Day 7 - (Travelling to) Innsbruck [I]
A checkered train journey
I finished packing, straightened up the room, and left my lovely AirBNB really way too early to get to the station. I planned to stop at Bar Hortis for breakfast, but that would not consume all the time I had allowed. And it was raining!
The walk to the train station was not pleasant! Windy rain, with occasional strong gusts. The new jacket was perfect, but my trousers were soaked by the time I got to the station. Accuweather told me it was 8C and ‘feels like’ -3C! Not ideal weather for the regatta, I think. I sat around in the station reading my phone and drying out from body heat (the station was not very warm). Eventually, it was time to board the train, where it was much warmer! The Business Class seat was much appreciated.
The trip from Trieste to Vicenza was largely uneventful. The poor weather persisted for a good part of the journey so the sightseeing from the train was very limited. I got some useful work done on my laptop.
The journey started to go a bit downhill at the change at Vicenza. I was waiting on the correct platform and checked with a train staff member who was also waiting for the train how to read my ticket; I wasn’t sure which carriage/seat I was in. He said, that it was the right train but was going to be delayed by 40 mins; it had just left Venice! He was pretty dejected about it, too, as he was boarding the same train for his next shift.
The platforms at Vicenza are a bit bleak and definitely open-air, so I retreated back into the station and had a light lunch in the cafe there.
In due course, the train showed up. I got on and was unable to understand where I was supposed to go to find my seat. Ultimately, I walked almost the full length of the train before a helpful conductor pointed out how to read my ticket correctly (I’d been reading the date of the journey as the carriage and seat number!) and pointed me back to the other end of the train, past where I had got on. A lot of walking eventually resulted in an actual First Class seat! I got sorted out, settled down, and started to enjoy the journey again.
This stretch of the journey was running due North from Vicenza to Innsbruck. By the time we got to the Alps, the countryside was becoming that of a fairy tale. Verdant farmlands in river valleys, bounded by sharp ridgelines that reared out of the landscape in ways that I’ve only ever seen in Nepal. There are some little valleys in Australia that are an homage to these idyllic country vistas, but the European hillside country is magical (to me). I took some photos of the landscape as we were travelling, but I’m not sure that they will do it justice. And I missed some classical shots, like a schloss sitting on a hilltop in the middle of the valley. Genuinely an image from a fairy tale.
|
|
|
When we stopped at Brenner, one stop before Innsbruck, the RailJet train developed a fault in the locomotive. Passengers destined for Innsbruck were told to transfer to a regional train on another platform to complete our journey. I confirmed that with the fellow sitting with me, who fortunately spoke flawless English. That was a bit anxiety provoking! I quickly packed up my stuff, de-trained, rushed around with all the other hapless passengers going to Innsbruck and boarded the regional train waiting on the relevant platform. It very quickly became over-full, but it wasn’t a long journey. It’s only as I write this that I realise that I didn’t settle my bill on the first class carriage on the RailJet.
Innsbruck is a fascinating place. I’m over-awed by the dramatic landscape all around the town. Several photos attempt to reflect the severity of the mountains looming over the city. As I was walking back from dinner, there were lights in a chalet(?) high up on the ridge and it was surreal for me. Anything lighted that high in the air would have been an aerial vehicle in Australia.
|
|
|
|
I found the AirBNB I have booked without any real trouble. However, when I was trying to open the key box, the lever that opens the box was jammed. No reasonable thing that I could do would fix it. I messaged and texted the hot, who has been in contact with me for a couple of days and providing lots of useful information. He came down and rescued me. Apparently, the previous guest had put the keys back in the box the wrong way around, and that jammed the opening mechanism closed. My host, Marcel, applied some strategic brute force and opened it.
|
|
|
|
I dumped my stuff and almost immediately headed out again for dinner. I was keen to get the day finished so that I could just flop in the bed and sleep. I wandered down to a restaurant that turned out to be part of a local hotel. The wait staff there were totally gorgeous, young Austrians, friendly, helpful, multi-lingual. What a treat. Of course, for my first night in Austria I had a Wiener Schnitzel, followed by Apfelstruesel, accompanied by some local white wine. Very satisfactory! However, it was raining after dinner, only lightly, but it meant that I started and ended the day walking in the rain.
|
|
| Daily facts: Location: Trieste-Vicenza-Brenner-Innsbruck [I]nnsbruck Temp: 11-16C Weather: Cold, overcast; rain in the morning and evening |
Well done into Innsbruck Tim! Make sure you tour Schloss Ambras palace there. And my fav dish of that area is the cheese dumpling soup, in Austrian Kaspressknödel Suppe, also avail in the South Tyrol (Italy) where I had it apres-ski few times in my life......
ReplyDeleteThank you for these tips, Paola. I will definitely do that tomorrow.
Delete