No need for a history lesson here

Maybe a geologist would disagree with me, would tell me that the formation of the Alps is a long and remarkable story, fit for lulling children to sleep at bedtime or creating an HBO series, but my lab group and I did not visit the Alps because of its history. We went to find some snow that we could still throw at each other in August 

to lose ourselves in clouds even while our feet were on the ground

to test our determination on the craggy sides of cliff faces

to listen to the wind chimes that echoed throughout the valleys of the alps, which rang even when there was no wind and turned out to be cowbells (but really they sounded just like a huge collection of wind chimes),

and to admire the view, of course.

It’s hard to describe what it felt like to be at the top of one of those mountains. I know I’m not the first IRES participant to chronicle an experience at the Alps this summer, but I think one thing you guys left out is the exhaustion you feel by the time you get to the top. Still, it wasn’t the exhaustion that made you want to stay up at the summit for the rest of the day, or the thought of a long hike back down. Sitting on top of the world, breathing clean mountain air as the wind ruffled the tall grass and flowers all around, scanning the miles and miles you could see in every direction without a single sign of human development, is just a cool experience. Every once in a while on our journeys, we would come across an old hidden cabin that served refreshments to hikers. I tried some buttermilk, a specialty of the region, as well as a drink known as Holunderblütenschorle, which contains syrup made from a local type of flower (The Holunder was so good that I actually bought some of the syrup at a grocery store later, and I’ve been adding it to water to make a really tasty drink. We need this stuff in America). We came across a lake one day and went swimming for a while, maybe getting a little too much sun while we were at it.

Of course, there was an educational aspect. As a lab, we actually stayed at a big lodge in the area that the University of Marburg owns, and so the trip was on their dime (one of the best things about the trip). In the evenings, we had enough talks from different members of the lab group that almost everyone presented something. I picked up some information on new methods in biochemistry. I even gave a presentation about the research that I had been doing at Emory for the past semester. The feedback was pretty good. I got a lot of questions and I think my lab mates learned something interesting about c-di-GMP signaling. We did have to keep the talks short, since most people had cracked open a beer or two by the time we started seminars in the evening.

Just look at this beautiful lab group

I’m going to miss these guys when I leave Marburg in about a week! Then I’ve got just a bit of traveling before classes start back up at Emory. I’m immensely grateful that I got this trip to the Alps in this summer. More than any other trip I’ve taken this summer, it really just felt like a vacation. I stayed in a lodge with a big group of people I knew for a few days, and never had to worry about a thing. I didn’t need a tour guide. I didn’t have to read any plaques or explanations to appreciate the scenery around me. I just had to be there.

And when we started a bonfire, and I showed my lab mates how roast marshmallows from the huge bag I had brought from the U.S., that was one of the most fun nights I’ve had all summer.