Day 3- Higher Ground

Monday morning and I was so ready to go. I've wanted to do a real "Sommerroedelbahn" (Luge) for ages and we just happen to be an hour away from Tirol's longest. There was definitely a slower pace having breakfast and getting around- the reality of vacation setting in... The drive took us past a 150 year old stone bridge suspended hundreds of feet above us as well as down tight, winding, two-lane mountain roads. I thought of any number of 80's drama series' where nearly every week someone would drive over a cliff after the brake lines were cut. I stuck my head into Rick Steves and tried to lose myself... As we neared our destination Klaus started talking about "die Zugspitze." I really wasn't paying attention- my mind was on the 18 wheeler in front of us willing it to stay on the steep road. Finally, I listened to him long enough to hear that the "Zugspitze" is the highest point in Germany and a border between the two countries. We'd taken a wrong turn and now were right at the base of this mega-mountain... "We should go up, I had no idea we were so close..." Klaus sounded like a ten-year-old girl who'd stumbled on Hannah Montana's tour bus at a rest stop. I abandoned my bob-sledding dream for the time being. Klaus doesn't ask for much- it was going to be great. We were both a little surprised at the cost of riding to the top but this qualified as a "once-in-a-lifetime-experience." We waited to board the enclosed lift with around 40 other people. The ride up was splendid and quick; it left our ears popping. 9,718 ft later we were headed to the panoramic restaurant for an Austrian lunch complete with schnitzel and Knoedel. Later, we strolled around the weather station and tourist exhibits. Crossing the mile-high border we took advantage of being back in Germany and called Klaus's folks (no roaming fees). While the boys talked to Oma and Opa and regaled them with stories about our apartment and the long drive I found an empty corner and took a minute to enjoy the peace and quiet. Standing there, on top of the world, it was impossible to not think of all that's happened over the past year and a half. Such an abundance of loss... I felt very close to my dad and Mikey there, under the wide blue sky. I cried because I would never be able to hike through the Alps with my dad, and because the boys wouldn't be able to tell their Grampy about the gliders flying below us... But I savored the moment, too- alone among hundreds of people from all around the world and right in the middle of everything. By nature of my incurable romanticism I searched the sky for "a sign" that they were there- some sort of definitive proof... They were both with us. We would keepthem with us. By the time Sebastian ran up to inform me that we were going to eat a "Dampfnudel" at the cosy outdoor cafe I'd dried my eyes. There we met a Finnish father and his 11-year-old son who had just climbed the highest point of the mountain in seven hours- very impressive especially considering that the father was smoking Marlboro Menthols.... An Asian family asked us to take their picture and offered to take ours. We took off our jackets in the afternoon sun and listened to all of the languages around us... The confident Americans discussing European beer and the smug Germans complaining about the smog over Munich. French, Italian, Japanese- everyone sharing the view and the moment. Before we headed down we stopped in the Zugspitze museum. Small and very imformative, it was a definite highlight of the trip so far. On the lift ride down we spotted our car alone on the grass. Then I got my sign- a song I hadn't heard in years. If the boys noticed me crying behind my sunglasses they didn't mention it. We headed back to Kappl stopping along the way at a chic little grocery store. We got everything we needed for dinner and breakfast the following morning. After a simple meal we played a couple of card games and shared some chocolate- we went to bed early and slept without troubles.