2019 Adlerweg Austria

Tuesday 4th June:  Weather: 12°C to 31°C: Sunny and hot

Innsbruck:  TGV train to Zurich: SBB train  to Innsbruck 7.23am to 5.40pm

Accommodation: Air BnB 2 Leopold Strasse Innsbruck

Highlight today arriving in Innsbruck after 10hrs on dodgy trains from Paris.  We spent 4 hrs in a crowded TGV train from Paris to Zurich, with no air conditioning on a 30°C+ day.  Then on a second SBB Swiss train from Zurich to Innsbruck which broke down just near St Anton for one and a half hours finally arriving in Innsbruck at 5.40pm.  

We’re up at 5.30am cleaning, having a cup of tea, packing then walking 2k to Gare de Lyon. The TGV leaves right on the dot of 7.23am and is packed with no spare seats in sight.  It was a warm getting hotter day, and we quickly found that the air conditioning on the train wasn’t working.  For 4 hrs we sweltered on one of the worst TGV trains we’ve ever been on and we were glad to get out at Zurich.  It was still 30°C+ but we found a cool spot beside the Limmat River with it’s crystal clear waters to have a cup of coffee from our Jetboil.  The Coffee shops at the station were overcrowded and stifling. 

Back to the station to board the SBB Swiss train for Innsbruck, which left right on the dot of 12.40pm.  I’d booked a 4 person table setting which we shared with a young couple from South Africa, ideal for having our baguette and cheese for lunch.  We travelled through picturesque Swiss country side on a hot hazy day and it was so much more relaxing than the previous TGV, until 2 hrs later, about 10 minutes out of St Anton in Austria, the train comes to a halt.  And there we stayed for one and a half hours on a sweltering train with no air con - again!  One of the South Africans sitting opposite us could speak German and he translated some of the issues relayed over the speaker in German.  Apparently some part of the engine had overheated and we had to sit and wait til it cooled down, so they opened the doors of the train and warned people not to get off.  Shades of Murder on the Orient Express.  The only good thing was that we were in spectacular mountain country and Ian took a magnificent photo.

We finally arrived in Innsbruck at 5.40pm, one and a half hours later than expected after a 5hr nightmarish train ride, on top of our 4hr disastrous TGV from Paris.  Our worst experience in European trains by far, and we’ve travelled thousands of Kilometres on these trains over the years.  

It was hot in Innsbruck, 30°C at 6pm.  We found our Air BnB easily enough - just 20 metres from the Triumphal Arch. The Large arch was built in 1765 on the occasion of the wedding of Archduke Leopold, the second son of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen of Lorraine, to the Spanish princess, Maria Luisa. Because Leopold’s father, Francis Stephen, died unexpectedly shortly before the wedding on 18 August 1765, a memorial motif was worked into the Triumphal Arch. Its south side portrays motifs of the wedding of the young couple; its north side commemorates the death of the emperor. Very Interesting.

The Air BnB is a huge monumental house and we’re on the 2nd floor with magnificent view to the Alps.  We dumped our gear, then went for a walk to stretch our legs up Maria Theresien Strasse which is awash with tourists and locals drinking and eating al fresco and at the end of the Street is the Inn River.  I went looking for the same bridge where I had a photo taken almost 50 years in 1971 during my 10 month trip abroad, and found one that looked pretty similar.  Lots of memories back there.  

On the way back to our BnB, we called in to the local Spar supermarket but just as we were about to enter it was closing at 7.30pm - on the dot - and we couldn’t duck in to buy just 2 beers.  Chop chop, we’re in Germanic country now.  So we settled for a draught beer in the cafe just near our Air BnB.

Then upstairs to cook some pork and vegetables we’d brought from Paris in the shared kitchen.  The house we’re in has four BnB rooms and is run by Kathrin.  We have a beautiful mountain view from the window of our room with a shared bathroom and kitchen up the corridor, which suits us fine.  Time to catch up with the French Open Results before bed at 10pm.