Another great day weather wise, although we were discussing our decision to stay one more day this morning. Tomorrow there is a ninety percent chance of rain. Oh well, we won't melt! We are amazed by the fact that since the 25th of August we have only experienced about an hour and a half of rain. We may up that a bit tomorrow though. I like to think it will be an adventure. I will let you know about that tomorrow night.
We started the morning taking Keith's indispensable prescription glasses in for repair. He sat on them last night. Fortunately he brought a spare pair, so he wasn't completely blind, but it was a problem for sure. There is an optical store right next to the hotel, they sent him around the corner, and ten minutes and a few Euro later his glasses were as good as new. It was a big relief.
Then we started meandering through the Innsbruck streets. Our first interesting stop was a church outside of the tourist zone. We could hear the most beautiful music coming from inside. We went in and met a British man who came to Innsbruck to study music. He was practicing in the church with its gothic arches because of the acoustics. His voice was spine tingling beautiful, and we got a private concert. A great experience.
We continued wandering before visiting the Dom, spectacular, and then the Imperial Palace. Now that was interesting. We were going for the permanent exhibit, which is historical, and ended up spending most of our time in the temporary exhibit, which is about human reactions to and traditions around death. Absolutely fascinating, especially some of the contemporary discussions. We also learned why the Saint skeletons and bone fragments were (are?) so important. It was just riveting and gave lots of food for thought.
Then lunch, and the shopping began. We didn't end up buying anything, although I tried. They had lederhosen underwear that had my two son's names written all over it, but alas, not in their sizes. They were down to their last three pairs, all xxl. How I would have loved to have had those wrapped up for Christmas. Socks and underwear! Hey, it's a tradition!
We are just getting ready to go out for dinner...more coming later.
Outside the restaurant where we decided to have dinner. I was in making a reservation. I was having no 'fully booked' today.
Skulls in the special exhibit. You are spared more pictures of a similar nature because immediately after this was taken, we were informed, in the nicest of ways, pictures are verboten. Darn. There were some really, well, shall we say 'interesting' exhibits! It truly was fascinating. Much more interesting than Sisi's drawing room.
Shopping here we come. Perfectly safe when you can't carry much. I saw a couple of things and could have been serious until Keith suggested I might have to add front panniers. I think not!
The view from our table at dinner. We had just a fantastic evening. We are so very lucky, even if we do have a 90% chance of getting wet tomorrow. There will be some laughs I am sure. Keith suggested I draft behind his buns of steel tomorrow, but I reminded him that even with fenders he has quite a rooster tail in the rain. I am on my own.
We are back from dinner, we are packed and we are ready to jump on the Surly ponies in the morning. What the heck, they need a good wash anyway. We had an amazing evening together, talking about the trip so far, looking forward to the next three weeks, and starting to plan next year. Lots of laughs too, trying to remember everywhere we have been. Thank goodness for the blog. We can always refer to it! Austria has been a highlight. Let the rain begin!!
