My original plan was to spend 3 nights in Innsbruck then spend two days on trains to get to Poland before repeating the process to get to Berlin. My revised plan, which I concocted in London, calls for 6 nights in Innsbruck then three nights in Bled, Slovenia, and an additional stop in Germany (Regensburg) before returning to the original itinerary and arriving in Berlin next Friday.
So here I am in Innsbruck. The river here is the Inn, and Bruck means bridge, so the literal name of the city is Bridge over the Inn. I first heard of Innsbruck in 1976 when the Winter Olympics were here; those games were the justification for my parents purchasing their first color tv, though admittedly I don’t remember much about the area from the Olympics. It’s the 5th largest Austrian city after Vienna, Graz, Linz, and Salzburg with about 130,000 citizens as of 2018.
It’s a pretty town, though not an especially exciting one. Like so many places in Central Europe the buildings are connected, here’s a picture looking north across the Inn. The buildings here are often painted in pretty colors.
After Tuesday’s fantastic but tiring day in the Dolomites I decided Wednesday should be more low-key, especially since the temperatures should be rational by Saturday. So I slept in this morning, decided to purchase an 3-day Innsbruck Card, and inadvertently skipped breakfast. Oops. After looking at the weather forecast for the next few days, I decided that today’s sun and heat (high expected to be 33C which is 91F, and that’s before considering the humidity) were the best option for visiting the “Top of Innsbruck” which starts with a funicular, then a cable car and finally another cable car to reach (near) the top of one of the Alps (2256m/7400 ft) that is next to Innsbruck (altitude 560m/1837 ft).
After the first cable car I decided I needed to eat so I found an outdoor table at the restaurant overlooking the view and ordered my first viener schnitzel of the trip. A nice young man politely came up and asked me what I assumed was a version of “is it ok if I sit here.” After he ordered a beer I hesitantly asked him in English if he had walked up and he replied, in excellent English that he had, that as a young person living in Innsbruck he was sort of expected to do athletic things like hike up the mountain. Highlight of the day! It turns out that Thomas (“toh-mahss”) is a 27 year old German who moved to Innstruck 7 years ago to play semi-pro American(!) football (as a defensive back) but has since retired and has now completed this first of six years of medical school (my sense from the conversation is that it’s essentially a combined bachelors degree/medical degree) with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon working with elite athletes. He’d walked up the mountain, taking 2.5 hours to get to the stop at 1905m/6250 feet, so he was getting close. We talked about schooling, health care systems (and lack thereof), our respective athletic careers (he was only a bit surprised to hear that I’d played soccer as a kid), politics, and a range of other topics and he offered me some restaurant suggestions. The only time I felt old what’s when he revealed his age and noted that his father is a month younger than I am. But travel is all about connections, and I felt I made one today. It was when I was with Thomas that I realized I didn’t have my water bottle. Oops. Lots of places I might have lost it, not much to do but figure out a new plan for water.
On the first cable car I noticed the cones growing atop lots of conifers. Then we reached above the tree line. At the top of the second cable car it was desolate. White rock everywhere, occasionally little blue flowers growing in cracks, though there were lots of bees and many black birds soaring which were likely Alpine chough. A bit of wind, and a lot of silence. Pleasant but with haze blurring the view below not spectacular. I declined to climb up to the summit as it was hot enough already, even at altitude. The pictures are of a brass tile in the ground, the view south towards the city, the view north into the mountains, and another view to the south that shows some of the steep trails.
Thursday’s adventure was to Swarovski Kristalwelten about 20km east of Innsbruck. Swarovski as in crystal. I hadn’t planned to go, but once I had extra time in Innsbruck it seemed like the right thing to do and a long-time friend had recommended it. I can see how it would be a delightful visit for the right person, though I was decidedly not the right person. While growing up I had the impression that there were a certain number of “adult” things that I didn’t enjoy or appreciate as a kid but figured I would as an adult — religion, gardens, fine art, opera, brussel sprouts — but apparently my tastes have not matured in these areas. So perhaps these are more a function of brain type than maturity (I’d like to think I’m not entirely immature even though certain of my tastes may be).
Anyhow, Swarovski to me was like a visit to an overwhelming art museum with a touch of kitsch thrown in. Alas, the buses only ran every two hours, so after I’d seen everything I was interested in I had 90 minutes to kill. I did like the fountain that reminded me of a Māori because the water was a tongue sticking out, though I’m not sure what they intended the interpretation to be. There was a robotic lawnmower that was fun to watch in action. Truth be told, there was one of the art installations that I really did enjoy — it involved fake snow so the air conditioning in that room was very strong which was especially appreciated on such a hot day (but it was the AC more than the art that I liked). I didn’t get a good pictures of the interesting “pond” where there’s a path that descends so it appears people are in the pond up to their waists. But I got one of a modified VW bus.
On the way back I noticed a train station called Rum. Hmmm.
Then I took the “sightseer bus” which was a hop on hop off bus that used a city bus rather than a double decker. It was pleasant enough. After I got off I found some fresh apricots and Italian plums. Mmmm. And I went to the Golden Roof which is a block or so away from my lodging and I’d managed to walk by it several times before I realized it was there (take that as commentary about it’s impact).
Friday I planned to use the Sightseer bus to get to the ski jump and then see the one other “expensive” sight that was part of the Innsbruck Card, a virtual reality introduction to Tyrolean history and culture. The ski jump was interesting — we got to take a cable car to the top. I’m not sure how many Olympics this was used for (Innsbruck hosted in 1964 and 1976), but this is where the flame was for at least one of them.
As I was waiting for the return bus there was what I can only describe as a symphony of church bells from 11:45-11:55 (yes, I checked the times) which was quite pleasant.
I returned to town, had lunch, then headed for the sight. It was closed. Huh? On a Friday? Turns out today is “Assumption of Mary” day. And you know what they say about making assumptions…. Seems it’s a Catholic holiday. So I looked for a cache which was hidden inside a place that was … closed today. I returned to my room for a cold beverage, then decided to look for souvenirs. As soon as I got downstairs it was clear that it was raining. Not misting, drizzling, or sprinkling, but raining. As in tourists were huddled in doorways raining. I returned to grab my windbreaker and then off I went, buying a magnet for myself and a few items for others.
Saturday I was able to find the cache I couldn’t get on the holiday, and I was able to get into the virtual reality show using my Innsbruck Card which more than paid for itself. I also repacked and made progress on planning my last two solo locations of the trip. I’ve enjoyed Innsbruck and it’s been nice to be in the same (air conditioned) place for several days, but I’m ready for the next chapter.
No comments:
Post a Comment