Guten Tag Innsbruck!

DAY 10: WHERE NOTHING SLEEPS – INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

We made sure to arrive in Austria early in the morning to make the most of our day, after all, we would only be there for one day. I was never to keen on making our way to Innsbruck as being in an isolated area in the middle of Austria didn’t seem very interesting. After thanking the Italian bus driver, that was the last we heard of any Italian for the rest of the trip, we were now in the land of the German language...Guten Tag!

Dropping the bags off at our first four and a half star hotel was exciting. We finally got large, spacious rooms that were suitable for the three of us. Of course, the other hotels we had previously stayed in weren’t half bad, however I did prefer this one. Instead of dispersing ourselves, the entire group was on its way to the Alps as we had booked tickets to go up. The walk was quite long; however I did truly enjoy walking around this city.

The beauty of this town made me breathless. When I looked around, each and every building had its own, distinct and unique color. The bright yellow ones were my favorite, they just made the atmosphere that much more joyful. As it was the Saturday before Easter, the city was preparing for the big celebration. The shops were closed and only the food market was open, probably making a gargantuan amount of profits, after all, Easter was a holiday where lunch with the family is common. The decorations that reigned over the town made it look like the Easter Bunny had passed and left his mark. Large, colorful eggs, each with their own design stood in the center of the town square. The streams that extended from one side of the street to another blew gently in the wind; twisting and turning about. The churches sounded their bells that echoed between the short buildings.

We had made our way to the Innsbruck tramway and it was this sophisticated system that would bring us up to the gondolas. When it arrived, the gates lowered, a beep sounded and the doors opened. This underground had not a speck of graffiti, I could literally eat off the floor; as a matter of fact, even the smell of flowers that stormed through the metro was delightful. We made it up to the top and it was now time to take the gondola. As I was afraid of heights, I tried to stick to the back of the oversized box. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, however the thought of being thousands of feet in the air was still overwhelming. When we got to the ¾ mark of the mountain, everyone de-boarded. Slowly, I made may way across the paved road and onto the mountain. As we were high, practically above the clouds, the air was ice cold. It was as if summer had instantly ended and winter was slowly drawing in. I was in shorts-not to wise of me. I stood at the cliff, overhanging the entire city of Innsbruck and looking out at the different colors enveloping the city; it resembled a large, colourful Christmas gift, it was beautiful! Believe it or not, there was even snow on the mountain. Some of us had a snowball fight; it felt good to get away from the 35 degrees heat and be hit in the face with an ice cold snow ball that dripped water down my shirt.

As the pictures were taken and people began to get cold, many of them left. Instead, my friends and I stayed. We admired the scenery and embraced the tall mountains in the distance. I took large breaths of cool air and stared up at the large birds soaring in the massive gusts of winds under the sun, hidden behind the mountains. What we decided to do is use our pass to go to the tip of the mountain. Although I was afraid, when would I get another chance to go to the tip of an Austrian Alp? The answer to this question is what got me up there. The second gondola had seats and after about ten minutes or so, we were finally 2.5 thousand feet in the air. It seemed like I could touch the clouds floating nearby! The wind became stronger, it was as if I could catch it in my hand. We overlooked the beautiful city as the wind raced through my gel-filled hair. It was now hard to see much, as we were so high, however we sat for a little on the ice cold, watery rocks. They were cold, however as smooth as the pebbles along the shores of Nice. The sight was incredible; I tried to taste, feel and see as much as I could before returning back down.

Later that day we walked around a little more before ending the day. Walking in the square was interesting as I had noticed most stores were uniquely Austrian.  The only open store was the famous Arka Austrian Chocolate store. And guess who went inside it? Yes, I spent about twenty minutes simply looking at the diversity of chocolates they had. From peanut butter filled, to peanut coated to white wine chocolate, this store literally had some of the most amazing types of chocolate. I bought a few treats, however there was one I was eager to eat, so I savagely opened the pack and drove my teeth into the center. The first instance gave off a hard bitter taste, however the more I bit, the more I was intrigued. This double chocolate, chocolate bar melted in my mouth and it was as if it flowed through my entire body...it was sensational. This dessert could not be classified with the simple “mmm” or “that was amazing” , oh no, the words to describe this treat would be succulent, indulging, exquisite, and many other fabulous words. That chocolate was literally the best chocolate I had ever tasted in the seventeen years I have been alive.

Walking back to the hotel, the sunlight faded and from behind the white mountains rose the papery white moon. It light up the entire sky as if a large white spot light was placed onto the tip of the mountain. The dark casted a shadow upon my face and it was at this point I knew it was time to return. The wind picked up and the occasional leaf and paper cup flew in circles off the ground. The streets became quiet and it was now that everything stood still to sleep. When we made our way back to the hotel, we all looked back to the mountains lit by her majesty, the moon. It was unreal to think we were 2.5 thousand feet above the ground that day. Austria was simply remarkable and from the joyful, colorful atmosphere, to the nature setting in the surrounding perimeter, this city may be in the middle of nowhere, but to me, it’s one the most incredible settings I have ever been in.