The Mountains and all their glorious splendor...

When we arrived here in Gryon, my eyes never looked at my feet. My neck was sore, looking up at a sight that I have never experienced. The air was thinner than what I was used to, the sun was closer to my face, the feeling of insignificance washed over me. I was merely another life form, come to stay on the mountains for a few nights. Nothing like the trees, the sheep, the grass, the snow, the fog, that is supposed to be residing on the mountains. For once, it wasn't natural for me to present in an area. These mountains were their before us, they are here during us, they will be here after us. 

Traveling across Switzerland, seeing the Mountains, the Lakes, the Castles, the Waterfall, I can see why these Romantic writers would be so inspired to lay words down on paper, in such a combination that placed themselves into Literature books. We went to the Prison of Chillon, to Waterfall where a character fell to his death, we climbed to the edge of a demolished village. Seeing the imagination come to life is in itself, an experience that few have had the chance to enjoy.

Many write about how beautiful, how brave, how pensive, the mountains are. However, those are the thoughts of travelers and a few natives. Most of the natives know the history, know the lives under the mountain, know what has happened under their feet. Coming off the hikes, the Swiss look at us as if to say "Why would you do that?", they climb the mountains everyday, not for recreation, they have to, it's their home. After reading Kant, the idea of the sublime, makes a student realize that the mountains are just their, they have no life force, no soul. The Swiss have their own opinion, travelers have theirs.

The mountains are not here for our recreation, they are here as a habitat to creatures that are meant to survive on them. Those where life is not meant to thrive, the mountain lets it be known.  The Mountains are indeed beautiful, indeed strong in stature, indeed frightening, moving, inspiring, fearless. But, those ideas are of just another traveler.