In Innsbruck

Had a bit of a slower day in Innsbruck, and I couldn't have picked a nicer town for it. There's definitely not as much to see and do here as the big cities, but as a quiet, more laid back destination (relatively speaking), it was fantastic. It seemed like it would be a great spot to hang out for a while, especially if you are into hiking, skiing, and such. Beautiful location in a river valley between 2 mountain ranges. By far the most sxenic train ride we've had so far too.
We hit the usual sights, climbed a tower, checked out the cathedral (which was surprisingly impressive, perhaps because I wasn't expecting it. Otherwise we just explored the streets, walked along the river and spent a bit of time hanging out at the hotel during a mid-afternoon thunderstorm (besy hotel so far too).

Oh, and for Jimmy and all my other chess peeps back home, I took a stroll through the Imperial gardens in the evening and stumbled across the most "European" moment so far. 2 old guys, playing chess on a huge board, with a handful of spectators watching the game and adding their commentaries. All in German so I didn't understand much, but I did catch the odd word like "goot" and "Fisher., and you could sure tell when one of them thought someone had misplayed. I watched one full game (ended in a draw, but had lots of back and forth moments), then carried on my way.

Zugspitze + Ziplock = Crazy Canuck

- took the train from Munich to Innsuck today, with a stop in Garmish to take the alpine train and cable car to the summit of the Zugspitze. that's 10000 feet up... same height as cascade mountain in banff! I've climbed that high twice before but carla and ethan had never been close so it was a real treat for them (and me). Amazing views and scenery... you'll see it in the pics.
- I hiked part way up the glacier, then stood there thinking about the best way to go back down, wishing I had a garbage bag to sled on. Then I realized I did have a ziplock bag that might just be big enough. It was, barely. :) Nothing quite like a self-induced glissade down a mountain, starting to pick up a little speed, and wondering whether that flat spot ahead will be enough to stop you or if you are going to have to find out what's around that blind corner ahead :) Too much fun! I think I started giggling like a school girl at that point :)
-Ethan and I climbed up to the summit. No pics of that stretch yet... I don't want my mom freaking out when she sees them :)
- train ride in to Innsbruck had amazing scenery too. This was going to our shortest stop, but I'm alreay rethinking that... seems like a great little city so far

on to the pics

Fussen Fairviews

Fussen and the castle...





bon appetit!



here's looking at you kid...

Fussen and Fishsticks

more point form updates...
- we took a train tour to the town of Fussen today... think Canmore meets Niagra. It's home to Neushweustein (sp?) Castle, the supposed "Fairytale" castle of King Ludwig the 2nd. This was Ethan's pick, and while I'm more of a thousand-year-old-half-ruins-castle guy myself, the views were definitely worth the trip. Will try to post a pic or 2 in a bit.
- The Bavarian country side we saw via the train ride was pretty cool too. Lots of heavily treed foothills/farmland. Kinda reminded me of Canada except the pines ane much thicker, the vegetation much greener, the architecture much more, uh, Bavarian, and every little town had a steeple and a bell tower instead of a hockey rink and grain elevator. I was a little disappointed that the people weren't still stuck in the dark ages so I could see it like I envisioned Bavaria to be... I was picturing plaid-suspender-short-wearing men with long poiny beards sheering goats in their backyard while their blond-haired-pleated-skirt-wives churned butter next to them. :) Instead the backyards were full of trampolines and swingsets... looked too much like Canadian backyards. The houses definitely didn't though, so it was still all goot.
- Carla and Ethan wanted Subway for supper so I headed off in search of a cultural experience for supper on my own. The tour guide pointed me towards a beer garden that totally hit the spot. I was looking for shtekerlfeische (sp?), or fish-on-a-stick and was not dissapointed. I was expecting the German equivalent of a corndog, but it turned out to be their version of a turkey leg... €11.85 worth of one big fish, roasted whole over coals, with about a half-pound of salt for flavoring. I'm sure somewhere around there was forks, but I didn't see them and had no clue what I was doing, so I just pulled up a picnic table under a shady chestnut tree and dove in... now THAT is finger licking good! This put any beer garden I've ever seen in Canada to shame... live Bavarian music, 6500 seets, all covered in shade of huge trees, with various meets, strange salads, pretzels bigger than my head, and beer steins that were, well, I'm not sure how big that was, but it dwarfed the 1-litre water bottle I had with me. No I didn't finish it. Not even close.
- finished it off with some street side gelato walking back to the hotel. Now THAT is what I consider an evening well spent in Europe.
- tommorrow we leave for Austria. Maybe they'll still be shearing goats? Not sure about Inet connections, so don't know when the next post will bw.

till then,
Greg

munchen skyline... istch goot ja?

More from Munich

I'm typing this on my phone, so this is going to be point form updates... and no wise carcks about my typing skillz :)

- our flight from London to Munich gotten zee cancelled. You always know on a trip this long that something will go wrong so hopefully we've got that out of the way. After an extra 4 hours at the airport, we got a night at the Radisson courtesy British Airways (and a few free meal vouchers too). Then we were up bright and early to catch the first flight to Munich. So between Friday morning and Sunday morning (Calgary time, I got 10 hours of sleep... but that was more than Carla and Ethan combined... note to John: bring an inflatable pillow, eye shades and ear plugs... they are worth their weight in gold!)
- that morning flight got us to Munich with 10 minutes to spare before our tour of Dachau, which was the first official concentration camp in Germany. That was a very sombre tour. The camp itself was a lot brighter and more cheery then I expected, but the stories the tour guide told sure weren't. I can't do it justice on a phone, so more on that later. For now I'll just say... how can something like that ever even happen? sheesh...
- last night made up for the lack of sleep and jet lag... 13 hours, interrupted only long enough to pack back a huge hotel-provided breakfast before the kitchen closed
- today was Munich on foot. 305 steps to the top of St. Peter's church tower, where I learned how to use the panorama setting on my camera. Got some great shots there. Also took in the Marienplatz, Odeonplatz, English Garden, and the other famous church who's name escapes me right now.
- food has been great. BA keeps your belly full, and I've enjoyed lots of sauerkruat, bavarian ravioloi, crepes, smoothies, and, what seems to be a fifth food group in Europe - ice cream. Unfortunately I haven't managed to find a fish on a stick yet, but I've still got 2 days before we leave Germany (or the land of many germs, as my nephew calls it :)

will try to post some pics later, but no guarantees.

My Itinerary

16 cities. 37 days.

I haven't even begun yet, and I'm already tired.

But very excited too! Only 1 more sleep until I leave!

This whole crazy plan started as an excuse to go visit my younger sister Laurie, who's with her husband Bruno in the Ukraine for a short (long?) term mission trip as part of his Bible College degree. I thought we'd be there longer to visit them, and at one point, it looked like I'd be there for 10 or so days, but one thing led to another, and it turns out I'll only be there for 4. So the trip to visit my sister and brother-in-law has turned into a 5 week marathon with only a long weekend with them. Whoops! Oh well, from the sounds of the heat over there (36 Celsius in the day, a 'cool' 28 at night), I'll be pretty much non-functional while I'm there anyway. Heat and I don't get along very well.

I start this journey with my older sister Carla and my 8 (almost 9!) year old nephew Ethan. After 3 weeks through Germany, Austria, Prague, and Donetsk, they fly home, and I head on to Moscow to meet up with my good friend John Pitchko. Another week and a bit on a Contiki bus (and 1 overnight cruise) until we hit Stockholm, then we fly on to Bergen for a week on our own trekking back through the Norwegian mountains to Oslo. Then home. Zzzzzzzzz....

Here's a map of where I'll be (click to view):


View Greg Ashby's European Vacation in a larger map

I'll have intermittent access to the Internet, so I hope to keep this blog up-to date as I go and post the occasional pic, but I'm not making any promises. Stopping to blog is well below sleeping and sight-seeing in the priorities for this trip, and just slightly above shopping, so for all I know, this may be the last post before I get back. Hopefully not, but just trying to set reasonable expectations.

Bon Voyage!

Greg