so inviting that we hurried down the last hill to get inside, where to our amazement, we found it had no ceiling! Or the centre court didn't anyway. So you could see the clouds passing. It even had a tree or two growing in it! Imagine that, trees, growing inside a house!
And then, finally, we all filed into a very large hall. Not the largest I've seen, I've been to Thorin's Hall a time or two, and a beautiful hall it is. But this one was so comfortable... homely I suppose is the best word to describe it. There were three huge fireplaces at one end, giving off a cosy glow to the whole room and beautiful stained glass windows let in sunlight. And the ceiling had some sort of drapery hanging from it, covered in stars so it looked like the night sky. Simply marvellous. And then we saw who we had come for. Everyone congratulated him (even though his birthday wasn't until the next day) and gave him mathoms and then those who weren't utterly exhausted from the journey played music and danced in the Hall of Fire as we were told it was called. I didn't stay long for that, I was very tired myself.
I stayed in Rivendell for only a night or two, because I wanted to be back in the Shire in time for the house crawl in Songburrow, though I could have stayed far longer, there was so much to see! Such a peaceful place. I'll never forget the beauty and serenity of that valley. Perhaps one day I'll be able to "not" visit it again. If I can find the way.
Your loving Zara
((OOC: More pics!)) http://s234.photobucket.com/user/Duissane/slideshow/Zarapics/2013-09-21%20NOT%20walking%20to%20Rivendell
