The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
As you may or may not know, our family is a huge a fan of The Hobbit, and this trip has called it to mind many times. While we were in the Black Forest we talked about the trolls and giant spiders (the boys know all the best spider insults). And today we walked in the Misty Mountains.
James, the boys and I took a gondola up to the top of the Alpspitze, a mountain close to but slightly smaller than the Zugspitze. At the top of the mountain we went out onto the AlpspiX, two crossed platforms that extend forty feet over the edge of the cliff. The floor was made of metal grating so you could see the three thousand foot drop clearly as you stepped out over thin air. The best part was that the end of the platform moved with the wind and with the weight of each new person. I’ve never thought of myself as afraid of heights but this trip is challenging that assumption.
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| Daddy and sons at the top of the Alpspitze |
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| James on the Alpspitze |
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| Will shoots the Alps |
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| Jon tries to lift a giant table |
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| Our view of the valley |
From the top of the mountain we walked down almost one thousand vertical feet on a long and winding path. The gravel path was flat and wide (unlike some of their roads!) and there were benches every few hundred meters and a restaurant every two miles or so. (The mountain had four restaurants.) Germans like to be comfortable!
James: If all hikes were like those in Germany I would certainly hike a lot more.
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| The boys rest in swinging chairs. |
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| Jon gives Daddy and Will a push |
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| Will relaxes after a long hike. |
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| Hiking German style |
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| Sleeping in a spider web |
The walk was designed with kids in mind and as we walked we followed the story of the evil giant who had once lived in these mountains stealing other people’s happiness. Will and Jon climbed on the giant’s rocky throne and they loved going through his labyrinth. James and I also told the boys stories as we went down. For some reason Odysseus came to mind and we went over almost all the good bits of the Odyssey. Of course the Hobbit featured largely in our conversation as well and we found a few good candidates for the cave that was the goblin’s front porch. The boys also played at being stone giants, hurling rocks into the valley below. And at one point Will carried a bowl full of goblins and would pass them out to us as a snack.
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| Mommy and sons on the Giant's Throne |
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| The boys climb the Giant's Throne |
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| Will the Giant |
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| Carrying a bowl of goblins |
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| Boys play Stone Giants |
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| The Giant's Labyrinth |
The view as we walked down was incredible. A short way down we came upon a pass that was straight out of the Hobbit and James said that he has never wanted to walk through anything so much. I’m afraid that none of our pictures do the view justice. This is definitely a mountain we will be visiting again.
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| The Pass |
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| Through the pass |
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| Daddy and Jon go through the pass |
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| James on the trail |
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| Jon points out the way |
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| Mommy and Jon start down the mountain |
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| The path down the mountain |
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| Jon runs down the path |
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| Will and Daddy |
In true German style we ate lunch on the mountain and then took a gondola back to the top and then down into the valley. Behind the restaurant was a little hill with a beautiful view of the mountains and here the boys decided to play Sonic which gave me some excellent photo opportunities. We also had a good view of the hang gliders coming down from the top of the mountain.
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| Will and Jon over the valley |
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| Playing on the edge |
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| Will |
In the gondola, on the way down the mountain, Will and I had the following conversation. I don’t know where he comes up with this stuff!
Will: Now there are even more girls I want to marry.
Me: What girls?
Will: Like that girl that just came in [to the gondola]
Me: Well, you’ll have to choose just one girl but you can’t get married until you’re
older.
Will: Like six or seven?
Me: Older than that. Maybe twenty-three?
Will: How about eleven? Eleven is a good age.
On the walk back to the car, Will was a Lego Sonic and I had to hold his hand as a Lego. On this trip I’ve held hands with a T-Rex and a penguin as well and each one requires a different grip.
After our mountain adventures we all went to the town pool. Once again we didn’t get any pictures but this pool was even more amazing than the last. Inside featured three pools, a large one for swimming (with a big float for the kids), a small one with a slide for little kids and a warm, salt water whirlpool. Outside there were two large unheated pools, the first was for swimming laps and the second was for kids and featured two water slides and a giant inflated sea dragon. Will and Jon were too little for the slides but James and I enjoyed them!
Jon can swim!! Last week Jon wouldn’t put his head under water but Will helped him conquer his fear and now he is a little fish like his mommy. Jon swims bent at the waist so that his feet are directly below him. I’ve never seen anyone swim like that but he moves pretty fast through the water and maybe it stops him from sinking too deep. Neither boy can breathe while swimming but they can go far under water. I’m so proud of them! We swam for hours and finally had to leave when they closed the pool. We’ll have to go back again before we leave, hopefully with a camera!
Auf Wiedersehen!
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