48 kilometers of heroic 1935 engineering: the Grossglockner road — 36 hanging bends to the 2,504m pass then the Kaiser Franz Josef terrace facing Austria's highest peak (3,798m) and its Pasterze glacier. May-October only (snow closes it) — always verify state before rolling; the car toll earns every cent, and start early: cloud climbs by noon; marmots pose on summit rocks — feed them nothing however they plead.