A day in Innsbruck

Wide variety of fruits on the breakfast buffet

Someone please tell me what these things are and why oh why are they with the fruits???

I thought this was hashbrowns wrapped around cheese until I saw a little tail. Little tails mean little shrimp and this went uneaten on my plate.

Hmmmm...what kind of jam should I choose for my croissant?

Wide variety of meats and cheeses

Don't have a clue what these fishy things are and they certainly don't look very appetizing for breakfast!

Floral shops sell flowers and wreaths. I guess you would put a candle in them on the table?

View from the funicular on the way to the cable cars

Waiting to ride the cable car up the mountain

We saw this guy jump off the side of the mountain. He had such an audience, we think he might have been a little nervous and almost smashed into the side of the mountain below.

Danny enjoying the view

We hiked up to the top of this observation deck and then Danny went even further to the top of the mountain.

View of Innsbruck from the top of the mountain or at least as high as I was going to go

On the search for a quick lunch bite, not a 2 hour meal

Lunch with GIANT hot dogs

Not exactly sure why a giant tongue hanging out of a window would be considered art, but here it is!

A sign AND a lamp...lucky for me

Loved this Owl sign

Even McDonald's has an interesting sign

Amorino...the best gelato I've ever eaten!

My yummy gelato...note the beautiful flower shape. It's a trademark for this company

Danny's yummy gelato..He bought a size bigger cone and he got a baby cone on top WITH a spoon.

The River that runs through Innsbruck

The Golden Roof...a famous landmark here. Every Asian we saw was taking a picture of themselves in front of it. I think they knew more about it than we did.

Old Town Innsbruck

The churches here are just built in as part of a row of buildings instead of a stand alone structure

The Ottoburg...our dinner spot

Danny's Meal...GESCHMACKVOLLES...pan sauteed strips of chicken breasts with onions and other finely chopped vegetables, new potatoes, and baby corn

My meal...ZWIEBELROSTBRATEN...entrecote steak "Old Vienna Style" with a roasted potatoes, fried onion pieces and red wine sauce

Today was another beautiful day in Austria. We had a very interesting breakfast experience as you can see from the pictures. We have been amazed at the number of Asian tourists, both in Switzerland and here. This hotel provides not only a typical European breakfast, but also many Asian selections. It was a very varied buffet that was included in the price of the hotel room. The location for this hotel has been just perfect. It is located in the older part of Innsbruck which has made walking our main mode of transportation. We rode a funicular and a cable car up to the top of one of the mountains that surround Innsbruck. The scenery was beautiful and we walked up to the highest overlook point. Danny then hiked further up to the top of the peak. It was really neat to see Innsbruck from so high up in the air. We rode the cable car down to a point and decided to walk to the AlpenZoo which is exactly what it sounds like, a zoo with Alpine animals. We did not know that the completely downhill walk would be about 30 minutes long, but it was beautiful and shady through a wooded area. Had we rode a little further down in the cable car, the zoo would have been around the corner. The zoo was pretty neat and most of the animals were out. I enjoy zoos and I think that comes from my dad, who also loves to visit zoos. We came during dinner time so many of the animals were eating. As it was an Alpine Zoo and adapted to the terrain, we did a lot of walking uphill and then downhill. Needless to say, we had quite a walking workout today. We rode the funicular back down to the town and walked around the old city. It was about 2 o'clock and we were hungry, so we bought a “hot dog” with mustard from a stand in the old town. The meat was long and skinny, not at all like what we have at home, but very good. We walked back to the hotel to rest our weary legs for awhile. During the late afternoon, we walked back into town and really enjoyed looking at the beautiful signs located above many of the stores. They are very elaborate and made of iron. We ate gelato at Amorino, something I have wanted to try in Paris but haven't had a chance to, and it was incredible! The scoops are dipped into a flower shape. When I told the man behind the counter that I only wanted chocolate, he appeared to disapprove and told me it was a lot of chocolate and I should have other flavors with it. I relented and added Nutella ice cream, which I have to admit was very good with the chocolate. Danny had pistachio, chocolate, and coconut on his cone. It was all one scoop, but layered like a flower. Gelato as a work of art! Dinner tonight was at Ottoburg, a very old building that was once part of Innsbruck Castle. It also had a Tyrolean menu and was delicious. We almost went back to the same restaurant we went to last night because there were other things on the menu we wanted to try, but we are glad that we decided to try a different restaurant. Tomorrow we will board a train back to Zurich. We are actually looking forward to lunch and dessert in the train station in Zurich! Until then....