Innsbruck, June 26, 2010

Rita had booked a hotel that was in the old town which proved problematic when trying to drive to it as there is limited vehicle access. We found a parking spot just outside the old town walls and reprogrammed our TomTom to take us to the hotel by walking route. It was only about a five minute walk. The 14 room hotel and award winning restaurant is called Zum Weissen Roessl (The White Horse) and it has been in the hands of the same family for four generations. The building itself is 600 years old and the restaurant is located where the original horse stables were. The restaurant is lovely and is where Rita had taken me for my 63rd birthday dinner.

Innsbruck can trace its heritage back to the 4th century when it was a Roman army station protecting the economically important commercial Verona-Brenner-Ausgburg road that linked the north to the south. Innsbruck officially became a town in 1267, the capital of all Tirol in 1429 and an important political center in the 1490's when Emperor Maximilian resided here. The old town has remained virtually intact from this time with exterior rennovations taking place up to the 1700's.

Innsbruck and Salzburg have a love/hate relationship that is very similar to Edmonton and Calgary. Many consider Innsbruck a blue collar town where the factories are located and Salzburg is the white collar town where the head offices are located. But as far as old towns are concerned, I definitely prefer Innsburck.

Rita and I had really enjoyed walking around the old town and checking out all the sites, including a trip up the 148 steps of the city hall tower. But the best time we had was by accident. We went for a walk along the Inn River but the walkway stopped after about 15 minutes so we turned up a hill and ended on a steep forest trail that took us to a Vanicular station and so we bought a ticket to take us up to the mid point of the mountain. We got off and hiked through high alpine forest for another hour that took us to a Scherzalm (a summer farm on the mountain). This one had a restaurant attached to it. After a break we hiked back down to the Vanicular station and rode it back into Innsbruck, took a shower and went for a lovely dinner in one of the outdoor cafes. A great way to end our time in Innsbruck.

The Inn River with Old Town in the background

City Hall Tower built in 1440 located in Old Town

Helblinghaus built in the 15th century with late Baroque stucco added in 1730 in main street of Old Town

Rita drinking mountain fresh water at the Scherzalm on our hike to mid station of Nordkette Mountain

View of Old Town rooftops, St. James Cathedral and the Alps from the City Hall Tower Lookout

Rita sampling the goodies at the Speckeria which was established in 1909. We ended up having staying for lunch and had a delicious sample plate of cold cuts (salami, ham and cheese) washed down with a fine Innsbruck beer.