Tag: Austria

• Austrian Alpine Lakes

  Posted at 2:00 PM by Brittany, on July 29, 2020

  Back in 2015 when I started hiking regularly, I fell in love with alpine lake hikes (this one is my all time favorite.) In order for a lake to be considered “alpine” it must be above a certain elevation (somewhere around 5000 feet, or 1524 meters), and is often fed by mountain runoff. In Washington where I am from, these alpine lake hikes start close to sea level, which means it’s quite a climb to see them.

  Anyone can visit a regular lake, but you have to work to see an alpine lake. 

  Here in the Alps there are cable cars to help cut off some of the climbing, but the assistance in reaching an alpine lake doesn’t make the journey any less spectacular. Last summer I was introduced to two lakes in northern Austria very close to where I live, and I had been daydreaming about seeing them ever since. I finally made plans to spend a day in the mountains, and it was a day I won’t soon forget.

  

  These two lakes are within the same hiking region on the Meininger Mountain range in Ehrwald Austria. I have ridden my bike to Ehrwald a couple times, and I originally thought about biking to Ehrwald, hiking to the lakes, and biking back. This brief psychotic episode was short lived thankfully, because that would have been rough.

  Instead I took a train (with my bike) to Ehrwald (saving an hour and a half of uphill biking), biked to the cable car where my pal Galiya and I took the cable car up the mountain (saving two hours of hiking) and began our journey to lake number one around 10:30.

  First stop: Seebensee.

  

  

  The views on our way to the lake reminded me of the Swiss Alps, and were far more expansive than any of the hikes I have done in Bavaria just next-door. I couldn’t believe I waited so long to experience Austria in this way. The mountains kept going, and around each corner was a new view unlike anything we’d passed earlier in the day.

  It took us about 1.25 hours to make our way to Seebensee, and the terrain was doable for any hiker. I was out of breath a few times, only because Galiya and I were speed walking. After necking it back to enjoy the journey we fell into a comfortable pace. Once we arrived at Seebensee we found ourselves surrounded by other humans, and rightfully so – the lake is gorgeous.

  We also found ourselves surrounded by lots of alpine cows. My favorite!

  

  

  The weather was starting to get quite warm, and I was relating on a personal level to that cookies and creme cow in the above photo. Galiya and I brought our bathing suits so we could dip our overheated bodies into the lake, but we decided to save our plunge for lake number two.

  Second stop: Drachensee.

  The climb to Drachensee was more intense than the walk to Seebensee. This required over 300M of climbing in a short span of earth. We started the climb around noon (aka the peak heat of the day), and my body was definitely feeling the burn (inside and out.) I took my time, and stopped to savor the view of Seebensee a handful of times while I let my heart rate calm down.

  

  What I love most about hiking in Europe, aside from the jaw dropping views, is the diversity among hikers. People of all ages and shapes come out to hike, and everyone goes at their own pace. I saw more people over the age of 50 hiking to Drachensee than I saw people my age or younger. It’s not only motivational, but inspirational! I strive to live a life that will allow me to continue hiking well into my 60’s and even my 70’s!

  We took about 30 minutes to climb the switchbacked hill up to Drachensee, and at the top of this hill lives the Coburger Hütte – a mountain hut where most people stop to savor a bit or a brew. Galiya and I skipped the crowded hut and continued the final few minutes down to Drachensee.

  

  We had every intention of swimming in this lake, until we arrived. Drachensee is a beauty of a lake, but her inner core disappears into a thick darkness hiding whatever lives under the surface (Drachensee = dragon lake.) I don’t like swimming in water where I cannot see what is underneath me, and I have self diagnosed myself with Thalassophobia.

  Side note: this Buzzfeed article made me want to vomit and I could not finish looking at the photos! 

  The deal breaker for me was seeing a large pipe leading into the lake from the shore, and almost immediately disappearing into the darkness. Nope, nope, nope. Instead we sat around the shore of the lake where little to no other humans were, ate a snack, and savored the view while our core temperatures cooled off naturally from lack of movement.

  

  The trails surrounding Drachensee are seemingly endless, for more intense hikers and even climbers there are routes that continue onto the peaks above the lake. There is a Klettersteig route as well, but I like living so I opted for the lake as my “summit.” We planned to go for a swim in Seebensee after avoiding being sucked into the dragons lair of Drachensee, and began our descent back down to our first stop.

  Initially I couldn’t figure out why no one was swimming in either of these lakes. When the sun is strong and people are out hiking, it’s hard to find a spot to set up and swim because everyone is out swimming. I was worried all these German speakers knew something we didn’t, but we decided to go for it anyway.

  I quickly discovered why no one was swimming. 

  

  This icy blue water was just that – icy! The moment I stepped my toes into the water I was met with an overwhelming surge of cold. I slowly continued to wade deeper into the water, hooting and hollering the entire way. Had it not been for my feet slipping on the algae covered rocks I likely would have taken much longer to submerge my body.

  I then went in and out of the lake three times. I guess I was a sucker for the pain. Overall it was my feet and hands that suffered the most. I could have kept my core in that water for much longer. After cooling off our internal heaters we sat on the grass next to the lake watching small human specks walk across the mountain peaks surrounding us.

  We were in the middle of a cow party, and had a handful of cows come to see what we were up to. 

  

  As we dried off and reclothed, we made our way back towards the cable car to start our journey back home. Not before stopping at the Seebenalm for a bite to eat and a chat with a tiny human. A small boy came and sat with us as we ate our food and I proceeded to make him count in German for us (he spoke to us non stop in German, but I only understood 1/10 of what he was saying.)

  He was such a sweet and pure soul. 

  

  

  Our original plan was to bike back home (it’s mostly downhill), but after a full day of hiking (we managed ten miles) we decided to train back home. We made it back down off the mountain at 1700 – 6.5 hours later! It’s days like this that make it really, really hard to leave Europe.

  

  Q: Does swimming in bodies of water without a clear view of what’s below you scare you too?

  

  | 29 Comments Tagged Alpine Lake, Austria, Brittanys Life Abroad, Hiking

• Hiking From Germany to Austria

  Posted at 2:00 PM by Brittany, on May 14, 2020

  I have driven to Austria from Germany many times, I have even biked to Austria from Germany twice, it only made sense the next step would be hiking to Austria from Germany. I don’t know where the bursts of energy came from for me, aside from the fact I have been diligent in keeping my carb intake balanced, but just a couple days after my long bike ride my roommate and I went for a long hike.

  

  I had wanted to hike to the Hochthörle Hütte since I first head about it last summer. I knew there was a trail along the base of Lake Eibsee so when my roommate asked me if I wanted to go for a hike on her day off I immediately knew where I wanted to go.

  

  View of lake from above.

  I assumed the trail (from where we live) would take us TO the lake, where we would then look for the trail up the mountain, however the trail we took never took us down to the lake. The trail instead continued to climb around the lake. I didn’t mind this, as I felt we were saving time avoiding going down just to go back up.

  

  

  Everything was fine and dandy for the first few hours, it was a beautiful day and we were seeing a new view of the lake. Energy was good, spirits were high, and the views along the way were continually changing. My roommate MaryBeth is my favorite person to hike with, and I always feel relaxed when we’re together.

  I felt relaxed 99% of the time of this hike, until the terrain changed. 

  

  Unexpectedly, with the flip of a switch, we hit the white blankets of death. I made the same mistake last April of thinking the snow would all be melted, but we’re in the middle of the Bavarian Alps…how could I make this same mistake twice? I assumed the elevation of this hike would be low enough to avoid any snow, but I was mistaken.

  The snow wasn’t immobilizing, but it was deep in some spots. One wrong step sent us slipping knee deep into icy sharp snow. I now have a scar on my calf from this hike! We had already been hiking for around four hours, and were very close to the Hütte, so we didn’t dare turn around now just because of the snow.

  

  Our spirits were still high, and we were determined to make it to the Hütte (by this time we were already in Austria, the Hütte is just on the other side of an invisible border.) The snow began to slow us down, and my map continued to say we were 15 minutes from our destination.

  It said 15 minutes for close to 45 minutes. Something was off. 

  

  By this time it was nearing 1500, and we had been hiking for five hours. We were still doing great on daylight, but we were both loosing interest in finding the Hütte. We made it within 0.4 miles of the Hütte before calling it a day. My old brain would have told me how ridiculous I was for turning around within FOUR TENTHS of a mile, but my current brain was O-V-E-R I-T.

  

  The remaining 0.4 miles were down slippery snow roads, and that’s when we knew it was time to call it. We sat where we stopped, ate a bit of food, and turned around for the ten miles back home. We left home around 1030, and arrived back around 2000. If MaryBeth and I hadn’t had a handful of other successful hikes, I’d say we were cursed to always attempt hikes we had to turn around on.

  We hiked 20 miles into Austria and back, and managed to catch both golden hour and the sunset on the mountains, I’d call that a success.

  

  

  Do I wish we had made it to the Hütte? Of course. Am I mad we didn’t? No. The day was full of laughs and great company, and our sore muscles reminded us of our crazy adventure into Austria…during a travel ban. What can I say, we’re rebels. 😉 (That, and I don’t think it counts as problematic when its in the mountains and you see zero other humans.)

  That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

  Q: Have you ever gotten this close to a destination and decided to call it quits? 

  

  | 25 Comments Tagged Austria, Brittanys Life Abroad, Hiking

• Hallstatt, Austria

  Posted at 2:00 PM by Brittany, on February 7, 2020

  90% of my posts the last year have been of my travels, and while this has been great, I do miss writing angsty, messy, real life posts. It’s hard to deviate from travel posts when I have so many places I want to share, but I am hoping to squeeze in more “this is what I am feeling” posts soon. Today is not that day, today I share my recent day trip to Hallstatt.

  

  Hallstatt is a village in Austria’s mountainous Salzkammergut region. Nestled into the base of the alps, this tiny village is thought to have been inhabited by people of the Neolithic age due to the rich salt deposits inside the mountains. Regardless of who first settled in this adorable town, I knew I wanted to visit for myself. Tourists from all over flock to Hallstatt, and for good reason – it’s beautiful!

  

  

  My roommate Marybeth and I discovered we had a day off together, and decided to rent a car and drive the three ish hours to Hallstatt for a day trip adventure. Visiting in February meant a few things: less people, cheaper car rental, less open shops, less people to fight for attention from a local cat, and very, very cold/wet weather.

  As stated in one of my Instagram posts: Das Wetter war sehr kalt, aber Hallstatt ist schön.

  

  “The weather was very cold, but Hallstatt is beautiful.”

  We left Garmisch around 7am, and arrived in Hallstatt shortly after 10am. When driving into the town, there are multiple options for parking in designated lots. Parking was easy to find, and cost us under 10 euros for seven hours of exploring. We were among few other tourists visiting, allowing us to wander the streets of the small town with ease.

  Visitors can also arrive by train, and then take a short ferry ride from one side of the lake to the city center. 

  

  

  The city center of Hallstatt is small, and easy enough to walk from one end to the other in under an hour. We stretched our time by walking up to one of the town churches, enjoying the view, walking up to a small vantage point, and of course: drinking coffee.

  Our goal for the day was simple: wander aimlessly, see what we find, and drink coffee. 

  

  

  To the church.

  

  

  Views from church, of another church.

  

  Trail up the mountain.

  We didn’t go far up the trail by the church, partly because we were unsure of where it went (though I had a pretty good idea), but also because we didn’t have extra time for random exploration. We had discovered an ancient salt mine at the top of the mountain that we planned to visit after exploring the city center for a bit.

  I suspect the trail eventually led to the salt mine, but that’s a discovery for a later day. 

  

  Partway up the trail – both churches.

  After walking around for about an hour an a half, we decided to warm our bones with some coffee. By this time it was close to noon, meaning all the other tourists (albeit there were far less than in the summer) wanted coffee and food as well. This meant the few restaurants and cafes open were busy.

  We settle on a hotel cafe, where I enjoyed a delicious Americano and Marybeth indulged in a cappuccino. 

  

  After a coffee break, we made our way back towards the beginning of the city center to buy a souvenir. I don’t often find souvenirs that speak to me, but both Marybeth and I saw something that captured our hearts. Two tiny piggybanks, one with mountains for me, and one with coffee for her (mountain fund and coffee fund!)

  

  Mountain pig not pictured, but these are his friends and they’re all SO CUTE!

  

  And a stop in the soap shop.

  The weather was wet and moody, making for beautiful overcast photos. I made the mistake of wearing my trail shoes, and my feet were soaked shortly after we arrived. I’m no stranger to wet feet, but there is a stark difference when feet are both wet AND cold. Thankfully there was plenty of visual stimulation to keep me distracted, and then…a CAT.

  

  

  

  After extreme disinterest from the cat, we made our way to the salt mine. A mountain trail leading to the top is available all year, but the woman at the ticket desk strongly advised against walking up this time of year. She looked at me like I was crazy for even asking. Instead we rode the funicular for an extra 18 euros.

  Upon arrival at the top the trail did have visible ice, so perhaps it was for the best. 

  

  

  The salt mine tour was nothing special, in fact I didn’t much care for it (too many video presentations, didn’t look at any salt, mostly talked about an old bridge found inside and how salt is extracted…things I could have Googled.) However, the experience was worth it for the matching pajama/prison uniforms we had to wear.

  

  These outfits allowed us to slide down a salt mine slide like children at the park. 

  After the tour it was 4pm, and time to head home. The lack of feeling in my toes had become too distracting, and the rumbles in our bellies heard the loud calls of the food we had waiting for us in the car. I wanted to start driving back to Garmisch before dark to beat the frigid temperatures on the road, however as we were heading down the mountain it began to snow.

  Snow and I are not friends, especially when I am driving a car (a low to the ground sports Mercedes at that) so needless to say I was tense until I saw the temperature gauge jump from 1 degree to 3.5 degrees (Celsius.) The rain was endless until we arrived back to Garmisch, allowing us to walk home after dropping off the car.

  

  Hallstatt is the perfect day trip, making this UNESCO World Heritage Site a must see for travel lovers. I recommend visiting in the off season, to avoid the masses, but maybe wait until after winter. If you do go during peak season, you risk this type of atmosphere. Tourists aside, a visit to this town when the sun is shining on the lake is still on my list.

  Q: Would you rather walk up the hill to the top of the mountain, or take the funicular? 

  

  | 26 Comments Tagged Austria, Brittanys Life Abroad, Hallstatt, Mountain Town, Travel Abroad, Wanderlust

• Biking From Germany to Austria

  Posted at 2:00 PM by Brittany, on November 27, 2019

  When I first arrived in Germany, a few of the girls I work with encouraged me to buy a bike. I knew I wanted a bike anyway, but while most people buy bikes that will solely get them from where we live into the center of town, I wanted a bike that would take me on mountain roads as well. Initially when I purchased my bike, I felt a bit of anxiety for spending more than I wanted (I wanted to spend no more than $300), but quickly realized I made the right choice.

  

  My bike is by no means expensive, especially compared to what a lot of Germans spend on their bikes if the bike is their main mode of transport. I spent about $400 after using a VAT form and that included a kickstand and a bike lock, but it was more than I would have thought to spend on a bike I’d only need for a year and a half.

  I can’t imagine not having this bike, and it has allowed me to go on any adventure without thinking twice. 

  

  

  One of the bike rides I knew I wanted to embark on before the winter months hit was to a lake in Austria called Plansee. I jokingly posted a photo of Plansee on my Instagram with the caption: “My dad rode his bike from Seattle to Portland…twice. A worthy feat from one state to another, but how often can an American say: “I rode my bike from one country to another.” Just a casual (1033 ft climb) bike ride into Austria.”

  

  I say jokingly because in all reality I live in the south of Germany, and this bike ride only took about an hour and 40 minutes. If I were driving I could arrive at the lake within 20 minutes. Although Austria isn’t far from where I live in Germany, it was still fun to say I biked from Germany to Austria. The bike path to Plansee is amazing, and has a slight continual incline for most of the path.

  Until the last push which is straight up, and it was intense. 

  My only goal was to not walk my bike up the hill, so I clicked her into low gear and slowly but surely climbed pedal after pedal. A few people passed me on e-bikes, and I just muddled under my breath, “CHEATERS!” In all reality I would love to take an e-bike up some of these mountain paths! Once I arrived at the lake I felt a strong sense of accomplishment.

  

  

  There is a small camp ground surrounding the lake, and a hotel/restaurant. I sat at the lake eating a snack for about 30 minutes before riding back to Garmisch. I’m trying to work on savoring the moments instead of reaching a destination and quickly turning around to leave. Another lovely Bavarian bike ride, and another bike path to add to my bag of tricks. I later returned to this path with a friend, showing her the way to Plansee.

  I love friends that are up for a good bike ride.

  

  The Seattle to Portland bike ride is still on my bucket list, and one day I will accomplish it, but for now I’ll just keep riding between European countries. 🙂

  Q: What’s the furthest you’ve ridden on a bike? I’ve ridden further rides than this, but all within one country. 

  

  | 11 Comments Tagged Austria, Bike Path, Biking, Brittanys Life Abroad, Germany, Plansee

• Salzburg, Austria – Pt.2

  Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on April 23, 2019

  Before I went to Salzburg, I knew that the city was famous for some of the Sound of Music filming locations. I did some Google searching to find out my options to visit these locations, and settled on a three hour bike tour. I’m not normally one to take a formal tour, but when there are bikes included I can be convinced. The tour turned out to be one of the best decisions I had made all month. 

  

  

  Most people take a bus tour, but I knew I wanted to ride a bike around Salzburg so this was the perfect activity for me. My group had eleven people consisting of mostly other Americans, some British folks, and a cute Australian guy. The tour took us to multiple filming locations, and through some of the outskirts of Salzburg. Getting out of the city center was so much fun, and the weather was absolute perfection.

  

  Maria’s Abbey

  

  The lake terrace scenes at the von Trapp’s family home were all shot at the baroque Leopoldskron Palace dating back to 1736.

  

  The actual “16 going on 17” gazebo.

  

  View of Untersberg Mountain – referenced in movie.

  While riding through the outskirts of the city, we had a stereo playing songs from the movie. The wind was slightly blowing, the sun was out, and I couldn’t slap the smile off my face if I’d tried. 

  One of my favorite filming locations, which I visited multiple times while in Salzburg, was the Mirabell Palace and Gardens. The gardens at the palace are said to be among some of the most beautiful gardens in the world. I visited the gardens the previous day, as well as later that evening for a concert.

  

  

  

  

  

  My only regret of this tour, was not being able to visit Werfen, aka the picnic meadow where they sang “Do Re Mi.“ This town is about a 40 minute train ride outside of Salzburg, so I plan to return to walk the “Sound of Music Trail” INTO the Austrian alps. Overall this was such a fun way to see the city and to see some of the filming locations. I wish I had watched the movie the night before (my hostel shows the film every night at 8p) but I’m an old lady and need my sleep.

  After the bike tour I lost my morals and grabbed a Salzburg Pretzel, which was basically a pastry in the shape of a pretzel covered in chocolate. The pretzel was the size of my face…twice. It was intense. I chomped on my sins as I walked towards Mozarts Geburtshaus, aka Mozarts birthplace. It only made sense to stand in the room where Mozart was born, before listening to his music at a concert in Mirabell Palace later that evening.

  As regular readers know, I’ve made it a priority to see a classical concert in each new country I visit while living in Europe, and Salzburg was no exception.

   

  

  

  “In this room Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756.”

  

  I stood in the birth room for a full five minutes soaking in the music playing through the speakers. It was a surreal moment to stand in this room. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of his music or not, Mozart was a huge influence on classical music. His talents will live on forever. Sorry, I think the sugar rush from the pretzel was seeping through my fingers as I typed that.

  After I visited Mozarts birthplace, I made sure to walk past the house the Mozart family moved to next. I didn’t feel the need to go inside, and I started to feel the effects of the pretzel and the Mozartkugel I had eaten and needed a small break from wandering. I headed back to my hostel for a bit to shower and change, and then it was time to visit the Mirabell Palace and Gardens again, but this time to go inside. I had booked a ticket for a Mozart concert and I got a front row seat.

  

  The palace was built in 1606, and is used today for concerts and weddings. The room where the concert was held is full of gold and marble, I can see why people want to get married there. The palace staircase felt like a scene from Titanic, and every detail was immaculate. The musicians were amazing, and they all looked so young.

  I’m constantly in awe of those who can play a musical instrument. I played the clarinet for a few years when I was in school, but couldn’t play a song if my life depended on it today (except for hot cross buns, forever for the HCB.) I’d always wanted to learn piano, but never made the time for it. I’m a sucker for piano, and my future husband will not only be able to build me a house in a flannel with a beard, he will also play the piano.

  

  I left the next morning around 10am. I would have stayed a bit longer, but the weather turned crummy and I felt I’d seen all I needed for this trip. Plus the longer I stay places the longer I’m off track with my eating and start to feel like I’ve been hit by a train. I had a great last minute trip to Salzburg, and am happy I live so close to such amazing cities full of history.

  Q: Are you a Sound of Music fan?

  

  | 28 Comments Tagged Austria, Bike, Brittanys Life Abroad, Mozart, Salzburg, Sound of Music, Travel, Travel Abroad

• Salzburg, Austria – Pt. 1

  Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on April 17, 2019

  Last week I was lucky enough to snag another three day weekend. If it hasn’t become obvious to those of you who regularly read my blog, I have a bit of an addiction to traveling. Sometimes I need to take it down a notch and remember to appreciate the trip I just went on before trying to jump into another one. Living in Europe makes that difficult! I decided to go to Salzburg for a couple days because it’s only about a 3.5hr train ride away.

  

  I actually ended up deciding the day of that I wanted to go, and booked my train and hostel in a matter of minutes. I had looked up options a few days prior, but didn’t pull the trigger until an hour before I was to catch the train. Sometimes last minute decisions are the best. I arrived in Salzburg around 3pm, which gave me enough daylight to get acclimated to the city for a few hours.

  

  I dedicated my first afternoon to wandering the city, and the Hohensalzburg Fortress. The Fortress was built in 1077 and is the largest fully preserved castle in Central Europe. To access the fortress you can walk up a relatively large hill, or you can ride up in a Funicular. I’m always down for a walk, and I’m too cheap to pay for the easy way, so I walked up the hill and earned my view. The museum was closed when I visited, which I was more than ok with, so I only had to pay 4 euro to walk around the grounds.

  

  

  The fortress was huge, and I spent about an hour walking around and appreciating the views. I can’t help but wonder what it was like living in castles like this when they were actively used by European royalty. I also wonder what the view was like back then. The view now is amazing, and provides an arial shot of the Salzburg Cathedral. The view walking up to the fortress was great too, and each twist and turn provided a different angle of the city.

  

  

  

  

  Salzburg Cathedral dome and towers in the middle/right.

  After I pretended I was Salzburg royalty I walked around the city for a while before it got dark. Near the hill up to the fortress is a gate that leads into St. Peters Abbey and Cemetery. Never have I ever seen a more beautiful cemetery in my life. It was small, but the effort the families put into each burial spot was amazing. This cemetery was the inspiration for one of the scenes in the Sound of Music, when the Trapp family fled through the cemetery to hide before fleeing to Switzerland.

  More on the Sound of Music filming locations later. 

  

  Notice the dwelling in the wall of the cliff? Upper left.

  

  

  Salzburg Cathedral dome in the back.

  The dwellings in the cliff wall apparently served as both hermitages and burial sites. I didn’t discover the dwelling was accessible until after I left. There are stairs leading up to the dwelling, and the entrance is found at the foot of Mozarts sisters grave. Yea, the Mozart. Honestly I’m super bummed I didn’t know about the stairs leading up, looks like I’ll have to return!

  From the cemetery I found my way to the Dom zu Salzburg, aka the Salzburg Cathedral. The large onion dome and two smaller towers in front of it are seen in a few of the above photos. The cathedral was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times by fires, but you’d never know by walking through the isles. It was beautiful inside, as are all European cathedrals. There is a lot of history inside the cathedral, but the one that resonated most with me was that Mozart was baptized in this cathedral.

  

  Photo of a photo I was given for making a donation.

  

  

  The rest of my first day in Salzburg was spent preparing for the following morning. Day one was a mere four hours in the city, but it was already off to a great start. I stayed at the YoHo Int. Youth Hostel, and it was very close to both the train station and the city center. I stayed in a four female dorm, and my first night there were three Koreans in the room with me. Thankfully they were very quiet, as I needed a goodnights sleep for day two!

  ….to be continued!

  Q: Can you make last minute decisions for an adventure, or do you need everything planned prior?

  

  | 22 Comments Tagged Austria, Brittanys Life Abroad, Europe, Salzburg, Travel, Travel Abroad

• Innsbruck, Austria

  Posted at 5:00 AM by Brittany, on February 4, 2019

  The town in Germany that I live is in the southern tip of the country just a hop, skip, and a jump away from both Austria and Switzerland. I’ve been in Germany for two weeks as of today, and I didn’t hesitate to start my travels. My first day off was last Wednesday, and I made plans with a few of the other newbies here to take the FlixBus to Innsbruck. The bus ticket was $14 round trip, and took about an hour each way.

  

  

  

  We arrived in Innsbruck around 930 am, and the only “plans” we had were to see the river with the colorful houses, and I really wanted to visit Ambras Castle. The rest of the day was free to roam and soak up as much of the city as we could. We started at the first cafe we could find for some espresso and a treat.

  This was the first of many encounters with locals that didn’t speak English, but we made it work eventually. 

  After our pick me up we wandered into the Old Town area. These medieval buildings are paired with contemporary architecture, all surrounded by the Alps. There was a City Tower we stumbled upon that provided a panoramic view of the city, and was well worth the 3 euro to climb the stairs. The Old Town is also home to the Golden Roof, which is the cities most famous symbol. The roof is made of copper tiles and was for Emperor Maximillian I to mark his wedding.

  I love history. 

  

  View of Golden Roof from the tower.

  

  City Tower, circa 1442-1450.

  

  

  

  After being awed by the view from City Tower, we wandered around Old Town a bit, and I ended up buying a souvenir. I never buy souvenirs because I don’t like to accumulate “things,” but this one spoke to me. My room in Germany is very empty, to the point where the housing manager thought I had moved out when he came to do a room inspection.

  What can I say, I’m tidy and I’m a minimalist. 

  

  You had me at the hiking boot.

  From the Old Town area, we migrated towards the river. When Googling Innsbruck the river houses were one of the first images that caught my eye. These colorful buildings are a must see, and a perfect spot for a tourist to take a photo. We walked the river for a while, wandered down random roads, stopped into open cathedrals, and then made our way outside of the city center towards Ambras Castle.

  

  

  Ambras Castle is about a 2 mile walk from the city center, and Google Maps was the real MVP on this trip. I just learned that I can download maps of any city to use offline, which will be such a life changer while I explore without data for my cell phone. We stopped in to use the toilet at a gas station along the way, which was stop number two where no one spoke English. We were beginning to stick out like sore thumbs, but everyone was kind.

  I’m a sucker for a good castle tour, so when I saw Ambras Castle pop up as one of the must see places in Innsbruck I knew it needed to be one of the main stops for the day. Archduke Ferdinand II rebuilt the castle using part of it to display his collections of armor, weapons, oddities, rarities, and precious items, making this the oldest museum in the world dating back to 1570.

  

  

  

  

  The exterior of the castle alone is enough to summon a visit, but my favorite room on the inside was The Spanish Hall. This room was used for balls and special occasions, and upon entry you can immediately see why. Some of the portraits that line the walls are comical, and I can’t help but wonder if the men actually posed the way they were portrayed.

  

  

  My favorite pose. What’s going on with that hand, and that hip pop is on point.

  The castle has a cafe where we ate lunch, and this was the third and most difficult encounter with a woman that didn’t speak English. She was sweet as candy, but my goodness did I wish I knew Google Translate allows language downloads to use offline before I visited this cafe. I learned this life hack as well as the Google Maps offline hack AFTER this trip. I tried to order a chicken salad, and I don’t know what she was saying, but I ended up guessing she was telling me they didn’t have anymore. Instead I ordered a tuna salad, which was delicious.

  We were all given coupons to get a free espresso, so I also ordered an espresso. When it came time to pay I presented my coupon, and she became confused. I had no idea what she was saying, but I kept presenting the coupon hoping something would happen. I’m still unsure, but I think perhaps she thought I was trying to use the coupon for my entire meal. Eventually she said “OHH Espresso” and it was taken care of.

  We all laughed, and did the best we could. 

  

  

  The castle grounds had three peacocks roaming around, which was random as hell, but also fun.  After we finished with the castle we took a bus back into the city, and my copilots stopped for a warm drink and some cake to kill time before our bus disembarked back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We also stopped at a place called Mamma Mia where I ate the biggest slice of pizza I’ve ever seen.

  I payed for it later, but when in Austria.

  Our bus left Innsbruck at 735p, giving us ten hours in the city. I couldn’t have asked for a better day, my company was perfect (we all got along great and were happy to go with the flow) the sights were beautiful, and the food was delicious. We walked a total of 12 miles – a perfect first trip while living abroad.

  Q: What are your favorite things to do while traveling? For me I like to try new food, coffee, museums, and anything outdoors.

  

  | 31 Comments Tagged Ambras Castle, Austria, Castle, Europe, Innsbruck, Living Abroad

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