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Friday 22 May:
When we arrived at our hotel yesterday evening Zachary was very excited to see they had an in-house kindergarten. We talked to him about it and he said he would like to go. This morning we discussed it again and explained how it would be like when he went to Jenny or Denise’s place. Mummy and Daddy would be somewhere else (going to museums). He was super-keen to go so we packed his bag and went down at 10 to meet Olga, the young lady who runs it. She speaks passable English, certainly well enough to communicate with children, so it was all good. We left him to it and headed into Innsbruck.
First stop was the Tourist Info office at the Hauptbahnhof. Treviso (and other places for that matter) take note – this is how you run an i-site. The man was totally fluent in English and incredibly helpful and informative. We both purchased a 48 hour Innsbruck card for €41 each. This gives us free entry to all museums, use of public transport, and entry to other attractions such as the Hungerburg funicular, Nordkettenbahnen cable-car, and Alpine Zoo.
First stop though was the Imperial Palace. Unfortunately it was closed for renovation, something which is becoming a theme on our holiday! So instead we went to the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum. This was something quite different for us. It was good to see some history of the region as expressed through folk-art. They also had a number of parlours set up which re-created those of the Tyrolean people from 1600 on. These were cool to go into. They had an extensive collection of old furniture also which I enjoyed. There was also an exhibition called “More than Words” about the history of signs and symbols. It didn’t really fit into this museum but was still a bit interesting – Heather liked this much more than I did. We also had a quick look in the adjoining church. From there we walked through the Altstadt (Old City) and had some lunch. Then a bit more of a wander around before catching the shuttle to the Swarovski Crystal Worlds. This is about 20 minutes out of Innsbruck but transport and entry, normally combined €28.50, was included with the Card so we thought we’d take the opportunity to go. It wasn’t
what we expected! We had thought there would be displays of crystal creations and some history and education about them. I think the best way to describe it was someone’s physical re-creation of an LSD trip they had. We went into a warren of rooms, each with a different theme or concept. Some of it was very cool (the garden of Eden), some of it was freaky, other parts were just plain weird! If I had spent €57 for the two of us to go, I would have felt hard done by. But it was good to go and on the whole I enjoyed it, even if it was created by minds that obviously function quite differently to mine!
After that we headed back and picked up Zachary who had had an absolute ball. There were two other children there during the day. Olga was very impressed with him. Then Heather and Zachary went up to the 4
th floor for a swim – there is a very good swimming pool complex at the hotel – while I cooked dinner (I had managed to go to the supermarket this morning). I also established that the reason I couldn’t
find any dishwashing liquid or brushes / cloths was that they don’t supply any. We find this a bit odd. They supply plenty of soaps in the bathroom, they serviced the room, but no dishwashing supplies. Anyway, we now have these added to our luggage. A day out together tomorrow to go up the mountain and the Alpine Zoo and whatever else we have time for.
Saturday 23 May:
One of the highlights of the trip so far today. We went into Innsbruck and went to the station where the Hungerburg funicular starts. First it goes down underground before starting to climb. It is a steep ascent up to 858m (Innsbruck is 560m above sea level). From there we took two cable cars up to the upper station, 2256m above sea level. There had been fresh snow and it was snowing lightly when we got there. We had hot chocolates and a very nice lunch at the restaurant at the top and then went for a bit of a walk and play in the snow. Like Adelboden it was light and fluffy and lovely to touch and hold. Two times playing in fresh snow
this week – and on our summer holiday!
The funicular then took us to the Alpine Zoo. The funicular has only one track and it was a bot disconcerting as we hurtled down at considerable speed to see the other car heading straight towards us. This was in a tunnel which made it even more so. Our car then swerved to the left into a short “passing lane” and both card carried on their merry ways without slowing at all. One hopes that the computer running this is 100% reliable!
The zoo was pretty cool. Our primary purpose was to see the kodiak bears and we weren’t disappointed. We went into the area where you could look through glass and one of them was right there walking along the path, rubbing against the glass. As close as you can safely get to one of these great animals! Then from the top we saw both bears. Their area is very good and well suited to them. We had a quick look around the rest of the zoo making sure we saw the moose. Tip for travellers here: NOT a good idea to drop your cell
phone while watching the ibex. Fortunately it landed outside the enclosure and I was able to climb a fence and scramble up a slope and through some trees to retrieve it (it was in 3 parts). The ibex, just on the other side, was quite interested in what was going on! Phone retrieved and re-assembled (and still working) we headed back to town to go the tram museum. We got to go for a tour around the city on an “historic” tram and you know you are getting old when you remember riding on these as a child! Zachary slept most of it. Out the back of the museum they had a workshop where trams were being restored and repaired. Zachary was quite enjoying this and many of the trams you could go into. Many people were doing this with no problems. We got to the last one and Zachary was in it (with me and some others) and he found the bell (a pedal). So of course he rang the bell a few times (he wasn’t the first to do so) and some SS wanker came running and shouting at him to stop and then started yelling at us.
What a complete cock. Anyway we left and Heather felt compelled to write in their visitors book and it wasn’t complimentary. Sadly they don’t have a listing on TripAdvisor so I can’t warn others to stay away.
Back to the hotel then and another swim for Zachary and Heather while I cooked dinner. Plan for tonight is to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. Austria won it last year (you may have seen the story of the bearded transvestite who won it for them) so it is being held in Vienna. Just found BBC1 so I'll watch their coverage with Graham Norton. It is a cool event and I haven’t seen one for a few years. I can’t figure out why countries not in Europe are part of it though. Most bizarrely of all I see Australia is in it. I thought them competing as part of Asia in the Football World Cup was stretching the geographical imagination a bit!
Another half day in Innsbruck tomorrow. Should be time enough to go to the castle before catching an afternoon train to
Munich, Germany where we are for 4 nights before going to the Hoffmans. Home
in 13 weeks!
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