Climbing to New Heights

It has been too long since I last wrote. We are in our new place but still without internet. However, I can wait no more so I am writing via smartphone. Ugh. This better be good...
This week I joined Husband on a business trip to escape the emptiness of our new unfurnished and plain apartment. We traveled 6 hours northwest to Oberhausen,Germany. It is currently known for being home to the largest mall in Germany but this story isn't about shopping. It's about gas. I am not talking about Husband's gas but natural gas. Back in the day Oberhausen was a major industrial city but that ended  a couple decades ago. The Number 1 recommendation according to TripAdvisor is a visit to The Gasometer. So while Husband sat in a training class, I set out for an adventure.
The Gasometer is a giant silo. It's tall cylinder shape used to be the largest holder of natural gas for many years. Nowdays the hollow inside has been transformed into a cultural museum. After opening the heavy thick metal door you step into a dark concrete ground floor level. A faint smell of natural gas carries into your nose but is unnoticeable by the second sniff. All around the circular room are giant photos lightly lit showcasing the wonders of the world. I wished several times my students could see the images of rock formations, the rainforest, and monarch butterflies. Walking up the industrial stairs leads you to the second floor with a vast amount of open air hundreds of feet up to the top dome. It took me a second to gather my bearings. Being among a dark space so wide and steep made my legs a little weak. More breathtaking images from the world a round filled the eery space. My favorite was a photo of The Waterfall House by Frank Lloyd Wright. The saddest display was a watch stopped by the atomic bomb. In the center of the room stood a giant lifesize rainforest tree sculpture lit up and synchronized to spa like music. The adventure of it all being the glass elevator running smoothly all the way up to the top of the silo. Riding up I could not even face the glass windows. I gripped the metal side with my sweaty, clammy hands. Another girl held her husband's bicep as we both exchanged nervous giggles. I definitely was practicing Lamaze breathing during the steep ride up.  Once we reached the top another set of industrial doors opened to the blue sky. Stepping outside of the Gasometer with just metal grating below my feet and seeing how far down the ground below was made my knees shake. After a minute adjusting to the daring heights, I climbed two staircases to reach the absolute top. Standing on top of the silo, the panoramic views of Oberhausen surrounded me hundreds of feet below. A walk a round made me satisfied that I had done something that scared me. Facing my fears, on the way back down the elevator, this time I looked out the glass again gripping the side. Afterwards I was glad that I forced myself to do something that made me nervous. I think today was definitely seized when for a few minutes I stood on top of the world.