through fair Verona

From Munich I said my goodbyes to my new friends, some who I would never meet again but I was lucky to have met once. They had kept me company through eight different countries, but I was on my own for the next two. Just outside of the Kufstein train station soar gigantic sun glazed mountain tops with jagged rock faces and lush green trees. A small river flows alongside my train window standing between me and millions of years of seismic collisions. All this on my way to Venice. Nameless castles lace the creases between mountains flooding me with curiosity of medieval times and admiration for the people who dared build such heavy fortresses along these steep slopes. Clouds hang low kissing the unusual peaks of the eastern Alps, the sun doesn't seem so far away. On my left, a naked rock face causes my stomach to turn upside down, on my right a sea of green climbs up to a 14,000 foot roof. The words around me are so unfamiliar with more letters and punctuation in a single word than in one English sentence and combinations of letters I would never imagine. Like the Rockies, pine trees shade the mountain sides, transcending languages and longitudes reminding me that some things are universal. Little square white houses with red roofs and brown trim scatter across the most vibrant grass I have ever seen and a horse pulls a man and his carriage carrying grapes until the vineyard meets the base of the mountain. In the distance loom the highest peaks, covered in snow like clouds folded into every ancient crevice staring up at the sun in victory and down at the trees with longing for their company. I'm tired as hell but these mountains have me more awake than any amphetamines. I have the strongest urge to touch the rock on the side of the mountain, to push against these giant monuments and know the feeling of something solid and millions of years pushing back. Crossing the German border into Italy, the Alps become even more beautiful. Green meets white meets blue then light, I feel peaceful, this place is real, this trip was a good idea.