Contest | WINTER MOOD🌲Конкурс | ЗИМОВИЙ НАСТРІЙ | Zugspitze, Top of Germany

The moment a person fulfills any of his dreams, regardless of his age, at that moment he feels like a child who got something very desired 🙂

When I set out to climb one of the peaks in the Alps the other day, I remembered a nice meeting two years ago. I met the old professor of psychology, Dr. Schmitz, in the carriage of the railway carrying the tourists from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the foot of the Zugspitze, the Alpine summit of Germany. It was late autumn then, and I had set out to climb the summit, but I didn't have enough time, so I thought I'd go some way by the cable car, and then continue up on foot. But my day was not quite in the spirit of alpine climbing.

When I first entered the carriage, my eyes immediately fell on a dignified and old gentleman, who was seated meekly in the corner of the compartment, examining the newspapers. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his blue eyes darted vividly from line to line. The old man was extremely neat, wearing a white shirt and a checkered jacket in a deep purple tone. His trousers were perfectly pressed, with a defined hem. Around her neck was a silk scarf in the same tone as the jacket, as well as a beige, wide-brimmed hat of soft felt, with a violet feather attached to the side. An old-fashioned camera, in a leather case, along with a one-day backpack hung next to the elderly man.

You must be wondering how an old professor went to a high alpine peak in just a jacket. The thing is that this three-thousander has long been available to absolutely everyone, regardless of their age and the season of the year. A network of interconnected lifts and cog railways connect Garmisch with the Zugspitze. The tourist platform built on the very top is extremely stable, functional (there are also two restaurants and a museum attached to it) and gives an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to look at Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany at the same time.

I sat diagonally across from the elderly gentleman and, while I discreetly tried to guess where he was from, he spoke to me in German, but with the characteristic Swiss dialect:

• Wonderful weather, isn't it? May it be so sunny up there!

• Yes - I answered him - the time is only for tourism. If it's clear above, you'll be able to see the lake too.

• Shall I guess?! – the old man asked me, while his lively gaze above the golden frames studied my equipment. Are you a longtime local mountaineer?

I hesitated for a moment what to answer him and said:

• Yes, you can say that, how did you know that?!

The old man was startled at first, then his face lit up with a broad smile, and he, rising from his seat, pointed at me with his index finger and exclaimed:

– You are a young adventurer, huh?!

– Yes, Then I got up and took the hand that was given to me.

The train had just left. The professor sat comfortably in his seat, cleaned his glasses with a tissue and looked at me quizzically. He paused a little, then told me that I could learn a lot about life from the mountain.

(By this time I felt that I had just missed the first of the intermediate descent stops and my climb to the summit today was starting to look more and more chimerical.) The professor saw that I was momentarily distracted, coughed tactfully, and smiled.

At this time the cog railway arrived at its last stop, just before the approaches to the summit. The train stopped for a few minutes and I once again enjoyed the wonderful panorama that opened from this place….

Meanwhile, the train passed through the tunnel under the Alps and finally we got off at its last stop, just below the summit. I decided that I was too late to undertake the ascent to the summit. So from there we took the lift and in a few minutes we found ourselves at 2962 m above sea level. Delighted, the professor watched from the terrace. He paused for a moment, and his trembling fingers removed from his backpack and opened a small bottle of mineral water. The old man drank, then took off his hat, tracing with it a semicircle in front of him, and said with inimitable pathos:
– Young friend, look at the effect of the lessons learned. Just like in a fairy tale - once upon a time there was a student - he was good, hardworking, smart, intelligent, but... he became proud. And he suffered from his pride - he suffered a lot, but in the end he repented and firmly decided to make amends. Recovered his body, his values and reconciled with others. Stopped with pride. He worked hard, got rich and started a big family. And then came the glory of his creations. Here it is, in front of me... Look at today's Europe! Clean and protected nature, smiling, well-intentioned and calm people, carefully maintained order and a powerful economy!

The view from this terrace was truly breathtaking. The professor and I could observe the Alps in a 360 degree horizon. Dozens of other people also walked around the observation deck to marvel at the beautiful and now snow-covered peaks around. Almost twelve. My elderly compatriot and I walked to the neighboring (Austrian) section of the observation deck, and then I invited the professor to lunch in the panoramic restaurant. The professor also noticed the reaction of the people next to us and turned to them with a smile, apologizing for the noise created. He also lifted his hat slightly as a further sign of apology. People also smiled at us and responded amicably to the apology by raising glasses in a toast. Once again, the definition of the success of the local society was written in my mind. It is short and is called "awareness, tolerance and mutual respect". Respect for everything - for people, for animals, for nature, for beliefs, for principles, for traditions and for cultural differences...

Unexpectedly, I had found myself in an incredible scenario, in which things I had often thought about were now being spoken from the rostrum of a long and authoritative and experienced life - with an unwavering and independent argument for the White and for the Black . To hear the confession of an elderly person who has long since overcome addictions to politics, money and passions was a real spiritual gift for me.

I looked at the sun, which was already beating the zenith, and therefore decided that I should let the venerable professor enjoy a little private time to examine the summit. We finished our beer and I again took him to the terrace, from where Dr. Schmitz took magnificent panoramic pictures with his old camera. On the rocks, away from us, there was the familiar line of climbers waiting for their turn to set foot on the very top. I thought of my missed goal of re-climbing the Zugspitze, whose gilded cross now gleamed just a hundred meters before my eyes. But I realized that today my fate had taken me to another height, from where tomorrow's view was much clearer.

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