| We crossed over the German-Austrian border, and Hans gave us an introduction to Austria. Part of our introduction included a sing-along of "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music, which is based on the Von Trapp family. Oh, everyone knows the story. The Von Trapp kids are all grown up now and actually live in Vermont (I went to their property ten or eleven years ago). Austria's scenery was even more breathtaking in person than it was in the opening scene of The Sound of Music. |
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| We pulled into Innsbruck, Austria (1) in time for lunch. Hans pointed out the Golden Roof (2) and told us about it, but I wasn't paying attention. Next we went to the Swarovski Crystal museum for an optional demonstration. Mik and I weren't interested, so used their restroom for free, and then went out in search of some food. |
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We found a nice café with tables outside and sat down to people-watch. A minor drawback to Austria is that not EVERY Austrian speaks English. Most of them do, but you can't assume everyone does. Our waiter was one of the few people that didn't speak English. I ordered our meals in German, which wasn't too hard, but trying to order still water was tough. I didn't know how to say "still," only "water," and if you don't specify still water, they bring seltzer water. No big deal though. The meal was totally worth it. |
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We ordered salad, tomatoes and mozzarella, bread...and it was all so good and fresh. Definitely a welcome change from Germany's meat and potatoes-filled diet. |
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Innsbruck is this incredible little city at the base of the Alps, which is just amazing. I never wanted to leave (3), (4). After lunch, we explored Innsbruck further and found the one bad area of town. We wanted to check out a flea market (5), but when we got close the guys that were working it started harassing us and made us feel very uncomfortable. A lot of the merchandise was Persian, which didn't interest us since we wanted Austrian stuff. At the back of the flea market (we had to go through the market to the back side against the river because the Persian guys had blocked us in) we got some great pictures of the Alps (6). Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out as awesome as the real thing, so I don't think they did the place justice. Even my camera, as awesome as it is, can't truly capture someplace like Innsbruck's beauty. |
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Back near the Golden Roof, we saw the wealthiest house in all of Innsbruck, based on its ornate facade(7). With a few minutes to kill, we shopped around for souvenirs. I bought a pretty ink and watercolor of Innsbruck that effectively captured the city's scenic atmosphere. |
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Then it was off to Hopfgarten. Hans led the way back to the coach through a beautiful park/garden. Man, this place is so gorgeous! Why doesn't DC look like this? One of the things we learned about Austria was the tax deduction Austrian residents can take if they have flower boxes and gardens on their property, because they are contributing to the beauty of the country. No wonder the place was so nice. Maybe the US should offer the same incentives. |
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| When we got to Hopfgarten I thought I was in Heaven. The weather was perfect, the hotel wonderful, and the view from our balcony amazing (8), (9). Clearly, the Austrians all over take pride in making their homes look as nice as possible—at least on the outside. Our hotel was more of a Bed and Breakfast than a Contiki-level tourist hotel. The bed was really soft, there was a down comforter for each guest, our room had a beautiful chandelier (10), and the shower had five nozzles. Could we just skip Italy and stay here for a few days? |
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We looked around a little bit before dinner, and couldn't wait to explore further. During dinner someone mentioned a castle nearby—as in right down the road, so we would have to check that out. After dinner Hans and the Hopfgarten hottie, Wolf, had a little demonstration for us. Hans had about six of us come up to the front and try out various shots. He picked me to try the red shot, which was delicious. Wolf, who was a model and up for Mr. Austria or something like that was around to sell and autograph his calendar for all the interested ladies. |
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After dinner Mikki and I went to check out the castle (12). A lot of the other girls had the same idea, and we saw Jen, Crissy, Roshni, Kreena (11), Yolandi, Kristin, and Lisa (13) near the castle (14). This is yet another reason why Germanic countries are so awesome: there are castles all over the place...and people actually live in them! The castle in Hopfgarten had a sign warning of a guard dog, so we didn't try to get too close. |
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As we wandered back toward the hotel, there were plenty of other buildings to photograph (15), (16), our hotel (17), and a nice little archway near the hotel that looked pretty as the sun was going down (18). Everyone was enjoying spirits outside the hotel bar, so we headed back over (19). I caught a glimpse of a shirtless Reuben cleaning the bus. Ooh la la. While hanging out with everyone, Gary and Laurie showed up and some of the girls got REALLY excited. Gary had taken Laurie down by the castle and proposed. |
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We were all very excited for them, and Hans brought over some champagne to celebrate this special occasion (20), (21). Simon was overheard saying to Gary, "You made a good choice." I think he was about two and a half sheets to the wind at this point (22), which might explain his boneheaded comment. (No offense Simon.) I didn't have anything to drink, since the adventures in Munich were still fresh in my head, but hung out and talked to Mark about college, engagements and weddings, jobs—topics of a twentysomething's life, basically. I headed up to bed fairly early because I needed a good night's sleep. I took a shower in the shared bathroom, and was in for a treat. The shower had five different showerheads, which was awesome. Mikki and I talked about how awesome Austria was, and got to sleep in our über-plush down-filled beds. |
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Day 9 • Saturday, May 14, 2005 • Hopfgarten, Austria |
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My parents had warned me about the difference between Germanic countries (my dad's heritage) and Italy (my mom's heritage): Germanic countries were very clean, the people were very nice, and nearly everyone spoke English; Italy was dirty, the people were lazy, and not many Italians spoke English. If Austria was this wonderful, I was going to be disappointed when I arrived in Venice later that afternoon... |
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