These two days gave us a welcome relief from the hustle, bustle, and sorrow of Munich. We left the city and started climbing into the mountains. Our first stop was at Neuschwanstein Castle, reportedly the model for Disney’s various castles.
The castle is in a most beautiful spot, but stands far from finished inside (the king died under mysterious circumstances before it was done). The tour takes you through the parts that were done, plus in fine Disney style takes you through two gift shops. It’s all amazing. The king did not really like being around people, but he loves Wagner’s operas. The tour guide says that in essence the castle was designed to echo the themes of the operas the king loved and to give him a place to hear live performances of those operas with him as the only audience. Most interesting…
A short distance from the castle is the Austrian border and the northern Alps. The drive from there to Innsbruck was absolutely beautiful, with many snow covered peaks. The road had more than a few hairpin curves that our bus driver handled with ease.
On arrival in Innsbruck we took a short walk around the ancient downtown area (that included a period-authentic McDonalds and Starbucks). From there we went to our hotel for dinner, and then to an authentic Tyrolian folk concert. We saw and heard dancing, foot stomping, yodeling, a brass band, and musicians playing an amazing assortment of folk instruments including a saw, cowbells, and several others.
This morning our local tour guide took us to see the Olympic ski jump area from the 1976 Olympics. It was really cool (and made me think of “the agony of defeat” on ABC Wide World of Sports. Crashing on that jump would hurt a bunch).
From there we did three things that were truly experiences. First, the bus took us up to a little town that had hosted Olympic cross country and Alpine skiing events. There we took off on a 45 minute horse drawn wagon ride. The woods in the area were pretty, and the mountains around us were breathtaking. After this we took a regional train to get back to Innsbruck. Greg is always in favor of train travel!
The final excursion was a combination train/cable car ride to near the top of a mountain. Innsbruck is at about 1400 feet (I think), the end of our ride today was at 6200 feet; the change in elevation came in about a 20 minute ride. The view from the top was wonderful; we walked around a bit, took pictures, and had a drink before going back down the mountain.
Tomorrow is an early start as we leave for Saltzburg. Only two stops left…
