Over the river and through the Alps to Innsbruck we go!

---

After a day full of hiking and climbing yesterday we decided to take a ride to Innsbruck, Austria. We were particularly interested in visiting this city because Matt's great-grandmother and family are from this region of Austria. As we drove through little mountain towns, through tunnels and changing elevation many times. We were amazed and captivated at the enormous height and vast beauty of the Alps. The deeper we got into Austria the higher the peaks reached up. Many peaks were snow capped, even in the middle of the summer. We took "fern pass" and came out at the base of Zugspitze, the tallest point in Germany it is ONLY 9,700 feet to the summit. We thought about taking the trip to the top but we decided to continue onto Innsbruck.

Once in Innsbruck, we took an english guided tour of the "old city" and learned about the heritage of Innsbruck. It has roots back the Roman Empire due to its perfect location, connecting East to West and North to South. On the the tour we visited an original "normal school" where ALL children in the city attended free of charge beginning in the 1700's. We also saw many beautiful baroque buildings and the St. Jakob church which has one of a kind baroque paintings and architecture.

We returned to Fussen for our last night before heading to Munich. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed a glass of beer. My new favorite drink combination is called the "Radler" it is light beer and a dash of lemonade. After dinner we came upon a open air concert held in one of the local town squares. It was a perfect ending to our time in southern Bavaria and a night we will always remember.

---