October 2, 1999
To Innsbruck, by train
(Note: it looks like I got well behind on the journal, and many of the remaining days are just bullet points.)
- The weather was poor for biking today, so we caught a train for Innsbruck after buying a bike map for the Inn Valley.
- Before breakfast I walked the streets of old Passau by myself while Rachael slept in and nursed her stomach.
- On the train, we had to transfer to a different car partway through the journey, as the rear cars were dropped off. Unknown to her, Rachael had left her book, Jack Maggs, on the bench at the Passau train station. As we sat in our new seats, we were surprised to see an Italian passenger across the aisle, reading the same book - literally. It wasn’t until we noticed that he was holding the book upside down that it registered that he couldn’t actually read it, and that it must be ours that he picked up at the station. After pantomiming to him that it was ours, he handed it over.
(That comment doesn’t quite do justice to the Jack Maggs story. We still can’t get over the coincidence of being forced to change cars and then sitting down next to the person who happened to pick up her book).
We arrived in Innsbruck about 5 and found a good, not too expensive hotel (the Mozart) a few blocks from the city core without too much difficulty and then walked downtown to find a meal. Innsbruck is quite a large place, crammed with tourists. It’s very pretty, with a number of splendid high rising buildings in its old town. Mountains rise steeply behind it beyond the far bank of the Inn River, making a spectacular backdrop.
With many restaurants to choose from, we had a fine meal at a traditional Austrian restaurant. I had a Tyrolean dish, Gröstl - a hashlike concoction with ham, potatoes , and onions; topped by a raw egg.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |