innsbruck
After a busy week at ISPO, my buddy Daniel and I hopped a train to Innsbruck, Austria.
I have been to Austria before, but only on a technicality. The predecessor to summer ISPO was in Freidrichschafen, a fairy tale village on a lake wedged between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Therefore, I’ve been to .0000000000000000000001% of Austria, which warrants a few more visits.
It was lightly snowing when we left Munich. Then, the sky proceeded to dump over a foot of snow. We noted the weather worsening while enjoying gluhwein at an Altstadt Christmas market, and did the sensible thing: shelter in a cocktail bar with espresso martinis. As is typical with espresso martinis, we ended up accidentally dancing the night away with heavy sweaters on.
oops
Nursing tragically predictable but truly unavoidable hangovers the next morning, we grabbed breakfast and went out to explore the city.
Similar to Munich, Christmas markets abounded.
As the sun set, we trudged uphill in the snow to the Innsbruck Bergisel Ski Jump.
Built for the 1976 Winter Olympics, visitors can still ride a funicular up the vertigo-inducing slope.
We visited the observatory up top. It was scary.
RIP
Our final Christmas market stop was Kaiserweinacht, a short and slippery walk from the ski jump. As night fell, Innsbruck lit up in the valley below.
The magnitude of the snowfall really hit home here! Kaiserweinacht was a small but beautiful market, with great snacks.
Proud of ourselves for persevering through our def not self-inflicted long day, Daniel and I grabbed dinner and kept it chill Saturday night. I was traveling back to the States Monday from Munich, and hopped online to book my train back. Except, there were no trains to book!
The snowstorm had dumped more snow in Munich than the city had seen for 90 years. On top of all of the snow, there was freezing rain, which took out trees and power lines. Munich airport had been shut down for days, and the German train system was running at minimal capacity. I had missed the memo because: espresso martinis.
I don’t want to be one of those people that’s like “why does this always happen to me??” But. In my travel chaos bingo, I have…
volcanoes
tornadoes
earthquakes
civic unrest
strikes
theft
blizzards
superstorms
regular storms that I was underprepared for
pandemics (I know this was an everyone thing but I was flying solo in China in Jan 2020 so I’m counting it)
I lovingly refer to this pattern as having “travel gremlins.” The gremlins were certainly back in Innsbruck. I decided to pivot, and rebooked out of Zurich. In retrospect, this was the right move, as there wasn’t a flight to the US out of Munich for 6! DAYS! Don’t worry, though, I still had a sufferfest ahead of me.
Given the precariousness of regional travel, it would have been wise for me to head to Switzerland first thing Sunday. Let’s get real, though… being wise is overrated, so Daniel and I went on an adventure!
Innsbruck is home to 13 ski resorts, many of which are accessible via public transport. One of my favorite sights in the city: hordes of skiers walking around downtown in their boots, gear slung over their shoulders! Daniel and I followed them up the mountain.
We took a tram to a funicular, but were stopped before the gondola. There was an avalanche warning, and no one was allowed up the mountain.
There were loads of skiers milling around, though. Figuring they had better intel than we did, we decided to wait it out at a very overpriced and mediocre B&B buffet. While eating spensy hardboiled eggs, we heard the avalanche bombs detonate.
Our commitment was rewarded: the gondola was open! And so we rode it to this… this… this… SPECTACLE.
overwhelm!!!
It! Was! Unreal! I! Have! Never! Seen! Anything! Like! It!
surfs up
We rode one smaller gondola to the tippy top.
I do not have any snow sports skills, so watching people launch themselves into the clouds made me a wee bit nauseous.
It was a beautiful day up there. The stoke level was palpable for skiers and tourists alike.
Eventually, we pried ourselves away from the beauty, and retraced our steps and gondolas back under cloud cover.
^ plenty of suburban skiing, too!
Sun dazed and giddy, Daniel and I bid adieu as he headed back to Milan and I started my unplanned journey to Switzerland. [THROWBACK!! GREMLINS!!] My pipe dream of the 1pm train getting to Zurich in time for Christmas market dinner was dashed when said train was 3 hours late. And because it was 3 hours late, the crew timed out. [THROWBACK!!! GREMLINS!!!] All of this meant: I found myself dumped unceremoniously in a small town somewhere in Switzerland, in the dark. Twenty years ago, this would have been a much longer post, but I used Google Maps to hop on two additional trains to get to Zurich Airport, where I had booked a hotel for the night. Then, my rolly suitcase and I hoofed it to the hotel, which, of course, was at the top of an icy hill. The hotel restaurant was closed, so I Uber Eats’d doner kebab for some 11pm victory dinner and called it an overall success.
The next morning, I traveled home with absolutely no drama, having paid my gremlin dues the previous day. Worth it!!!
where:
innsbruck, austria
when: blizzardy december
how: innsbruck holiday markets calendar, innsbruck nordkette gondola
