The Hike

We crossed from Austria to Italy through the Brenner Pass, which is the route the escaping Nazis most likely took. Austrian authorities wouldn't let us hike on their side of the pass because of lingering snow, so we drove through and then hiked up on the Italian side. We'd bought sack lunches from the JUFA complete with self-made sandwiches. The selection of sandwich makings was not what I was used to. I ended up with a sandwich of bacon and cucumbers, and some butter to keep it from being dry.

"Yum?" I thought as I packed it. At least I had two apples and other stuff.

I was one of the first ones up the pass. The trail was really steep and really painful, so I booked it up the mountainside, trying to get the whole thing over with as soon as possible.

And was it worth it! The Austrian-Italian border is beautiful!

"Is anyone else tempted to start singing the Sound of Music?" I asked.

"I wasn't," said Bret, "but now that you mention it..."

"Don't speak of it," Jeff said, "or I will fail you."

"Speak of what?" asked Tyler.

"That which must not be named."

"Which is what?"

"We must not name it."

Keni had caught the first half if the conversation. "If we all start singing it, you can't fail us all."

"Watch me," said Jeff dryly.

After some ten minutes of taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and not singing, we hiked back down the steep trail. Rain had started. The trail was slippery and muddy. We'd planned to eat lunch on the way down, and the fact that there was nowhere to stop deterred the professors not one whit. We leaned up against a shelf of rock on one side of the trail and ate straight from our backpacks.

Shivering, I bit into my sandwich.

"Yum," I thought, and this time it was not a question. Bacon, cucumbers, and butter are surprisingly delicious.

I looked at the trail around me and was satisfied. Eating an odd sandwich while standing on a trail through the Alps in the cold rain is freezing and uncomfortable, but more than that, it's just really cool. You should try it sometime.

-Brianne

Also on behalf of Tom and Valeria