Firstly, we’ve had our most comfortable night by far. Who knew that leaving the heating on overnight would keep you warm?!?!
Our van was abandoned at the campsite as we caught a bus into Innsbruck, with a map of the city and no real objective other than to find a riverside cafe and make a plan.
John held on tight to Kim to stop her disappearing into the shoe shop. Prices were eye watering but the shoes were very sparkly.
Situated on the outskirts of the old town, the cafe we found was opposite Markthalle.
There has been a market on this site since 1460. These days you can have a Tyrolean breakfast which seems to consist of bacon or cheese dumplings while watching local farmers sell freshly picked fruit and other produce with each stall offering free samples. We opted for delicious Apfelbrot, a soft dark bread with apple and walnuts.
John liked the idea of visiting the Anatomy Musuem and the Tyrolean Railway Museum. Both were closed, so the Bell Museum located at the Grassmayr Bell Foundry became our destination, via the Triumphal Arch.
Grassmayr has been casting bells since 1599 and obviously have the hang of it. As museums go it was tiny but fascinating. John was disappointed to see that the first bell ever cast was by the Chinese even if it was 5,000 years ago. We watched a short film showing the casting of a commemorative bell in 2017 and wandered into the foundry. You would not have been allowed to do this at home…
Bells could be struck with mallets to hear different tones and notes!
And view a selection of bells displayed in a small garden.
John then turned his attention to the Bergisel Ski Jump, which we could see towering above the city. Google Maps said a 20 minute walk so we were off, hard work as of course it was all uphill.
We bought our tickets and took the small funicular up to the viewing platform at the very top where the ski jumpers make their descent.
‘Why would you do this?’ is the question that sprang to mind and it became more incomprehensible the higher we went!
Those of you who know Ken and Jacky will appreciate, plans often have a habit of changing, and following yesterday’s tearful farewells in Italy we’re all still together. Ken is walking almost upright although it takes him most of the day to achieve this and he has purchased a walking stick to assist.
We leave for Helmsdorf on the Bodensee tomorrow and wait to see what happens next.
braysabroad 