Friday 15 November. Great apartment in Innsbruck, with very effective and silent underfloor heating& triple glazing. So effective in fact, that we had to open a window last night to breathe. As cloud shrouded the mountains, today was to be tours of the city, primarily the old city. Dressing this morning reminded us of 1982 with the layer upon layer dressing that takes forever, and remembering that half of it has to come off the moment you step indoors. First stop was to check the train schedule and process for our departure on Sunday: D would not settle otherwise. Spoke to a gent wearing an Information vest at the railway station, and he was very helpful indeed. Such willing assistance took us a little aback after experiences further south. So on into the city. The area we walked in seemed to have a hairdresser every second shop and eventually T succumbed. They could do her immediately, so D was told to amuse himself for an hour or so while this took place. D agreed with alacrity, certain there were some tool, electronic, sports or gadget shops somewhere. As it turned out, there werent, so he ended up with a beanie as consolation, reckoning that might be wise for tomorrows mountain excursion. T duly emerged after 90 minutes, with a terrific haircut, but D sensed something was different. It took a while, and some batted eyes, but he eventually twigged that there had been an eye job as well (theres a first for everything). Looks good. Walked on towards the old city, stopping for a noodle lunch. One of the big differences here from Italy is the greater choice of other cuisines, the sort that were used to, rather than a range of variations of Italian dishes/cuisine. What is the same, is the beggars - more pitiable here as they sit, lie or kneel on very cold pavement. As we walked off lunch we came across the Christkindlmarkt in the old town...Lots of knick knacks, Christmas paraphernalia and other market style items for sale, but not overly inspiring - perhaps it winds up closer to Xmas, or even on weekends. Plenty of people getting into the commercial Christmas scene. But the old town streets and pastel buildings are very quaint, and the mountain backdrop just marvelous. Exactly what we were hoping to see. From there dropped into Die Hofkirsche (Court Church) recommended by our academic friend from yesterday. The visit was well worth it, with a comprehensive audio thrown in free of charge. The cenotaph inside the church was built as a monument to Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) by his son & grandson and, the church also houses a fabulous collection of larger than life bronze statues of ancestors, descendants or his heroes, such as King Arthur of Round Table fame. One guy in particular was remarkable - apparently a bit of a ladies man he is reputed to have fathered 50 illegitimate children - not sure how many legitimate ones (trust D to remember that fact). Rather oddly, Max did not finish up here. Another cultural visit very worth the effort. Wandered back into the market area to have a gluwine - we learned that there is a technique to drinking this stuff that involves not breathing in as you swallow, or the fumes will cause a sneeze - which in turn causes a spit of the contents of the mouth. We learned that by practical experience: we hope that gluwine will be fairly readily cleaned from a range of our leather clothing items. Also noticeable in the market was the relaxed and relatively courteous behavior of the crowds - a marked difference, albeit smaller numbers and probably much fewer tourists (to annoy the locals!) than in Italy. The small public gardens we passed through on our way to an end of day mall experience for T (would you believe?) provided lovely views of the yellow cypress and of the mountains partly clear of mist. Wed seen these trees amongst their evergreen counterparts from the train yesterday, and you can pick them out in one of the pictures posted. Wed thought that the trees might drop their leaves like deciduous trees, but it certainly looked today like it was just a seasonal change of colour, perhaps something to do with the slowing down of photosynthesis during winter? Maybe snow tonight?
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 20:00:35 +0000
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