(this has terrible punctuation. I just had too much to write and am too lazy to fix it all. only slightly sorry.)

This morning started at 7:15 to get ready and breakfast at 8:15. I ate a hard boiled egg, a roll with butter and what I'm assuming is raspberry jam. I also had some coffee and unfrosted flakes. I took an apple to go for later. It was a nice relaxing breakfast. Then we had to meet at a bus stop outside the hotel so we didn't have to walk far. We had to get on a series of buses to get to Hitler's Eagles Nest. We probably got on three or four buses. As we got on our last bus to the top of the mountain, the views started showing off. As we ascended, we could see more and more and the horizon extended. These alps are majestic like none others. You feel like you are right next to them and they just go straight up. They don't all just have one peak. Some are like cliffs of rock with edges extending in all directions and of course with snow. They seem taller than most mountains because they just shoot out of the ground. There is like flat land surrounding them and then boom, this cliff just shoots up. There are some hills around too but it's not like rolling hills. It's like random hills surrounded with flat lands. It's so beautiful. The fall colors are breathtaking. The leaves changing are magical. The snow clung to the pines and the yellow leaves of the fall trees drank the water right up, making their colors pop. There are no words for the view. Just none. I have never seen anything like it before. Sure I've seen views. I've been on mountains. I've seen for miles around me. But not like this. Not when you're in the clouds. Not when you're surrounded by snow and in a fog of white and then all of a sudden it clears and you can see the whole world. The greens, blues, yellows, oranges, burgundies, browns and white. Snow accented every rock, tree, and bush. The pines of every kind sweeping the mountains and trees with changing leaves interspersed throughout. The view was so crisp and bright. The sun streaked through the clouds and lit up the world. It was perfect. Amazing. Awe inspiring. Wonderful and beautiful. All the adjectives for this view. God is incredible. To originally create such beauty and perfection with his words is a powerful thing I can never fathom. Yet there it is. Before my very undeserving eyes. I think I'm going to officially say: the Austria and Germany regions with the alps, are the most beautiful part of this world that I have seen thus far. In this season of fall, with the rain and the changing colors, the brisk temperatures and the clouds low to the ground, it all adds to the feeling of perfection. The feeling that I am experiencing something not many get to because every day is different with a different view, a different cloud, a different leaf with a different color each day. With changing seasons comes uniqueness and views that only select few get to experience because every minute is different. What we see may change, but that feeling of seeing the magnificent beauty of this world is always the same. Knocks you to the ground and makes your heart swell with love and appreciation, with wonder and amazement, with pride that you know who's handiwork you are admiring.

On the way up, all we could see is white because we were in a literal cloud of snow. It was a huge bummer because the view was blocked but we were also excited about experiencing the first snow of the season up there. It was much colder than expected but it just reminded me of hiking through feet of snow in Michigan with the fam in clothes unprepared for that adventure. So it only made me smile. I just put my hood up and zipped my coat up and tried to stay as warm as I could. We took the elevator up to the upper portion of the house. It was a large elevator but it was the only way to enter and exit the house so it was always jam packed full of people. We reached the top and immediately exited to the outside of the building. We started hiking a trail up to a higher point on the mountain. There wasn't a view but it was peaceful and enjoyable to hike up some rocks and to observe the snow covered rocks and bushes and to watch as the clouds floated past our eyes. I didn't have much hope for the clouds to pass but then I was like, you know what, God could clear these clouds and a second if I asked. So I did. And about 15 minutes later, we saw some holes in the clouds and the fog thinning. Every time we caught a glimpse of the view we would squeal with excitement. THE CLOUDS WERE CLEARING! The Lord is good. We started taking some pictures and our happiness was pouring out. It was insane how it went from white nothingness to unthinkable views. From seeing only what we were immediately surrounded by, to seeing to hundreds of miles in all directions. To seeing hills and mountains and colors of many. In Hannah's words, "God loves us. He did this for us." He cleared that fog and he showed us his power through his perfect creation. You won't see us happier than in that moment. We reluctantly went back inside the restaurant to eat before we had to catch the last bus for our group. I ordered some hot chocolate even though it was over priced because how can you not after being outside in the snow? Also, it was worth it because the taste was velvety and smooth and perfect. (Put that on the list of good hot chocolate mom.) I also ordered bockwurst. It was kind of just a very long hot dog but the flavor was really good. It also came with potato salad, but different than I've ever had before. Still tasty though. The restaurant had a few windows that you could look out and see the perfect view while eating. I just couldn’t get over that view. After lunch we waited in the long line for the elevator down and then took the bus down the mountain. I took a video of the view on the way down and since the clouds had cleared, you could see a lot more. It was quite the sight. We hopped on another series of buses and ended back in Salzburg. They took us on a quick walk through of the city. In case you forgot, this is the location of the Sound of Music. They took us to the steps where the children sang, the fountain they ran around, and the archway they ran through. I was excited, but I wanted to preserve the expression of that excitement for the bike tour. We walked past some stores and through some streets. We passed Mozart’s birthplace and ended at the base of the Hohensalzburg Castle. We were released for the rest of the day. There were a lot of tents set up with people selling this and that in the square where we were. We started browsing them, but they didn’t really have anything too impressive. We made our way back towards the train station and browsed some shops as we went. We looked for some dinner and settled on Burgerista (I think). It was fast food, but that’s about all we can afford. It was pretty good. I had a bbq burger. I chowed that down pretty quickly. We found a bakery next door with cheap donuts, so we bought some of those too. We walked to the train station after that. We weren’t sure exactly where it was, but we knew the direction. We just kept walking until we hit it. It had been raining the whole day so it was a cold wet walk. Also my donuts were in a paper bag, which got wet, and couldn’t hold the donuts any longer. They hit the ground and I snatched those up real fast. In case you were wondering, I ate them still. I just couldn’t let those go to waste. We were pushing the clock to make this train, but luckily, it was four minutes late so we were good. We were back at the hotel early for the night, but I was exhausted. I hit that bed and I took a nap. For a good while. I told myself I would never choose sleep over travel, but sometimes, you just need sleep. After my nap, we tried to plan free travel for a little bit. I showered and then went to sleep pretty easily despite the nap. I can never get too much sleep here.

Fun Facts: The Eagle’s Nest was a birthday gift for Hitler. He actually hated it. He is dumb because that mountain has the best view. Germany is probably my favorite country so far-view wise. Everyone speaks great English here though too.

Shoutout: The Lord for answering prayers and creating beauty for us to admire.