Our final day in Innsbruck was quite overcast and rainy, but eventful nonetheless. We began with another Austrian meat-and-cheese breakfast at our hotel, then we walked through the old town to see the Hofkirsche and the Volksmuseum. This church and cultural museum are connected and located near the Hapsburg imperial palace. The church was ornately decorated around the tomb of Maximillian I, emperor of Austria in the 15-16th centuries. The museum contained traditional cultural items from Innsbruck and the surrounding Tirol region. It was interesting, but very "comprehensive." We never knew that many types of Austrian parlors existed!
From there we caught a quick lunch (Magic Pizza, again) and then hopped a 'Sightseer' bus to the Schloss Ambros castle in the SE part of Innsbruck. This was a castle from the renaissance, complete with a portrait gallery and an armory from the period. The portrait galley was eh, but he armory was sweet! Every medieval weapon you can imagine and even a few torture devices...which is a perfect segue into discussing the castle's hall of 'Arts and Curiosities.' The many unique trinkets made of gold, ivory, wood, and coral were surrounded by paintings of the societal "freak-shows" of the time: an 8-foot tall man, contortionists, and a family of hairy-faced people (seriously, like monkeys wearing dresses). We concluded our tour with a walk through the palace gardens.
In the evening we did some laundry, ate dinner on our balcony, and rested from the day.
A big shout-out to our cousin Dennis for recommending Innsbruck and so many of our favorite activities there! It was an amazing place.
As we're writing this, we're aboard a Trenitalia train en route to Verona from Bolzano, Italy. We just made a brief stop in Bolzano to see the museum dedicated to Otzi, the Iceman. Otzi was discovered by a German couple hiking in the Oetzal Alps back in 1991. When archaeologists & scientists examined his body and belongings, they determined that he was actually 5000 years old. I (Jon) teach about him to my 7th graders, and Sarah was patient enough to indulge me. It was a good museum with lots of English, which is helpful to say the least!
Our first transportation "incident" occurred on this train (in Italy, of course) when the conductor took our ticket to show us it had been incorrectly stamped with the wrong date by the conductor in Austria. His price for returning the ticket (which is our pre-paid pass for ALL of our European train travel) was 50 Euro! Thankfully, we held our ground and he backed off. It was a tense 10 minutes.
Finishing this post now from our Verona hotel room, I can tell you that we remembered today how disorienting it can be to get into a new place without a map. We somehow chose the right direction and hauled our luggage 2k from the train station to our hotel. So much for getting cabs...
Verona is beautiful, but in a different way than Innsbruck. It is the setting for Romeo & Juliet, and tonight we visited her famous balcony. The city is set along a river amidst subtle rolling hills. Very Roman, but in a Rome-meets-Florence kind of way. We enjoyed dinner outdoors while people-watching on Piazza Erbe. Italian food beats schnitzel & bratwurst any day of the week!
That's all for now! Tomorrow is our 3rd anniversary...hard to believe its been that long. Thanks for reading and leaving comments, it's fun to know you care about following along. Ciao!