Blogs from Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, Europe
February 17th 2012
You would think that after going 36 hours without sleep, except for a half hour snooze during Shakespeare on the plane, that I would've had a long night's rest once I climbed into bed. Yet I was up most of the night coughing my brains out. I assume I was allergic to the feather bed or some alien German mould in our room. I kept my poor mother awake as well. But when breakfast time rolled around I actually felt pretty refreshed. The planned itinerary for today was the cause for some concern before we left home. We would be driving through the Alps and a couple of high mountain passes on our way to and from Innsbruck. Innsbruck is only 50 miles from Innsbruck but it is over roads prone to receiving some heavy snow ... read more
January 1st 2012
I'm sending all of you a message from the future... welcome to 2012! Happy New Year! We brought in the new year beside the Inn river watching PHENOMENAL fireworks to a waltz, 'nothing else matters', a german song and '21 guns'. We have a few videos to show. Enjoy the rest of 2011!... read more
January 1st 2012
We went downhill skiing today at Axamer Lizum. I had a very satisfying 4 runs (5 if you count the t-bar run). It took an entire run for me to figure out what I was doing, but by the end of the day I had a lot more confidence. The mountains are incredible! I did my last run looking at a limestone mountain range glowing in the setting sun! Sorry no pictures today-the playbooks had a quiet day in our room. Off to bed, we're going to push our muscles tomorrow and go skiing at Patscher Kofel. The ski area has over 1000m of vertical for a single run. Guten Abend!... read more
December 31st 2011
We arrived in Innsbruck last night. Unfortunately the internet coverage isn't great, so no videos for awhile. We were a bit nervous coming to Innsbruck as the weather forecast called for rain today, however since we got on the train at 4pm last night it hasn't stopped snowing! There's been something like 7-10" in the last day. The trees have big blobs of snow on their branches. It looks like a winter wonderland! We explored the altstadt (old city) today stopping at the market hall and a few coffeeshops to warm up and shake the snow off. The coffees, hot chocolate and apple strudal were great, but my favourite is the delicious soup everywhere. Food is one of the three things Austrians must really enjoy based on the stores we came across. The other 2 are ... read more
Chapter 4 - DAY4 - Heidelberg to innsbruck
Published: September 12th 2011Europe » Austria » Tyrol » Innsbruck
September 10th 2011
Today was supposed to be a comfortable drive from Heidelberg through spectacular mountains which surround Fern Pass, our route to the Austrian city of Innsbruck. All started well and we were making good time until we hit traffic which meant we did half the journey at a crawl – making it another long day in the coach. THE TRIP We drove south into the Bavarian Alps to see King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle, one of the most spectacular in Europe and to have some lunch. I had goulash and Jeanette apple strudel – sampling local fare! A bit further along we also stopped to see Germany’s highest mountain Zugspitze. In general the views from the road were stunning, with huge mountains overlooking the green valley’s below. The valleys were dotted with small villages. Farming is still carried ... read more
August 25th 2011
An alle die sich fürchten wir werden in Australien von Schlangen und anderen Untieren gefressen - ich habe fest vor hier regelmäßig unseren Gesundheitsstatus und unsere momentane Position zu veröffentlichen. Ob ich den Vorsatz wirklich durchhalte sei jetzt dahingestellt, aber wie gesagt hab es fest vor ;) ... read more
May 16th 2011
Day 14 A day in Innsbruck. Decided to give the Bongo rest today and took bus into town. In an earlier blog we mentioned Kim stayed in Lermoos when he was twenty. His original plan in 1976 was to visit the Olympics but someone offered ski lessons so never got there. Well 30 years later we’re here. Enchanting old town plenty of museums - but our highlight today was going to the top of the Bergisil -the Ski Jump ramp, where at the top, there is a viewing tower with a restaurant overlooking the whole city. A perfect view of the mountains and city. ... read more
May 8th 2011
Dear Austria, We danced circles around you until 4 AM, went to bed, and woke up to the snow accented Alps surrounding us. Is this heaven? Love, M/J... read more
May 8th 2011
Last night we went dancing, the bars are open all night here. We stayed out and had a few drinks with Jen's friends. Upon a routine girl-trip to the bathroom, we encountered a lady...obviously german in every way. She was older and had severe German features. She met us with some hesitation coming out of the bathroom stall while we were waiting in line to go. She kept saying things to us in German until I pieced together that she was telling us that she didn't speak English, that she was drunk, and that we were too. All while insisting that she didn't speak English. We started laughing -probably a lot -when all of the sudden, she yells (germans are loud) "What are you laughing at?" It took us about an hour to realize the ... read more
April 16th 2011
Ciao Italia For the last two weeks we have thoroughly enjoyed the warmth, the chaos, the sights, the food and the wine of Italy. Three days in Rome, three days in Venice, two days in Florence and one day and night each in Pisa, Verona and San Remo, has only whetted our appetites for more. Venice is an awesome city and it's nice to be able to wander on foot without the hazards of cars, bites and scooters. The problem with Venice is that you can't help but get lost in its labyrinth of streets, alleyways, bridges and canals. At least you know that when you hit a larger expanse of water that you have reached the other side of that particular area! After hearing nothing but Italian, Dutch and German for the last few weeks, ... read more
