Innsbruck

This week my day off was spent in Innsbruck. The city had been much hyped by my parents (especially my mother) who claimed it was their favourite city on their European travels. As it is the nearest city to my current gig, it seemed an ideal place to start my Austrian adventures. The other consideration, though, was that I will be coming back to Innsbruck on the Contiki European Encounter tour that i am taking in November, so I wanted to avoid the major sights and do some of the more unusual things. So after consulting the good ole Lonely Planet and a few of the locals, I had my plan of sights to see.

The first thing that surprised me about Innsbruck is that it is much smaller than I thought. It is practically impossible to avoid the altstadt (old city) with all of the major tourist sights, especially since my hotel was right next to it. So, the walk to my hotel basically gave me all of the sights that I was trying to avoid (including the Golden Roof, which I was expecting to be much bigger - it is kinda cool though!)

I bought a fantastic tourist card that gave me free entry to most of the major attractions in Innsbruck in a 24 hour period as well as free use of public transport. Definitely a good buy at 24 Euro (I definitely saved money with all the things I saw in that time!). After checking into my hotel (and running into some Australians at the desk) I set out on my Innsbruck adventures.

First stop was Patscherkoefel - a tall mountain close to Innsbruck with a cable car that takes you to 2000 metres above sea level. It was used as the Winter Olympic ski and Bobsled run and it was the most expensive thing covered by the Sightseeing Card I'd bought, so I was already on track to saving money! The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular and I was lucky that it was such a clear day. From the top, you can see the whole city of Innsbruck and the surrounding alps and valleys. I am particularly impressed with this photo (I took it! I don't quite believe it either!)

Of course, on the cable car on the way down, I met another Australian...

Next stop was a wander around the altstadt (I had given up trying to avoid the major sights - I'll just see them again in November!). The highlight was definitely the Dom St Jakob (the Cathedral of St John). The outside of the cathedral is pretty unremarkable, but inside is really beautiful. I am always really amazed at the frescos on the ceilings of these churches - one of those things that is lacking in Australia - why is that?!? This is the high altar of the Dom:

Oh and did I mention that I bumped into even more Australians as I wandered the altstadt? We're everywhere! Actually, this group were on the Contiki tour that I will be doing in November, so it was great to ask them how they were enjoying it and allay my fears about being the oldest on the trip. They were having a great time and the age range was pretty well spread... feeling a little less anxious about it now.

A few good German beers, a great meal in a very trendy Japanese fusion restaurant (complete with piano player / singer doing all of my repertoire) and a really nice night out.

The next morning I woke early (always a struggle!) to head to the Alpenzoo. The map showed that it was a short walk from my hotel. Of course, it didn't show me how steep the mountains were to get up there! Eventually I reached the zoo and it was really very pleasant (another expensive attraction on the card, so more money saved!) Unfortunately their new eagle encolsure was being built, so they weren't on display. And they only had one bear. And one otter that I could find. And the wolves were hiding. But I did see an elk (not Anne Elk - nor a brontosaurus), some deer, a lynx, a few mountain goats (springboks), wild boar and the snow chicken... who knew there was such a thing!

After the zoo, my time was getting a bit limited so I caught the bus (for free!) back into the altstadt and headed to the Hofkirche which has a completely over the top tomb for Maximillian I (and he isn't even buried there). Quickly into the Volksmuseum with lots of Tyrolean craft, furniture, musical instruments and costumes - really didn't interest me at all (but I'd saved money on the entrance fee!). And finally to the Art Gallery with some great contemporary pieces by Albin Egger-Lienz and, of course, an exhibition of Rembrandt's Etchings...

A hectic weekend but a beautiful city. Quite looking forward to going back to see a bit more.