Our last day in Innsbruck, funny enough, took us to places where we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside so I don’t have many personal photos to share on this one. However, I was able to find some online that I can share so that you can see a little of what we saw (and as a side note all copyright and credit goes to the people that made them and you’ll know mine by the fact that my ugly mug is in them)
We started this day off in the same place as yesterday, at the breakfast table. I, having learned my lesson the day before concerning the coffee machine, took my new found knowledge and made Amy get the coffee. It is because of this there is no funny breakfast story so we’ll just move on (way to pull your weight on the funny stories for the blog Amy, geez :)
The first place that we went was the old Imperial Palace in Innsbruck. Back in the day when monarchy was in vogue the royals had a “little” cottage in Innsbruck that takes up a city block or two, and I have to be honest and say that it’s pretty impressive. Since they don’t allow pictures in there I was only able to find a few online to share here so you can see some of what is inside. Historically, they didn’t actually live here, it was just one of the places that they could stay when traveling around the country so it typically was sparsely furnished and the royals would bring the furniture with them when they came to stay. Needless to say, they did not pack lightly. In this palace is a beautiful large hall that was intended to both “wow” and “humble” any visiting dignitaries. Essentially they made them walk through the place to see the king so they would know who they were dealing with wasn’t a piker (again, it was pretty impressive. Even now I don’t think many people would say “meh, I’ve seen bigger”) When the monarchy was dissolved everything was turned over to the state and it was turned into a museum.
The second place we visited was the Swarovski Crystal Worlds. This, I must admit was a little bit of a letdown. I have no doubt that to some it is a marvelous artsy experience, to me it was a bit more like walking through a live depiction of some artists acid trip (apparently I lack the gene that enables the ability to appreciate this kind of “art”). There were some things in there that were done with crystals that was particularly amazing, and there were others that I just couldn’t see the beauty in. Of course, no one has ever accused me of being an art critic either. Upon reaching the end of the tour it was also the first place we went that did the whole, “please exit through the gift shop” thing (this is something that we were joking about and expecting the whole trip). It was also the place where we finally got to get our scary “the hills are alive” picture.
We had tried it in a bunch of different places and it just didn’t work out (some of the fault is mine, I learned that I just don’t have a very good “scared” face unless it looks like I’m screaming. Everything else either just comes out looking “concerned” or “constipated”). Since we didn’t have a car we had to wait around for our Innsbruck Pass bus to come back around and had nearly an hour to kill (and when I looked at a couple of price tags in the gift shop I thought that this was going to turn out very badly…) After walking around for a little bit with Amy I started looking for something every store should have, a dude chair (or bench, that can work). Sadly, all the seats were taken when I found it.
Having found nothing she was really interested in (I know, I was shocked too) we moved over to the café they had next to the gift shop and got some coffee and continued to wait. That got boring so we went for a walk outside. Just a side note, there are parts of the valley that don’t really see any sun during winter, which is why there was still snow around this place, and once you step outside you’re “done” with your tour. It was really kinda cold out there. Lesson learned, warm and bored is a little better than slightly less bored and really cold.
At the point the bus came along we were already into the afternoon and figured that we needed to stop somewhere and get a bite to eat and get a picture of ourselves on this particular bridge in Innsbruck.
Close to the Christmas market was an older part of Innsbruck where the streets are narrow and there are little shops everywhere. We managed to get into one of these (which happened to be a hotel actually) and have a bite of lunch. It was here that I began to notice that there were a lot of Italians around all of a sudden, the place was packed.
Once we were finished we were honestly a little tired so we headed back to the hotel for a little riposo (Italian siesta). I read while Amy took a nap. Now, it’s important to remember that this trip was for our 10th wedding anniversary and we just had vague plans to go out to dinner and walk through the Christmas market, but we had essentially decided to wing it. What we missed was that it was now the weekend (Saturday) and the reason there were so many Italians there at lunch time was there were a lot more out-of-towners in Innsbruck now. When that little revelation struck we started looking for a place to eat and make reservations…which was impossible. Nobody had a slot open, not even our own hotel. It’s fair to say this one was on me, excellent planning Dave. My last attempt at getting dinner reservations was to call the Grand Europa Hotel (which incidentally is the only 5 star hotel in Innsbruck) and I got the same story, all booked up. However, the guy that I talked to told me to come by at 9 and check again, should anything come up he would hold it for me, nice but not promising. At this point our best option was to bundle up and walk around a little and try and worm our way in somewhere. About halfway to the older part of the city we decided we’d step into a little place (it was a really old café that was basically in the basement of a building and had no windows to the street. If there wasn’t a CIA guy meeting a contact there somewhere I’d be surprised) and warm up and just sit for a little while. Since they didn’t serve food it was fairly empty so we didn’t have trouble getting a table out of the way of everybody and we sat and talked a while.
This is where things get pretty interesting. We had no plans, and no reservations anywhere, the night we had chosen to be our anniversary celebrations (this was a couple of weeks before the actual anniversary date) was turning out to be a bust. We checked on the time and it was nearing 9 PM so we figured we’d try the Europa first hoping to get lucky. As we walked out of the underground breezeway up and onto the street we found that it had started snowing (it hadn’t done this the entire time we were there) and as such we got to walk through that part of the Christmas market with some heavy flakes coming down everywhere (kinda romantic, but obviously not something I can take credit for….dang it). Reaching the Grand Hotel Europa restaurant entrance I run into a young fellow who is obviously busy going from one place to another and he asks if he can help us before he moves on. I give him my name and he says “Oh, Mr Basham! Yes, follow me, I have a table for you!” He sounded more excited than I was for us to be there. At a small table next to a centerpiece table we had one of the most delicious and romantic meals we’ve had in a few years. I couldn’t have planned it better (not that I’m not going to try in the future of course…I’m not that stupid).
Oh to be young again and enjoy life in Italy. I’m so happy for the both of you. You two were made for each other. I love traveling with you too. I would embarrass everyone if I tagged along. ha
I love you guys.
Love 4-Ever.
aunt Joan