A few days in Innsbruck

Hello all. This is Ron for the first time writing. From all the positive feedback we have received I do believe that I have some big shoes to fill.

I will start off where Robin left off. We drove from Lichtenstein and enjoyed the beautiful views surrounding us. There were mountains everywhere we looked. We arrived in Innsbruck, Austria just after 4pm at the Best Western Hotel. We checked in and oriented ourselves with our surroundings. One thing we immediately noticed was the overwhelming smell of smoke in our "non smoking" hotel room. Even with the window left open it was still quite formidable. We decided that evening to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was a very limited menu but Robin and I both enjoyed our steak. After that we went back to our hotel room to call it an early night.

Friday morning came and this was what we had been waiting for (at least me). Today we were going to go skiing! We had looked into getting the hotel shuttle to bring us to one of the 10 local mountains, but upon finding out that we would have to leave at 8:45am we quickly dismissed that idea. We came to the conclusion that we had after all rented a car, so why not drive ourselves. With the help of our GPS we made it to the mountain at 11am. Axamer Lizum was the name of the mountain we had decided to ski. It was where the majority if not all of the skiing for the 1964 and 1976 winter Olympics was held. This added a certain level of intensity to the matter. We were both excited and headed over to the rental shop to get our necessary gear. That is when I made a very poor judgment call and rented a snowboard... not really one of my strong suits but I figured I would try it anyways. After getting to the top of the hill and realizing what they call an easy run is a sheer drop off that winds down the mountain for up to 7 kilometers I soon realized that this was not the most opportune moment to be trying snowboarding for the third time. After 3 runs and having what felt like my tailbone hitting me in the chin I decided it was time to get back down the hill and go to what comes most naturally to me: skis. There was still a problem I was faced with though. I was 1500meters up at this point and needed to get to the bottom to exchange for skis. This is when I developed a sort of new style of snowboarding. You sit down on the board like a toboggan with your feet out and you can reach blisteringly fast speeds. It almost made me reconsider my choice to trade.
After getting fitted with skis I joined up with Robin to explore the rest of the mountain. We did a number of runs and really enjoyed it. Right before lunch I felt that I had one more run in me. So I took of on the Olympic downhill run. What an experience! I have never felt that kind of speed before on skis in my life. It was amazing. After that I joined Robin for lunch and a beer in the Olympic chalet overlooking the entire mountain at the highest peak. It was a spectacular view.
Friday evening after our skiing adventure was not overly eventful. We decided to go to the wellness center at the hotel after skiing but were unsure of the appropriate attire. We thought since it was Europe maybe we go nude, however we did not entirely know the social norm and did not think to look it up on google. We then saw the smallest little heading in our hotel guide book in our room saying that bathrobes and slippers are available at the front desk. Problem solved. Afterwards we went out for dinner to a Mexican, Chinese, Austrian restaurant. Kind of a weird combination but it was quite good. We went back to the hotel and watched some movies after a long day out.

Saturday morning we slept in and missed breakfast. We had anticipated that would happen and were ok with that. We decided to drive to the downtown core and see the beautiful city square and town of Innsbruck. It was your typical European city square with little shops, vendors, and of course creepy mimes and human statues in the streets. We walked around for quite some time taking it all in and looking at the shops. One of the things that I found odd was that there were a few souvenir shops which only sold schnapps and various other booze that looked like it was made in somebodies bath tub.
After we had seen enough of the downtown we decided to go check out the Olympic ski jumping stadium. It was quite a site to see. We got taken up to the top in a gondola and got to see the view. Lucky for you in case anyone of you are wondering about the specifications of ski jumping I am properly informed and educated in this area. The inrun (which is the approach ramp of a ski jump) features a plastic track. During the summer it is lubricated with water, and during winter it is covered with 30cm of hard packed snow. The inrun is 98 meters long and has a slope of 35degrees. Within 4 seconds of the start the skier reaches speeds well over 90 kph. The skis they wear have special saftey bindings and measure up too 3 meters long depending on the height of the athlete. So that`s all I know about ski jumping, and was largely learned from the billboard that I read and then took a picture of so I could record the information. There was a very large restaurant at the top which had quite the view of the not only the ski jump hill but also the entire city.
After we rode the gondola down we drove back to our hotel. From there we spent the rest of the afternoon on foot shopping.

Just before dinner I got on the computer and was researching potential restaurants for the nights dinner. I found a very nice Italian restaurant with great reviews so Robin and I decided to go there. We walked for about 10 minutes to the restaurant and upon getting there realized that there was no restaurant. The review I had read was outdated. At this time we did not realize it, but it was a good thing we did not find this restaurant because where we ended up going was fantastic. After wandering for another 20 minutes with our hunger increasing we finally decided to settle on a Austrian style restaurant. It was a basement tavern with old barn board style tables. The service was very prompt and friendly. I decided since we were in Austria I would order the pork schnitzel. What I did not at the time realize, or maybe it was lost in the translation of the menu to English, is that the pork they were giving me was from a dinosaur. It was huge! I had never seen anything that big before. The other impressive thing was the value. We really enjoyed our dinner there, and when the waiter brought the bill he also presented us with complimentary shots of cherry schnapps. All in all it was a good experience.

After a leisurely walk back to the hotel, we went upstairs to watch some movies and hang out together. We decided to get up the next morning at 8:30am so we could be on the road before 10am for the drive back. However due to an alarm clock operator error on my part I set the alarm for pm. We were fortunate though because Robin was up at 9am. Probably due to the fact that I was snoring, but that is an entirely different hot topic.
We went down to the hotel and had the breakfast spread. Although there was a lot of fresh fruit, pastries, cereals, it just is not the same as at home. The bacon is not the same, it is just fried pieces of ham, the eggs are always cold and in large scrambled lumps, and I have yet to find an English muffin in Europe. With that said we still enjoyed our breakfast and hit the road.

On the way home we were fortunate to be going through Germany. Now many of you that know me may be aware that I have a passion for cars and trucks, more specifically fast cars and loud trucks. This drive home meant that I would fulfill one of my life dreams and get to drive on the Autobahn. Now a common misconception is that all of Germany`s highways are unrestricted, when in reality only portions of the highway have no speed limit. Needless to say we took full advantage of it. It was a win win for both of us because Robin does not enjoy road trips and being in the car for long periods of time, so me being able to cruise at high speed was in her best interest. On the other end of the spectrum I love driving and road trips, and I especially like having no speed limits. We really pushed our Bmw quite hard. It was brand new with only 5000km on it when we got it, but rest assured the 2000 km we accumulated were probably the hardest it has seen, and may be the hardest it will see for awhile.

We arrived home in Maastricht at 6pm safe and sound. We were tired from our trip, but also enriched by the experience. It is good to be home and back in the swing of things. We still miss Canada and our home there, but our home here is also growing on us.
Well that is it for now. Until next weekend when we have more adventures to update you on.
R&R

 On the chair lift up the hill

 Started the day off with a big mistake.... A snowboard

 Robin about to drop into one of the runs

 One of the views from up top. (not even the highest run)

 Robin waving for dramatic effect

 Now this is the way it was intended to be!

 The stop for the Olympic gondola, and the highest run on the mountain

 Robin in the Olympic restaurant

 Having some pastries in the street

 Posing, that`s what tourist do right

 Just about to trek up to the ski jump

 From the top of the ski jump area just outside the restaurant

 The view of the city

 From the inrun. 35degrees does not sound like much, but it is steep

On the way home. Maxed out. Thats one less item on the bucket list