The rainbow never sets

Suddenly, a sheer rock rose up before our eyes, the tip all still in fog.

"We need to leave our skis here. From now on its climbing in your boots."

We looked at each other, even less enthusiastic than before. But the Prof kept encouraging us: "Believe me, if the fog lifts it is really worth while."

So we followed, tired, step after step, seeking a hold for our hands and our legs. The Prof ahead of us, followed by Hugo, and I made up the rear. Then there was, what seemed to me, a narrow ridge to cross. With the fog on both sides I couldn't see more than a few meters either side. We continued climbing. Finally we saw some jagged rocks before us and there was no more to climb. We had reached the peak. Fog was still all around us. We settled down and unpacked our lunch. I had not realised how hungry I had become with all that climbing.

As we were munching, suddenly the sun broke through the fog. A glorious blue sky, and below us a sea of clouds. Slowly the clouds disappeared. The view was absolutely breath taking. Way down below we could see Obertauern and our hotel. Around us there were other peaks, and many more peaks in the distance, with some valleys still holding tufts of clouds. We became completely still, taking in this experience, and I thought of the almighty God who had created this wonderful world. A wonderful calm came over me. There had never been, in all my life, anything surpassing that mountain top experience. We could only thank our Professor for persevering with us and for allowing us to climb with him. We would have never made it on our own.

The way down was far more difficult than the way up. I had the jitters when I saw how steep the rocks were, but sheer determination pushed me on. The ridge before, with clouds on either side, became an even narrower ridge, with precipices of more than hundred meters on either side. How could I get across there? I can't stay here until night, I thought, so I had better move on. Hugo encouraged me from the other side, and slowly, ever so slowly I crawled across the ledge on all fours. Eventually we reached the place where we had left our skis.

From then on it was skiing down hill, yippee! We certainly left a most wonderful holiday on a high note with this unforgettable experience.

Next morning we took the bus again to Salzburg. There we stayed in a hotel overnight and did quite a bit of sight seeing. Most of the snow had already melted, which seemed strange to us, having just arrived from up in the mountains, where everything was still in deep winter. We visited the Salzburger Festival Hall, Mozart's home, and the king's castle. Salzburg is a pretty town, and we were sorry that we couldn't stay longer. Sunday night we caught the train at 7.30 pm via München (Munich) again, and arrived in Bremen at 2.30 pm on Monday.

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