This is crazy! I didn't intend to account my travel stories, but here I am in bed at 5 am & my brain is itching with titles & adjectives for anecdotes from my trips. It has been days since the last trip, but talking to a friend about the places I visited, has ignited the desire to pen down everything I recollect from it. Though my last visit wasn't to Austria, my head is bursting with its memories, so I will just delve into that.
I love travelling & I have to admit that it was my ulterior motive in choosing Europe for Masters. After exploring very little of Europe with my family 2 years back, I fought tooth & nail to get into a good university in Germany & hop on the next train/bus/flight to a new destination & turn that 'little' into 'lot'. And here I am! Though sadly I haven't covered as much of Europe by now as I wanted to, all my trips have been memorable & unique.
So, a few months back, we went to Austria (obviously!). 12-hour bus ride, a change at Munich & you are in Innsbruck. Very wrong weather to visit Austria if you want to see some of its wonders, but very good weather for the scenic mountains. So, win-win or lose-lose. Doesn't matter! It was winter, but the sun still shone through the white mountains. White & bright Innsbruck. And freaking expensive too. One of the reasons why we chose cheaper accommodation far from the city centre & travelled 1 hour each way for next two days to get 'home' after the day of exploring. But I don't mind that because the huge & luxurious apartment amidst the mountains was worth it. The bus arriving once every hour with the final destination's name very similar to other end points, was our only way to get to the house. Innsbruck started out with buying groceries & daily tickets & waiting for that bus. Chasing snow covered mountains & roller coaster lookalike roads, we reached the accommodation. It was at much higher altitude than the main city, hence more beautiful, closer view of the mountains, colder & lacking in public transportation. Discovering that the entire top floor of the house was at our expense, complete with kitchen & a bathtub, was like finding a newer, richer independence. Anyway, we freshened up & headed for the city. Innsbruck, like any other European city has a similar architecture, but also has its own beauties unique from others. That day was dedicated to city tour by foot. So, all the tourist attractions in 7 km radius were on the agenda. We covered a rather disappointing Anatomische Museum after a lot of walking and getting lost. But we got to see the Triumphforte or Triumph Arch, beautiful historic buildings & while walking towards the Goldenes Dachl (Golden roof), came across a splendid sight by the river Inn. Yes, Innsbruck is named after this river, literally translated to 'bridge over the Inn'. The other side of bridge was lined with colorful houses in possibly every primary color. With the sun close to setting, the orange & purple of the sky mellowed the bright hues of the houses & this symphony was made complete by the blue of the river. It was breath-taking! After marvelling the view for hours till the sun set, we moved on towards the Golden roof. It was indeed all gold, sparkling on its own with no help from any other illumination. Walking ahead, it led to Maria Theresien street. This street started out with a church and blended into clothing stores. While everyone was looking ahead and walking, I was looking sideways instead, peeking into the store windows lined with fabulous gowns. The night ended with rounds of rum at the apartment while talking about music and books (yes, we are the nerd kinds)! The next day was equally great. We explored tons of museums, Swarovski diamonds, the castles and zoo. We climbed up and down tiny hills, took a tourist bus ride introducing the sights as they pass by and stopping at spectacular panoramic points and ate pastries. Apparently, Austria is known for its chocolate cake! And it was splendid. A meal of Schnitzel ending with famous chocolate cake. The adventure of the day however, was the ride back. We got off at the wrong stop because we took the wrong bus and were dying of hunger. When I said before that all the roads in the village which housed the apartment, looked same, well it was more evident now. We kept walking uphill through the snow covered mountain roads and after walking for hours, finally saw the house. That night, my legs just said goodbye! With only 5 hours of sleep left before we travel for Halstatt, I bid farewell to second day in Austria. I will write more in next post as this has gone on long enough. See you in Austria part-2.
I love travelling & I have to admit that it was my ulterior motive in choosing Europe for Masters. After exploring very little of Europe with my family 2 years back, I fought tooth & nail to get into a good university in Germany & hop on the next train/bus/flight to a new destination & turn that 'little' into 'lot'. And here I am! Though sadly I haven't covered as much of Europe by now as I wanted to, all my trips have been memorable & unique.
So, a few months back, we went to Austria (obviously!). 12-hour bus ride, a change at Munich & you are in Innsbruck. Very wrong weather to visit Austria if you want to see some of its wonders, but very good weather for the scenic mountains. So, win-win or lose-lose. Doesn't matter! It was winter, but the sun still shone through the white mountains. White & bright Innsbruck. And freaking expensive too. One of the reasons why we chose cheaper accommodation far from the city centre & travelled 1 hour each way for next two days to get 'home' after the day of exploring. But I don't mind that because the huge & luxurious apartment amidst the mountains was worth it. The bus arriving once every hour with the final destination's name very similar to other end points, was our only way to get to the house. Innsbruck started out with buying groceries & daily tickets & waiting for that bus. Chasing snow covered mountains & roller coaster lookalike roads, we reached the accommodation. It was at much higher altitude than the main city, hence more beautiful, closer view of the mountains, colder & lacking in public transportation. Discovering that the entire top floor of the house was at our expense, complete with kitchen & a bathtub, was like finding a newer, richer independence. Anyway, we freshened up & headed for the city. Innsbruck, like any other European city has a similar architecture, but also has its own beauties unique from others. That day was dedicated to city tour by foot. So, all the tourist attractions in 7 km radius were on the agenda. We covered a rather disappointing Anatomische Museum after a lot of walking and getting lost. But we got to see the Triumphforte or Triumph Arch, beautiful historic buildings & while walking towards the Goldenes Dachl (Golden roof), came across a splendid sight by the river Inn. Yes, Innsbruck is named after this river, literally translated to 'bridge over the Inn'. The other side of bridge was lined with colorful houses in possibly every primary color. With the sun close to setting, the orange & purple of the sky mellowed the bright hues of the houses & this symphony was made complete by the blue of the river. It was breath-taking! After marvelling the view for hours till the sun set, we moved on towards the Golden roof. It was indeed all gold, sparkling on its own with no help from any other illumination. Walking ahead, it led to Maria Theresien street. This street started out with a church and blended into clothing stores. While everyone was looking ahead and walking, I was looking sideways instead, peeking into the store windows lined with fabulous gowns. The night ended with rounds of rum at the apartment while talking about music and books (yes, we are the nerd kinds)! The next day was equally great. We explored tons of museums, Swarovski diamonds, the castles and zoo. We climbed up and down tiny hills, took a tourist bus ride introducing the sights as they pass by and stopping at spectacular panoramic points and ate pastries. Apparently, Austria is known for its chocolate cake! And it was splendid. A meal of Schnitzel ending with famous chocolate cake. The adventure of the day however, was the ride back. We got off at the wrong stop because we took the wrong bus and were dying of hunger. When I said before that all the roads in the village which housed the apartment, looked same, well it was more evident now. We kept walking uphill through the snow covered mountain roads and after walking for hours, finally saw the house. That night, my legs just said goodbye! With only 5 hours of sleep left before we travel for Halstatt, I bid farewell to second day in Austria. I will write more in next post as this has gone on long enough. See you in Austria part-2.
