Innsbruck and Zurich

(this post is a bit late) 

1:59pm last Friday found me running as fast as I could thorough the Bischofshofen train station from the bus from Filzmoos. If I made the 2:00 train I wouldn't have to take a later train with long connections to Innsbruck, Austria.

Bags a-swinging I took the stairs two at a time and gasping slightly, burst onto the platform to find it...deserted. No train and no people except for two well dressed older ladies smiling at me.

As luck would have it though, the train was 10 minutes late, and the mostly empty platform was due to the fact that Bischofshofen is not exactly a hub of bustling vibrancy.

This last trip was to mark the almost the end of my relatively long time in Austria, starting from the far East in Vienna and terminating in Innsbruck in the far West.

After a short and comfortable train ride I was deposited in the Innsbruck train station where Rowan was supposed to join me. We had again decided to use the "let's meet at the largest central entrance" technique that had worked so well in Frankfurt and Nuremberg, but of course, this time we managed to find the only not-symmetrical train station in Europe.

It didn't take long to find each other thankfully, and being reunited with my friend was so sweet. We had only been apart a week and a half before but it felt like a month at least. Since we separated she had traveled all over Germany looking at schools, met great people and had a few adventures.

Together we walked through rainy Innsbruck across the river to my hotel, an establishment that has been run by the same family for five generations. It just happened to work out that there was one room left that Ro could rent and a double to we could share the second night. It was a very lucky afternoon. It's so nice when things go right.

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We spent the afternoon in Innsbruck exploring a bit of the old town town right across the river from our hotel. Innsbruck is a small city a little larger than Salzburg but with a very small old center. Ro and I found an outdoor cafe and took the opportunity to catch up and eat some delicious Austrian food.

The next morning we set off into the drizzly city properly, starting off at the cathedral, decorated in the Baroque style so popular in the Czech Republic and Austria. It was Rowan's first one and I got to see the style through new eyes again with her. We of course visited the Imperial gardens, and nearby found a coffee shop with a full band playing outside one of the major museums nearby.

With such a small center we circled around a few times, getting slightly lost and surprising ourselves by turning onto a street we knew well. There was a Bouldering competition or championship going on in Innsbruck and we stopped to watch the climbers practice for awhile . Some of them were like monkeys, flying up the wall, sometimes sideways or jumping from one precarious perch to another. Innsbruck is known for outdoorsiness and winter sports in general, so the Bouldering fits right into that image.

We took a rest in the late afternoon, taking advantage of a solid WiFi connection and hiding out from the rain that had finally started to abate. By six the rain clouds and mist that had been present all day finally dissipated and evening sun bathed the city and surrounding mountains. Ro and I set off up the mountain behind our hotel, entering a residential area looking for the best view of the Alps that we could find.

Our path lead us up a winding road through a churchyard and a zig-zagging sidewalk almost straight up cliff. This led us to the first great view and ultimately into another churchyard another hundred feet up or so. Up behind this last church the city ended and a dirt and rock trail continued up into a suddenly lush deciduous forest alongside a practically vertical cow pasture.

We hiked up the serious slope, beyond the pasture and still up till we couldn't hear anything of the city far below, just the birds beginning their evening songs. Eventually we came to a level spot that turned into a ridge where we could see into the next valley's smooth pastures, steep rolling hills and above us an isolated house at the edge before the drop into the valley.

Upwards and onwards we hiked, once following what turned out to be a track driveway to a small red cottage. This place looked like paradise, with a view over the valley, a bright garden spilling over the fence and the tinkle of bells around goat's necks in the pasture. Serene, quiet and cozy.

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The next morning Rowan and I said official goodbye for now, no tears just lots of hugs as she caught a bus for Germany and I headed out of the Alps to Zurich, Switzerland.

In Zurich my friend Sophie and her boyfriend Florian were waiting for me at the station. Yet more friendly faces, I'm very spoiled.

They showed me the S-Bahn Subway to take to their quiet neighborhood in northeast Zurich. Their lovely apartment is a new one-just moved in with their gigantic and terribly regal Maincoon cat Garfield.

They showed me the Suspended Garden in Zurich. A multi-level metal skeleton of a structure with platforms. The cables and framing make an anchor for thousands of vining plants that have climbed it and taken over even the tallest reaches. The vines make living pillars, walls, and ceilings, it's unlike anything I've ever seen.

We then went down to the lake and the park along the bank full of people on the warm evening. Some were already in swimsuits, ready to jump into the water with the swans and ducks.

That night Sophie made a delicious dinner with cous-cous and eggplant and we caught up. She is almost finished with her masters degree at ETH the science and tech University in Zurich and Florian works at a startup he founded while in school. Getting to know them, and getting to know Sophie again as an adult was really lovely, the last time I saw her I think I was 18 and she was 19, I'm so glad that our friendship has maintained over time and the Atlantic ocean.

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Early the next afternoon I met her at school after she finished a morning in the lab. She showed me around the new campus, a pleasing mix of modern buildings and meadow grasses allowed to grow tall and flower. We then took a bus to the campus in the city center, and visited Florian in his office nearby.

The day was perfect, sunny and warm but not too hot. I managed to finally avoid dehydration thanks to the public drinking fountains through the city that are literal fountains. If the water isn't potable law requires that the fountain has a sign saying so. So no sign, go ahead and take a drink.

Sophie showed me all over the Zurich old town, and over to a newer part of town for a beer a funky bar with an Italian bistro attached. At dinner time we met Florian for what are essentially Italian quesadillas that are crazy delicious.

Taylor had arrived in Zurich that afternoon and that night she and a friend met us for a beer at an open air bar near the river. We sat on the planks in the warm night air sipping beers and juices, catching up and talking of our travels, plans, home and beyond. We learned from the Swiss people that Americans are unique in our exuberant language, using "Awesome! Fantastic! and great!" more than anyone else. There are worse things to be known for than exuberance I think, so I'm totally owning that one, being that I use all three several times a day.

I'll take some ridiculous exuberance. Soon Luxembourg and Brussles, it's going to be awesome!