Austria - add two letters and the word becomes Australia; add two weeks and we'll be back home in Australia. Our holiday has been so varied that it seems we have been away forever. Just when we think this is as good as it gets, it gets better. Just when we think the sky can't get any blue-er, it does. Just when we think the sights can't get any prettier, they do. We have loved exploring our city stops, but the mountains have a magic that is hard to beat.

We had a scenic train ride from Munich, through the mountains, and arrived in Innsbruck on a day created like no other. Never was a sky more blue, air more clear, or mountains more green. Standing in the streets of Innsbruck feels like you are a miniature figurine standing inside a dome with the buildings rising around you, and the towering mountains rising around the buildings, and the endless sky closing the cupola.

Our hotel was just perfect. It was clean and cosy, and felt like sunshine, all warm and light. If you ever visit Innsbruck I would highly recommend it - the Golden Krone. It is right by the triumphal arch, easy to walk to from the railway station and close to the old town. It turned out to be in the same street as the hotel we stayed in when we were last here over 20 years ago.

If you visit Innsbruck you have to get into the mountains and the best way to do this is to make use of the cable cars. They can get a bit costly so we purchased an Innsbruck Card for three days and found this to be excellent value. It gave us entry to everything - cable cars, the hop-on hop-off Sightseer bus, all public transport, walking tours led by local guides, museums, and more. Rather than try to tell you about all we did, it might be better to look at the photos attached to this Off Exploring blog.

With the weather so perfect, we headed for the hills for the first couple of days. The views were spectacular and the alpine air invigorating. Hundreds of people of all ages were out hiking, and who can blame them when they have hundreds of beautiful walking tracks weaving through all altitudes of the mountains and valleys. Hiking just seems a regular part of life here. Free daily guided hikes are offered all through summer which is a great service to visitors. We enjoyed some lovely walks and I am glad I packed my hiking boots.

The other exciting thing for me was to visit the place where my great-great-grandfather studied for the priesthood in the early 1870s. The Jesuit University Church is a beautiful church in the heart of Innsbruck, and the old university buildings that surround it still serve as the theology faculty today. (In case you are wondering how I can be descended from a Catholic priest, he never took his final vows. He came to Australia in 1876 and became a Lutheran minister instead.)

Not only did I get to walk in places he walked, I also discovered some more missing pieces to the puzzle of his pre-Australian life. Not only did I spend time breathing the fresh mountain air, but I spent time down in the city and university archives digging up history. I actually got to see his university enrolment papers and transcripts with his signature on. Boring to some, but terribly exciting for me.

Our week here went far too quickly. I think if you ask me what I love most about Innsbruck I would be tempted to say the mountains, or perhaps the clear fresh air. But another lovely thing has been the sound of church bells echoing up and down the valley and through the mountains. I think perhaps the air clarity and the valley and hills have something to do with carrying the sound of the bells in such a clear, melodious way.

So now that our legs have notched up many more kilometres and our lungs are full of fresh, healthy air we are off to our final port of call, St Gallen in Switzerland - birthplace of my great-great-grandfather.