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Published: August 10th 2013
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Getting to Innsbruck felt like a major feat of planning after taking a train from Rimini to Bologna, a two hour wait, a train to Verona, a one hour wait and finally a three and half hour train in a closed compartment with no leg room and a Mexican family who did nothing to but talk to me and deed me nuts for the whole journey. Lovely people who were very keen to practise their English but all I wanted to do was look at the scenery. The journey through northern Italy and over into Austria was one of the most beautiful I have ever taken; the train cuts right through the mountains and goes over the Brenner Pass. The train stops in Brenner for official paperwork to be done and we were allowed to get off, grab a lungful of fresh mountain air rather than the hot, recycled air on the train with no air con. The arrival into Innsbruck is lovely, the train station is surrounded by the mountains and shows how little I knew about the city as I didn’t realise what a beautiful setting it was in. A quick transfer to my hotel and literally the best
location ever for somewhere to say. The Goldener Adler hotel was something I picked from Trip advisor and it really didn’t disappoint with its 17
th century Tyrolean features still largely intact. The hotel was like something from the antiques road show and I was in an attic room, which despite being ridiculously hot with the worst air con in the world, had stunning views of the mountains beyond the roof tops of the old town so it was a decent trade off. The receptionist welcomed me by saying it was Innsbruck’s hottest day for 8 years. Despite it being a late afternoon arrival I was able to see lots of the city as I was right in the middle of the old town and one of the main squares filled with restaurants, bars and stunning buildings. The river was just over the road and this is flanked by the mountains on all sides and made for some pretty fantastic views. It was nice to stretch my legs by walking through the main part of the old town taking in St Jakob’s cathedral and all the coloured houses that you normally only see in Mediterranean countries. The Alpine style lodges are
very cute and the area really is different to the rest of Austria, its distinct character and identity a real breath of fresh air. What I really needed however, was a beer! And continuing my exploration of beers to try and like I plucked one which came in comedy style big glass…it was lethal…By the time I had finished it I was very tipsy. Now I know I hadn’t eaten and I am a booze wimp these days but I dread to think what a second glass would have done to me. The following day I had until early afternoon before catching my next train so I took advantage of my free breakfast. It was a buffet and then made to order egg dishes. Needless to say the hard-boiled egg I ordered didn’t turn up after waiting 30 minutes so I left …I dread to think the damage that egg could do if it was still boiling after all that time. My mission of the morning was to be brave and go up a mountain in the cable car. Not being great with heights but always yearning for a great view I walked up to the congress station and bought
a ticket for the Hungerborg station which is reached by a very swish funicular railway and takes you to just about 850 meters. Funiculars don’t bother me at all as they are fixed to the ground so I was ok with that. Lovely views over the town were had but the desire for some good, cool mountain air and a bit of excitement was burning a hole in my pocket so I bought the extension ticket and crammed myself in the cable car along with a huge number of people from Lancashire (I get talking to everyone I know) and spent the whole 10 minute journey up to 3800 feet wishing I had stayed on the ground and only being able to look sideways and not up. Every time the steel girders were crossed the cable car swung and I went into mini meltdown mode. The view at the top was more than worth it though, stunning views and more than anything else… fresh air and a breeze! That was the first wind of any significance I had felt in over a week so it was very gratefully received. You could use this station as the start of rock climbing
up to the summit or a walk with boots and sticks hired out. No thanks, I took a leisurely stroll along the paths and fed some cows that were grazing there. Going down was better than up and I was able to take advantage of the views fully this time. Back on the ground I walked round the rest of the ole town and then into the new town area which interested me less as it was just full of shops. The train to Munich was just over 2 hours and there I met my strangest character so far, a very bizarre man who talked to himself for over an hour… or at least I think he was talking to himself as after an hour of getting no response from me you’d think he’d twig I didn’t speak German. He then got into a row with a woman who was also sat in our compartment before he stormed out into the corridor. She slammed the door on him, he decided to spit on the glass door and then yank it open. It all got very Monty Pythonesque with door slamming and ranting. 10 minutes later he opened the door, apologised
and they shook hands. It was the German equivalent of on board entertainment I’m sure.
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