Hiking in the Tyrol

We woke up to another beautiful clear day today. A perfect day for a hike in the local mountains! Laura did some research last night and found the perfect destination in nearby Mutters. With the city pass we received from the hotel we were able to take a tram to the town for free. It got us pretty close to a tram that took us into the alpine area. That also did not cost us anything because we had the pass.

Our hike destination was one of the hilltops further up the mountain. The trail was a combination of gravel road, grassy slope and narrower trail. Much of it was uphill and definitely got our heart rates up! It was a very scenic route with great panoramic views both along the 1 1/2 hour hike as well as at our destination. At the top there was a bench as well as a picnic table where we sat in the sunshine eating our lunch. Soon after our arrival another couple, from Zurich that own a trailer they park in St. Moritz in the winter, arrived and we had a pleasant conversation with them on a variety of topics.

The hike back down to the tram was a lot less work than going up. At the bottom we walked a short distance back to the tram stop and only had to wait a couple of minutes for the ride back into Innsbruck. Once back, we found an outdoor cafe on a popular pedestrian street in town and had beverages. I ordered a Radler, thinking it was a brand of Austrian beer. It’s actually like a Shandy which is a mix of beer and lemon soda. I actually liked it! Laura had an alcohol free beer. She has come to like that as a cold drink option.

From here we walked back to our hotel to freshen up and get ready for a dinner out. We decided to check out Vapiano, a pasta and pizza restaurant. It’s setup much like a Noodlebox in that if you order pasta, you choose your type of dish and your choice of noodle as well as other ingredients. The difference though is that you have a personal chef preparing the dish right in front of you! As the chef was preparing my dish we realized that it was a big quantity of pasta. So, we decided to order just the one meal and split it between us. Along with a 3/4 l bottle of sparkling mineral water the meal cost us about $25. Well within our budget.

With it being such a nice night, we decided to do a last walking tour around the city before heading back to the hotel. We found a few streets we had not yet walked and discovered a beautiful church as well as a few other notables we had missed on previous walks. Back at the hotel it was time to pack up and get ready for our early start and long train trip tomorrow.Read more