Capital of the Alps

As the first part of my trip quickly comes to an end we headed to Innsbruck, a smaller city near the borders of both Switzerland and Germany. This is another city that I visited back in high school and enjoyed very much. We arrived early in the evening on the night of the 12th with plans of an early bedtime. But of course, just like almost all the other nights of our trip, we were up rather late- at least midnight or later. Our hotel was just across from the train station which made for a great location.

The next morning we left the hotel at 8:30 to go pick up the rental car because we were headed to Germany! Nestled in the Bavarian Alps is the gorgeous castle of Neuschwanstein. It was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the mid 1800s but modeled after a style from the 10th or 11th century.

It should be just short of a two hour drive from Innsbruck to the castle but we encountered lots of snow and ice on our drive up the mountains towards Germany and therefore were delayed about 45 minutes. But it sure was worth the view! We had come on this trip expecting freezing weather and lots of snow. And so far we had had none! It was such a disappointment. Much like the scene from one of my favorite movies, White Christmas, where the four leads are on their way to Vermont: America's Winter Playground and dreaming of all the snow there will be and then they arrive to a very green Vermont. Turns out, that back home in Virginia they have colder weather and snow than Austria. And of course the entire next week here it is supposed to do nothing but snow. Just our luck.

But the drive out was well worth the wonderful time we had at the castle. When we first arrived in the town, we went to a little restaurant for lunch, before starting our trek up the mountain to the castle. It is about a 30 minute walk to the castle and an additional 20 minutes to the Marienbrucke, which is the bridge that provides a wonderful vantage point of the side of the castle. Just being able to see miles and miles of the German countryside and lakes was amazing!! 

King Ludwig certainly chose a great location for his castle. Down in the valley was his childhood home, the yellow castle built by his father. You can kinda see it in the above picture in the distant. Going to the bridge was something I didn't have time for when I visited the castle before, so I am glad that we made the trek up. It was so wobbly though!! You could feel the boards shifting beneath you. I truly wonder for how much longer it will be able to stay open. Or at the very least, there should be someone up there to monitor how many people can be on the bridge at one time. We had actually visited the bridge before entering the castle because we had time before our assigned tour time. So then we went back towards the castle and got to see the inside, which was never actually completed because King Ludwig died after only there for a short six months. Walt Disney visited this castle and used it as his inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Disney World.

By the time we drove back to Innsbruck, it was late and time for dinner. It would be our last dinner in Austria and so I wanted to have Wiener Schntizel one more time. We went to Skiftskeller about half a mile from our hotel. I really haven't become accustomed to the taste of beer and don't know if I ever will. But I had a Radler, which mixes beer and lemonaade which wasn't bad.

The next morning was Sunday so we headed off to Mass after being able to sleep in a little later than our normal schedule, which was nice. We still had the rental car which made going to Mass very easy and convenient. I wanted to go up to a panoramic view of the city and so we had lunch at Tirol Panorama after Mass. My favorite part about Innsbruck is that it is completely surrounded by the Alps. It's just gorgeous!!

On the way back towards Old Town, I wanted to stop by OlympiaWorld because I thought there might be exhibits on what it was like when Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976. But alas, it is now just an ice skating rink and a convention center. I had been looking forward to shopping around in the old town section of the city, filled with tiny shops, cafes, and surrounded by incredible architecture. But almost everything was closed- it was Sunday! I am glad that they are being so observant of the Sabbath, but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed since this was our only day to explore town. We checked out a few Churches in the area, including the cathedral and then we were off to Munich to return the rental car and check into our airport hotel.

That night I literally dumped my suitcase out on the floor in order to start the repacking process. To keep my bags under the weight requirement, I have to put anything that is heavy into my two carry-ons: my canvas backpack and my black purse. They subsequently weigh a ton!! I was a little better about packing this go around, so I thought. Except I still had to remove some weight at the airport the next morning. It was probably 2am before we went to bed after getting all organized and watching our Netflix show, The Crown. We had almost finished season two on our trip. This is my second time watching it through. I binged it as soon as finals week ended and I will be watching it a third time when Emily gets to England. We just had one more episode left, but we needed to go to bed because it was going to be an early morning.

My mom departed first, as she had an earlier flight to catch back to Washington DC. I woke up to go to breakfast with her and afterwards we had a hurried goodbye in the lobby before the concierge took her to the airport. But part of me is glad it was quick because as it was, I was feeling very sad walking back to the room by myself knowing I wouldn't see her again until May.

I waited another hour and a half before heading to the airport myself. I had a quick 2 hour flight from Munich to London. I fell asleep before we even took off, with no recollection of take-off at all. I slept for about an hour and then read my book on the making of the Crown and how it relates to what actually occurred in history. It's so fascinating! I've always had a soft-spot for British history (it's what I will be thesising on next year) but recently I just can't get enough of it. My queue on Netflix consists primarily of documentaries and shows about the royals. And now that I am in London, there is so much more information at my fingertips.

Customs took a long time but finally I was through and met my grandfather after grabbing my hefty suitcase. We drove about an hour from Heathrow airport back to their rowhouse in Central London. I was greeted with a cup of hot tea and a view of their beautiful garden. After that we went on a drive around the neighborhood so I could attempt to get my bearings on where I would be living for the next 3 weeks. But my favorite part was being able to unpack, like actually unpack. A dresser a fill and the opportunity to do laundry made me so happy. I had loved all my time for the past 11 days exploring but it is nice to be able to set roots for a little while and only have to pack a backpack for overnight and 3-day excursions. We went out to eat that night and then it was an early bedtime for me.

I slept in the next day and pretty much lounged around the house for the morning into the early afternoon. After that, I was given a public transportation lesson, learning the bus system and the "tube" aka the underground. I loaded up my Oyster Card (like a metro card) to last me awhile and then we headed back home. They live in a charming neighborhood and I will write more about London later once Emily joins me. I have barely begun to explore it. The next day we left for four days in Amsterdam so there just wasn't time but I promise more about it later. Meet Tabatha, who has taken a liking to me and is attempting to turn me into a cat person. We will see if she succeeds. At least she doesn't hate me, I guess. That's all for now. I can't believe I am already in country #4 and preparing to explore #5. I will write about my time in Amsterdam very shortly!

The Brunette