Innsbruck, Austria - Arrival

Tuesday

Ah, Innsbruck! One of my favourite places in Europe. It is no longer the small town that I recall, but it is still tucked between the rugged mountains of the Alps. Here you see the famous Goldenes Dachl (Gold Roof). This distinctive roof is considered Innsbruck's most famous symbol. Completed in 1500, it was Emperor Maximilian I's way to celebrate his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza.

The Altstadt, or Old Town, is a crowded area of narrow streets and ancient buildings.

No motorised vehicles are allowed, but there are many, many bicycles along with lots of pedestrians. All over this part of the world there are ancient structures visible among the newer or even slightly newer ones. This tower is a typical example.

But I jumped ahead of myself! We must go back to Sunday. I awoke that morning excited as we were not only starting the next phase of our trip, we would be picked up by my German friend, Manfred, whom I had not seen for 52 years! Manfred and I met on a Canadian ferry all those years ago, and have kept in touch ever since. When I told him that we were taking this trip he immediately wrote that he would join us for our time in Austria and Bavaria. What a treat!!!

Although our room in Hotel Kaiserhof am Dom had seemed fairly modern, we were in for a surprise when we went into the breakfast area not 10 metres away from our door.

Just look at that vaulted ceiling! This building must be 500 or more years old! It was extremely elegant, with only a few diners enjoying their breakfast. And, it was as silent as a tomb! My hard-soled shoes quite disturbed the quiet. After breakfast a taxi was called for us, and we dragged our heavy bags outside into the chill of early morning. Our surroundings were surreal.

The Dom

The Street Sweeper

And our hotel which faced the cathedral.

The taxi took us to the Regensburg Hauptbahnhof (main train station) where we boarded a bullet train for the 2 hour trip to Linz, Austria. I sent my father, the lover of trains, this photo - he responded that this did not look like a train engine!

With speeds up to 140 kilometres per hour that we noticed, we were in Linz in no time at all. Down the stairs we went, dragging our suitcases - klomp, klomp, klomp - and under the train tracks to find out which platform the train for Innsbruck would be found. Back up the stairs to platform 5, we waited almost an hour in the cool breeze. I love the cool, but the back of my neck did get a little chilled.

Right on time, our train pulled into the station. there was space at the back of the car for our luggage, but not two seats together. Along came the conductor. Both of our tickets were on my phone, but Glenn heard me talking to the conductor and raised his hand. The conductor then asked if we had made reservations for the bus from Salzburg to Innsbruck. What????? Glenn popped over to say that he had two seats together, so I swiftly joined him. The conductor helped me reserve our seats on the bus, and thankfully, there was no extra charge. After a lot of stress I found out from a gentleman who lives in Innsbruck that there was construction on the line. If we had travelled tomorrow we could have taken the train the whole way. Figures. So, when we arrived in Salzburg we dragged our luggage off the train, down under the tracks, back up again, through the station, and out the front to the busses. Loading everyone took forever, adding to my concern about our arrival time. Finally, thanks to our very kind travelling companion, our bags were loaded and we found our seats. Then it turned out that there had been a big accident on the autobahn (freeway), so we would have to take the little roads. Now when would we arrive???

The drive was beautiful. The driver handled the large bus on very narrow country roads with constant oncoming traffic with ease. The stress caught up with me, and blissfully I fell asleep for a bit. When I awoke we were on the autobahn, speeding towards our destination. When preparing for this trip I spent a lot of time examining the map of places to visit in the area, so as the signs mentioned town names that I found familiar my excitement rekindled. Then the Hall exits came up and I knew we were practically there. Sure enough, our exit was not many kilometres later. It was actually early when we pulled into the station. Crowds were milling, the diesel fumes were overpowering, and there was no obvious place for Manfred to park to meet us. I decided that we should, in spite of all of the stairs, find our way to the front of the station. With Manfred notified, we set off. Klomp, klomp, klomp, a long walk, a lift, a struggle through the crowds, and we were finally out in front of the station. Glenn wondered how we would find him, but I was not concerned. Soon there was a very familiar face striding to meet us. How wonderful to see one another after such a long time!

Manfred had already found the flat that I had rented for all of us. With directions on his iPhone (how did we manage without such assistance?), as well as a set of keys, we were shortly up in our flat. There was a bit of a disappointment though; getting to the flat meant a short flight of stairs outside, a very long flight of stairs to the first floor (floors are labeled beginning at 0), and a narrow winding flight of stairs once in the flat itself. The reasons for packing light are really adding up!

Sitting around the kitchen table, we spent some time getting to know one another again, as well as allowing Glenn and Manfred to get a bit acquainted. Then it was off to find a restaurant for dinner. Kaiserstube Restaurant was not far away, and a parking place was located. It's too bad that dinner was not impressive. Never mind, tomorrow will be a better day!

There will be more to come...

(not one of my photos, but an example of our next few days)