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Published: November 26th 2009
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Inspired
good time for a self-portrait Three weeks of exploring cities by day, and drinking/partying all night can really star to wear on you.
Luckily, my most recent stop was to Innsbruck, Austria - a beautiful city of 100,000 people located
in a valley, surrounded by the peaks of the Alps.
I arrived on Saturday night at 11:00. So, even though my main reason for being in Innbruck was to get
away from the city, see some nature and recharge my batteries, I decided it would be a waste to not
check out the night life of a new place on the best night of the week.
I stayed at a hostel that was once housing for Olympic athletes in the 1964 and 1972 winter games that were held here. I paid 20 euro's per night (32 CAD) which is the most I've paid yet. So, naturally, I was expecting a great hostel. Not so much. The rooms were about 7 feet wide and 15 feet deep. Enough space for exactly 3 bunk beds and some storage lockers - nothing more.
But, it doesn't really matter what my room was like because I didn't really spend much time in it.
Like I was
First Mountain View
This was two steps out of my hostel saying earlier - I arrived Saturday night and hit the town. I met 4 American soldiers that
had just returned from Iraq 3 days earlier. They were good guys, but I couldn't get over how brainwashed they seemed to be by the army. They were goin on, and on, about how they were the world police, and they keep the rest of the world liberated. There is maybe some truth in that, but I got the sense that all of the propaganda and training they have received for a few years has made them believe that they almost holy. I pretty much just smiled and nodded trying to show some respect to the risk they took, even though I have different opinions of why America is in Iraq.
My guide book didn't even have a section on night life for Innsbruck, so I wasn't expecting much.
I was wrong. My and the Yanks arrived at a bar FULL of people. Mostly a student crowd, the bar of
about 300 people was pumping the tunes and people were having a blast. I met a few Austrian girls
and had some drinks with them. The bar shut down at 2 a.m.
and I thought that was the end of the night. Instead, the girls took me to a place called Hofgarten - which my guide book shows is a park.
My book was right, it was a park. In the center of the park was a giant tent housing a large bar,
and dance floor. I thought this was pretty cool, but the girls I was with weren't happy with it,
so we went to yet another after hours club which was about twice the size with two floors.
Dancing to house music requires a certian level of blood alcohol for me...so I was hurting a bit the
next day.
I had never seen a mountain before and luckily for me I didn't have to far in Innsbruck to see one.
The whole city is surrounded by them so as soon as I looked outside I saw mountains. Seeing
them brought a lot of energy to me so after getting myself together from the night before,
I headed to the city center to look around. I was planning to do my hike the next day, but I couldn't help but walk to the mountains. I easily found a path that
Innsbruck
Town center...very pretty started taking me up. I kept thinking I would turn around soon, but I always wanted to see what was a bit higher. Before I knew it I was halfway up the mountain and overlooking the beautiful sights of Innsbruck.
On the second day, I was much better rested and far less hungover. I got an early start
on the day and prepared my gear/food for the day. This time I found a path to start my trek,
but it wasn't exactly ideal. See the pictures for details.
I wandered for hours through seemingly and endless number of trails. Lots of other locals
were enjoying the mountains as well, but even still I could go an hour without seeing anyone.
I had to head back down around 3:00 because it would be dark by 5:00, but I did reach snow before
I started my decent! Hiking through the Alps is defiantly a great way to unwind, do some thinking and get away from the crazyness of a large city. Not to mention it is a great form of excercise! I learnt a couple of important things for Mt Everest. 1. Stick to the trails, they are there for a
Fresh Water
Hangover was defiantly helped by the fresh moutnain water. Eventually I was drinking straight from the streams reason. 2. I will defianlty invest in some good quality hiking boots. 3. I will have to stock up on pain killers. Anybody that
has a bad knee knows, its not going up, its coming back down that kills!
Now to complete my rest and recharging, I am doing some Laundry, possibly for the last time for
the next 2-3 months. After this, night train to Rome! Thanks for reading!
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Judy Lovelock
non-member comment
Looks just beautiful, wish I was there