The Austrian "Outback"

After 5 months in Czechia, I decided it was finally time to take a trip (for fun!) outside the country for the first time. While I had fun in Dresden, I did not go specifically for fun. Going for a visa appointment counts as a business trip to me. 

A few weeks ago, Ila from my TEFL course invited me and Carly to vist her while she was visiting her boyfriend Tani in Innsbruck, Austria. He lives there to go to school, but also does lots of skiing and snowboarding. Carly and I both expressed intrest in going on the mountain, so Ila and Tani invited us out. 

At first Carly and I thought we wouldn't be able to make the trip. All the affordable hostels were fully booked, and there was hardly anything in town for us to go to. After a lot of searching, Carly found a Youth Hostel about a 20 minute tram ride from the center of town. For the two nights, we got a private room for about $115 each. A little more than I would have liked to pay but for a last minute effort it was perfect. 

I convinced Carly to take a 2:30 am bus on Friday with me. I was able to get Friday off from my preschool, and I hate to waste a perfectly good day on an 8 hour commute, so I was bent on taking an overnight ride. Plus it gave me a good excuse (and time) to clean my room and catch up on chores while I waited. Carly came to my apartment around 1:00 am. I was very glad, if she hadn't I would have run the risk of falling asleep and missing the bus. 

It started in the main station in Prague, and traveled to Munich. There were a few stops on the way; so much for getting some uninterrupted sleep. We arrived at about 8:00. The bus stop in Munich was fairly decent. There was a few places to sit and eat and a bathroom with a 1 Euro fee. Most public bathrooms in Europe so far charge small amounts of cash for it's use. 

Carly and I had a two hour layover in the station before we headed to Innsbruck. The drive there was very pretty, and lots of times I questioned whether I had somehow teleported back to Oregon. We approched tha Alps, and I felt at home. I didn't realize how much I had missed having a mountain(or several) on the horizon. We stoped in a few of the small towns to drop off passangers, and crossed over the mountain range at about 1:00. The veiw was breathtaking as we zig-zagged down the mountain and into the valley. 

Innsbruck is not very big. It is at it's core a college town, but it's location offers so much to tourists. There are endless snow sport opportunities in the winter, and lots of mountain biking and hiking spots in the summer. Plus, it is a great hub for getting to other smaller towns in the area. 

Carly and I arrived right at 12:30 with Ila waiting for us at the stop. We had a few hours before check-in so we dropped our bags off at Tani's and headed out for some much needed coffee. Tani took us to a small coffee shop and I had some Georgain pastery with cheese. It was good and very rich. 

Afterwards he guided us on a walking tour of the center. We checked out a park, the river, and the golden roof. The tour took about an hour, and we looped back to his place. Tani worked at 4 and couldn't join us for the afternoon, but Ila did for our check in. 

We got to the hostel, and it felt good to rest for a second. The bus ride was rough considering Carly and I were running on about 4 hours of sleep. After unpacking and taking a breath, we decided to try and utilize the rest of our daylight ours. A cool thing about Innsbruck is that the city offers a pass to lots of activities in the area. One of the biggest perks about it is its public transport pass, giving the user free access to the trams, buses and bikes. After weighing our options, we decided to bike to the castle. The bikes don't come with helemts, but Innsbruck has great infrastructure for bikes and drivers are very aware of them. 

We found a bike rental station close to the hostel and begain out journey across town to the castle. It gave us a great veiw of the city, not to mention a great thigh workout. We made it to the castle with just enough daylight time to enjoy it. 

Oregon or South Germany?

Veiw from the hostel

View from the bus just outside Innsbruck

Coffee time! 

The golden roof and friends, it was a lot less impressive the closer you got. 

The river, the water is even more vibrent in person. 

Dinosaurse spotted in the park!

Visicous T-Rex attack in Innsbruck..... you have been warned!  

There were lots of fun displays, perfect for photo opportunites. 

The grey dorm looking building was out hostel. 

Goofing off with selfies at the castle!

These mountains are so cool!

The castle. 

Thinking on it, we didn't really come here to see the building....

I can't get over this veiw! 

We biked back into the center just before dark. I had so much fun, and it was so cool seeing the city light up and get ready for the evening. After returning our bikes to the rental station we started to search for some grub. We decided to try a sushi restruant. After looking at the menu, the pictured sushi boat caught Ila's attention. She suggessted we takle to challange, and without much convincing I "boarded" the sushi boat. We tackled about 15 peices of roll, 20 sashimi peices, and 13 nagiri pieces. It was all very good, except for the salmon which could have thawed a little more before serving. Also, Carly doesn't like fish, so Ila and I were sailing alone. We ate everything except two peices of salmon, which were not worth it for me. 

Post bike ride

Passionfruit mint lemonade freshly made.

Lets do this!!!!!

All abord! 

Stuffed......

But wow! We did that! 

After our sushi voyage, we went to visit Tani at work at TNT, a sports bar just down the street. We got some drinks and he came out of the kitchen to say hi. We played games and drank until he got off work. We debated about continuing to go out, but with the promise of skiing the next day and our lack of sleep, we decided to call it a night and return to our hostel. 

Pool at TNT

The 6 am wake up call was brutal, but its always easier for me to wake up when I have something exciting and unusal to get up for. Its too bad I don't have that energy when I get up for work. 

We met Tani and Ila at the bus stop at 7:00 for a 7:08 bus ride. The trip cost 4 euros and was about an hour and a half, not unlike the trip to Mt Hood back home. The bus dropped us right at the resort door, so convinent. We went to Stubai Gletcher, a glaciar south west of Innsbruck. On the otherside is Italy. If we had gone to the summit we could have seen it. 

Good morning Mountains!

Sleepyy heads

Sunrise views!

We got to the mountain at around 8:30 and got on the gondala to the rental station on the mountain. I had to buy gloves and goggles, the weather was too cold and windy not to. Besides those expensies, rentals cost about 60 Euros and the lift pass was 30. Its amazing how much more affordable it is than the US, even if it is still expensive. Soon we were all on the slopes. 

I realize now that my ski level is an advanced beginner, or low intermediate on a sunny clear day. I did not realize that the resport Tani picked was much better for individuals who were intermediate to advanced, which neither Carly nor I were. Carly taught herself how to snowbard in about 3 weeks in Pennsylvania. I joked that she learned on a hill after she showed me the trail map of the resort. 

Quick bathroom selfie after getting ready.

We spent most of the day on the bunny slope, and I was able to do one short blue run a few times before the lift closed due to wind and near white out conditions. Around 1:45, after Tani left to make his 3 o'clock shift, Ila joined us. I was feeling confident, and a little board, so we decided to try a different blue run and leave Carly to continue to practice. I thought that I would be capable of the challenege, but it was quickly apparent that it was way above my skill level. I tried to think back to my lesson and practice, switchbacking down the slope. On the second steep area of the run, the mountain got the best of me and I had a bad crash. It didn't help that the white out conditions had increased, and the wind made it hard to keep on the course I wanted to go. I quickly lost control and gained speed, smashing into the icey curb of the trail. After flipping I landed on my head, jaming my goggles into my face before coming to rest on my back. This was not a crash I could just shake off, and an instructor who saw the whole thing quickly came to our resuce. Ila was luckily close as well, and she help me sit up. While I was in a lot of pain, I didn't loose consiouness. I looked down and saw a little blood, and thought it was my nose! Turns out that my goggles made small cuts on either side of my nose. It will heal in a few days, but seeing the blood was scary. I was in quite a shock, but I never did develop any concussion symptoms. I am lucky, and glad helemts are a thing. 

Here we are, ready to tackle the slopes with Tani and Ila.

This was around 10, with conditions not looking so great. 

Magic Carpet time! 

The instructor was very worried about me, and after giving Ila the non-emergancy snow patrol number, she recommended that I not go any further. It only got more steep, and after a jarring crash like that, the next crash could be very life threating. I agreed, and Ila called the number. In about 5 minutes, a snow cat came down the slope and picked us up. It wasn't until we got to the lift that we found out the mountain had closed right around the time of my crash, about 2:00. They were sending everyone down becasue contiditions were too dangerous. Later that day we heard from Carly that she couldn't see the lodge from the base of the bunny slope, about 30 - 50 feet away when they made the call. 

After we heard the news I told Carly that it was not a good idea for her to snowboard down. The gondala was closed at that point, and she was able to hitch a ride with other beginners in a different snowcat and make it safely down the mountain. 

Once at the lodge and after changing, we got on the bus and made the trip back to Innsbruck. With my confidence shattered and spirits down, we decided to head to the hostel to wash the day off. A shower was the best thing I could do, and by the time 6:00 rolled around I was feeling much better. We had a spagetti dinner at Ila's before heading out to TNT again for dinks while we waited for Tani to get off work. 

We had some sunny peaks to great us after our bus ride to the hostel.

On Friday, a friend from college, Keegan, reached out to me. He had moved to Germany for Grad school back in 2021, and has been living in Germany eversence. Turns out, he lives in Innsbruck, and he joined us on Saturday evening for a round of drinks. It was super fun to see Keegan again and to catch up on all the things that have happened since I last saw him. 

The rest of the night was spent clubbing with Ila, Tani, and his friends. I felt so much better, and knew that I would be ok after my wipe-out from earlier. We stayed out super late, but I don't regret it at all. 

Ila and I made the bus ride back to Prague togeather, and Carly took a train to Vienna. The bus ride home left at 1:15, and I was able to catch some sleep before pulling into Munich. We got into town at 10:00pm, and I went straight to bed. Lots of people went to see the super bowl, but there was no way I could join anyone on that. 

Overall, I really like Innsbruck. I don't think I will be able to make it back before the ski season ends this year, but I will definetly be visiting again in the spring or summer. It is such a cute town, and being in the Alps is so magical. Like I said, no concussion symptoms have come up and I am feeling great. My neck isn't even sore, which is so suprising to me. I will let this experience be the reminder to always wear my helemt. 

Wishing for the best on your adventures, 

Cienna