Inn...z...bruck

The first day of Innsbruck our goal was to explore the town. We definitely wanted to do some hiking, because (well as you can see) that is what you do here. We left our hotel after a nice breakfast of muesli, eggs, bread and jam and headed out to the altstadt (old town) to find out how we get to the top. This day we didn't want to hike to the top of the mountain we just wanted to figure out how to get there (so we could hike it the next day) and maybe do a small hike along the way. The altstadt is an area of walking streets aligned with restaurants and shops. This I am finding out is a regular thing in Europe.

 We shopped around, checked out the river that runs along the base of the mountains and then found our way walking through the neighborhoods up to the gondola that will take you to the top of the mountain. Walking up to the gondola was a hike in itself. Most people take a tram, but we decided it would be more fun to take the back way (I think it was about 7 km up the hill and about 1000 vertical feet). At the gondola loading area there was a spectacular lookout that we enjoyed for some time. We had fun taking pictures and figuring out our plan for the next days hike. We figured we walked about 11 miles the entire day. That night we were hungry for some authentic Austrian food so we headed nearby to a biergarten. We enjoyed some wiener schnitzel and potato salad with pumpkin oil. Pumpkin oil is a specialty in Austria. It was delicious!!

The next day we decided to make the trek up the mountain. We left at about 10am, walking straight from our hotel, through the town, up the same back way we took the day before up to the gondola, then ascending up, up and more up. About half way up we stopped at a small lodge that was only accessible by mountain bike or foot. We stopped for just a few minutes to capture some photos and head on our way. Finally after a long and very steep switchback after switchback ascent we found ourselves at the top. It was spectacular looking out over the valley and to all of the other mountains in the distance. We were so proud we made it and we were so happy to do it together. It took us 2 hrs, 4500 vertical feet and I think 9 miles. We ate a yummy lunch and enjoyed the views. Our plan afterwards was to take the gondola down, but decided we were in way too good of shape to take it down. Haha!! Really we got a second wind and decided it was much cheaper to go by foot. At the end of the day we were beat. We managed to go to dinner, but both of us were so tired we went home and went to bed early.

On our last day we wanted to see the famous ski jump in town. Innsbruck hosted the winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976. I think they are the only city that has hosted it twice ever. The jump wasn't all that spectacular, but the views were. Our legs were a little sore from the day before, so we moseyed around checking out the jump, eating gelato and then discovering that there was a New Orleans Jazz festival happening later that night. We had a lot of fun watching the random jazz parade and lounging at The Beach Club (on the river). The funny part was there was hardly any jazz at the festival. Most of it was American rock. We didn't mind either way, it was fun to get a dose of home. I think Nik really enjoyed the music, because it has been so long since he has been back.

Innsbruck was an incredible place. Nik and I will definitely head back to this area someday. Next time we might have to make a winter trip out of it. I can't even imagine how incredible the mountains are with snow on them.