DASHING THRU AUSTRIA
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2010
1
20
25
Trip End
Jul 01, 2010
Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria
Friday, May 28, 2010
27th May
THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER INN
Before we left Germany we wanted to take the cable car up the Zugspitze at Garmiche, but it was still raining… and it would’ve been a waste, after all, it cost €47 ($70) each for the return trip. You take the cogwheel train up to 2600m then the cable car up to Zugspitze at 2962m, then another cable car down to 1000m… that’s a drop of 2000m and it’s almost vertical. Perhaps the rain did us a favour!
We played with the idea of going to a little place called Wank, but decided to press on to Austria, to Innsbruck (the bridge over the River Inn) . But wait, before you can drive in this country, you need to buy a Road Permit, so we opted for €8 ($12) for a week, rounded the corner and we were immediately gobsmacked by this glorious schloss.
It was a magnificent drive thru lush mountains, timbered ski huts dotted amid green meadows, past raging glacial rivers (which reminded us so much of NZ) and snow-streaked massive peaks.
Found a carpark close to the Aldstadt (no thanks to the bitch inside the GPS), and went exploring. Apparently enough people have made the mistake of confusing Australia with Austria, so now they sell these T-shirts declaring “No kangaroos in Austria".
Stunning gothic and baroque buildings had me snap happy (I’m sure I was an architect in a past life) and a postcard perfect alpine backdrop surrounding the city was breathtaking while the raging Inn River swept thru the centre of town, with its cobblestone alleyways and wooden chalets.
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I have a fascination with the opulence of some cathedrals and so I crept into the Dom to have my breath taken away by such beauty in the paintings of the domed ceilings, all the gold detail and I thought “if ever there was a moment for me to be converted, surely this is it!” but fortunately I recovered and my soul was salvaged so I slunk off to the Schnapps Free Tastings shop and gloried in the exquisite sensation of red peaches caressing my taste buds… so armed with my “souvenir” of Innsbruck, I found Roger amongst the crowd. He was distinctly unhappy about the clouds gathering low over the peaks and it was only 10° ; we could’ve got piste at a pub, but he was keen to get south of the alps.
On leaving Innsbruck we saw a towering curved ski run right in the middle of town, and the maps of the ski runs showed no nursery slopes but the inkiest black runs imaginable.
We took the toll road thru the Brenner Pass into Italy, costing €12 ($18) and emerged into a full-on peak hour traffic jam which is quintessentially Italy I guess, BUT the temperature had risen to 17° and the sun was shining. Bellissimo!!!
