Budapest was nice enough but it’s good to be heading to somewhere with an easier language. Hungarian almost defeated me. However, on my final morning, waiting at the station for my train to Austria, I manage to order and pay for a coffee entirely in the Magyar tongue. Take that, Hungarian!
There are the usual complications at the station, with a delayed train still sitting at my platform when the Vienna train is meant to be there. Eventually they give an announcement in English saying that my train is late, which I translate from heavily accented English into normal English for a couple from New Zealand who are in the same boat.
When the train eventually arrives, it’s one of those ones with compartments again. I’m in a compartment with four serious-miened and rather heavy men, which is a bit cosy, but one of them is getting off at the next stop. By the time we get to Vienna, there are only two of us and it’s much more comfortable.
I’ve missed my second train because the first one was late, but there’s another one 15 minutes after we arrive. It’s a complicated train that’s going to two different destinations. A guard directs me to the back of the train, saying that’s the bit that’s going to Innsbruck. However, when the ticket collector comes round, he tells me that it’s the front of the train that’s going to Innsbruck, and I’ll have to move before Salzburg. That’s not for a couple of hours so I have a spot of lunch in the restaurant car first (a lukewarm paprikahendl) and then make my move in stages over two stations, as this is a loooong train. (You can’t just walk down the inside because this is two trains joined together.)
Soon the scenery starts to get nice as we approach the Austrian Alps. That is the reason I chose to go this roundabout way home rather than straight up through Germany.
Eventually we start to follow the path of the River Inn, which naturally runs though Innsbruck (Inn Bridge).
In what seems like no time, we are pulling into Innsbruck. And it’s warm here! So nice after the last few days. And although this is a more substantial town than I realised, the mountain air seems cleaner and more refreshing after the big cities.
Innsbruck is almost ridiculously pretty, with charming old buildings setting off the stunning alpine scenery. Its setting is a bit like Alloa, but on a much bigger scale!
The bridge itself turns out to be quite underwhelming – it’s obviously an old location for a crossing, but the bridge itself is new. However, the view from the bridge is wonderful.
This is a touristy place (one of the things my travels have taught me is that just because I don’t know anything about a place, that doesn’t mean it’s not touristy) but the vast majority of tourists are German speakers. I hear two or three groups of Americans and a family speaking an Asian language (maybe Hindi) but that’s about it.
There are some lovely shops here, although of course they all close soon after I arrive. I visit a couple of chocolate shops, though.
I go to a very traditional old restaurant called the Weisser Rössl (white knight? Ellen can confirm) for dinner, as this feels like an old-school kind of town. After fighting shy of heavy Mitteleuropean food for days, I now feel ready to tackle the classic schnitzel. This alpine air must have given me an appetite, because I not only defeat the schnitzel, I order pudding 😮 I don’t finish that, though!
Then I carefully roll myself back to the hotel to complete this blog post. It’s another early-ish start tomorrow, so I’d better get an early night. Gute Nacht!
K C Murdarasi 
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