Let Me Guide You

We had originally planned on spending the previous night in Innsbruck, Austria, but we were really enjoying Fussen, and it was just about as close to the next sight we planned on visiting, so we stayed. Dad did a little shopping in the morning and picked out a very jaunty hat and wool vest. I was ever so slightly tempted to buy a dirndl, but when would I wear one in real life? Plus, they were pretty expensive.

After replenishing our supply of road snacks, we drove across an imperceptible border into Austria to ascend the Zugspitze by cable car. The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany, and lies on the border with Austria. For whatever reason, the cars are newer and cheaper on the Austrian side, so we went up that way.

Confession time: I don't speak more than a few phrases in German, and the Austrian accent and usage are rather different, so when we bought our tickets, I really had no idea what they included. It turned out that we were not only granted access to the visitor's center at the top, but also to a second gondola that took us part way down the mountain to a glacier. There is a wedding chapel next to the glacier for reasons I forget, some sweet wood carvings of snowmobiles, and a fine collection of plastic sleds. Yes, there was a special area for sledding on the glacier. No helmets, no attendants. This is why I love Europe.