The Alps are alive with the sound of music

This weekend in the Alps was one of the best I have ever had. The weather was amazing, the views were spectacular, and the people and conversation was enlightening. Before we got to the Alps though, we had to leave really early in order to get to the mountain with enough time to climb in the daylight. We left from the institute at 8:30 am, and drove about two hours to the Raxbahn, the cable car that went straight up the mountain to the hotel that we would be staying at that night. A couple people got off there and took the cable car up, and the rest of us drove to the other side of the mountain to hike up. We got started around 10:30, and immediately it was hard-going. It was so steep at the beginning and it was a lot hotter than I thought it would be, so immediately I was just panting all the way up. However, I started talking to Brian Gibbs on the way up, who is a Hope alumni from the class of 1984 and lives in Germany with his family. His wife is Austrian and his kids have dual citizenship. He said I should talk to his daughters who were on the hike as well since I could relate to them when it comes to having two nationalities. I got to spend a lot of time talking to Anna and Emily, his daughters, and they are just such cool girls. They are 16 and 14, but are very worldly and interesting people and I'm so glad I got to talk to them. Anna might hopefully be coming to Holland next year to be an exchange student at Black River, so hopefully I will get to see her more next year!

The hike up was simply beautiful. I have never seen views like the ones I saw on the hike, and my breath was really taken away by the sheer awe of the creation around us. I posted the pictures that I took on my Facebook, so go check them out if you want to see them. We stopped three times on the way up. The first hut was a small one with a restaurant, but we decided quickly that we just wanted to keep moving. The second one we got to around lunchtime, so I ate a frankfurter with mustard and sat and drank water and juice. I talked with the Bocks who were on the hike with us at lunch. Patrick has known Doc since basically before he was born and he was born and raised in Vienna. His dad is Austrian and his mom was American, and she also taught German for VSS, so that's how Doc knows her. Patrick has been coming on this hike since he was a baby, and this was his wife's second time. They are lawyers who had been working in the U.S., but had also spent several years in Brussels and are now moving to Cologne, Germany. It was really fun to talk to them and get to know them as well.

After lunch, we had a choice on whether to take the cliff route or the meadow route. The cliff route was a bit longer, but apparently the views were supposed to be amazing, so most of us took that way. And man, was it beautiful. You really felt like you were on top of the world. We were right in the clouds and there are a couple crosses up there that say how high you are.It really was amazing being up there, but more clouds were moving in and it started to rain. We could also hear some thunder in the distance so our guide, Marcus, told us to move faster and not to stop. The rain was pretty light however and the storm never seemed to get to us, so we were doing pretty well. Our third stop was at the Otto Hutte, which is a place that Sigmund Freud spent a lot of time at. We stopped for the bathroom and some ice cream, and started the last leg of the hike. We got to the hotel around 4:30, which was enough time for a rest and a shower before dinner. I was surprised with how good I felt after that huge hike though and it really didn't feel that difficult even though there were lots of steep parts and crazy rocks all over the place.

Dinner was a huge buffet with all sorts of food, and we all stuffed ourselves to replenish after the huge hike. After dinner, the senior seminar class and anyone else who wanted to heard a presentation from Brian Gibbs. He has talked to the class every year for a very long time during the mountain trip, and every year I guess it's a little bit different. He spent a lot of his presentation trying to give us ideas of what to write our Philosophy of Life papers about, by giving us examples from his life. He's lived a very interesting life and I was definitely inspired from his presentation. After he presented he talked a bit more with a few of us over drinks, and talked more about his personal views. I was impressed with how secure he feels in his views and how he's willing to be challenged on them. After that it was time for bed for the start of another early day.

We got breakfast at 8 the next morning, and thne it was time for another presentation for our clss. This time, the Bocks presented and they were probably one of my favorite presentations. They are younger so I felt like I could really relate to them, and they gave us a lot of practical advice. They are also really passionate about working hard in relationships and always being open to new adventures, which is exactly how I want to be as well. They were really great speakers and I'm glad I got to hear them. After that presentation, it was time to head down the mountain! The weather was really nice again but a bit more cloudy and cool, so it was much more comfortable. Instead of taking the cliff route, most of us took the meadow route back down and we could even see some mountain goats in the distance. At the lunch restaurant, I got goulash soup which is probably one of my favorite dishes that I've had here. We continued down the mountain and stopped at the last hut before the bottom. We were really ahead of schedule so many of us stopped there for a while to just chill and relax. However, the bugs were awful there, so a couple of us kept moving. We got to the bottom of the mountain and there was another restaurant there, so we got some Eiskaffes and chilled there until the bus came.

Overall, this was probably one of my favorite experiences I've ever had, and definitely one of the best since I've been here. I hope I get to come back someday because it was that awesome. Only one week left in Austria!