Innsbruck, Austria - "The Hills are Alive...."

Mom’s been waiting her whole life to dance through the hills like Julie Andrews, and she finally got her chance :)

On the last day my parents and Ryan were in town we decided to leave Italy and head to Innsbruck, Austria. It’s actually only about three hours north of Vicenza, so a decent day’s trip. The drive is absolutely beautiful; it winds through the Alps all the way up. I’m not sure what Alps they are, I get in a crazy discussion about this every time I see some - Italian Alps, Tyrolean Alps, Swiss Alps….I have no idea. I just know they’re mountains and they’re pretty.

Innsbruck was the site of the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, and you can tell why by looking at any of the pictures we took:

The town is surrounded by enormous mountains and it’s not unusual to see someone walking around who looks like they just got off the slopes. It was so cold when we got there, as you can tell by the looks on our faces.

I also realized why - for those of you who know her - Mel Parks loved Germany so much. People around here look like they came straight out of a J. Crew catalog, fresh off a hiking trip. It's like a bunch of Mels walking around.

Our first stop was the medieval Old City, or Altstadt. This is, obviously, the old part of town and has a ton of Gothic and Renaissance buildings and little shops:

We stopped by this fantastic store:

And Mom and I did some shopping! I stuck with a bracelet and avoided the crystal animals in the front window.

Besides the Olympics, Innsbruck is known for its ruler in the 12th century, Maximilian I. When he came into power he made Innsbruck the seat of the Holy Roman Empire and constructed most of the main buildings still standing in Altstadt today. We walked through the small streets and did a little bit of shopping, and finally ended up at the end where the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) is:

It’s at the top of that thing behind us, we didn’t actually get it in the picture. Just think of a gold roof and that’s pretty much what it was. Maximilian built it for his second wife and it was used as a royal box for watching events in the square where we’re sitting. It’s one of the main attractions in Innsbruck...probably why so many people go skiing :). Right about the time we came to it we started to get hungry. So we picked one of the outdoor cafes and tried not to shiver too much. I think that’s why we got the beer:

And here’s what Carl and I ordered (the special on the left):

I decided to be adventurous, and my first Weiner schnitzel wasn’t that bad! After lunch we walked a bit more and stopped at some of the shops. Mom and I played dress up with Ryan:

And then we walked toward the water and finally along the canal:

I’m normally a beach and water kind of person, but these mountains were really cool. It almost made me want to go skiing :).

On our way out of town we drove up in the mountains to visit this place:

Honestly we were all so tired from a week of sightseeing at full speed that we didn’t even stop to check what the name of the place was. Here are some pictures though! It was one of the windiest places I’ve ever been, and I came from Chicago:

Then it was time for the drive home. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick coffee and took the Ausfarht (Exit) back to Italy. How ridiculous does that word sound…