Today is our second day in Innsbruck. Well, actually, we are not in Innsbruck, but in a small town outside of Innsbruck called Igls. We both slept in a little today, we were only planning on going into Innsbruck today, and possibly riding to the nearby mountain top called “The Top Of Innsbruck” on a series of two different cable cars and a funicular.
I have been fighting a slight head cold for a couple of days now, and today started out OK. I was not feeling bad, just congested, and had a slight tickle cough. However, I felt good enough to go into Innsbruck. We got ready and ate some breakfast items we had picked up in the grocery store yesterday.
We left the apartment about 9:30 AM and headed downhill to the nearby bus stop, about 5 blocks away. We just missed a bus, but they arrive every 10 minutes, so there is never a long wait for the next one. We boarded the next bus and headed into Innsbruck. We got off at the Museum stop and it was just a short walk, via Google Maps directions of course, to the Hungerburg Funicular. We purchased two tickets to do the “Top of Innsbruck” experience. The cost was Euro 80.00 for us both. This gives us access to the Funicular and two different cable cars to ride up to the top.
Hungerburg Funicular At The Top Station
The Hungerburg is a modern funicular compared to most, it was built in 2007. It was sleek looking and since part of the ride was flat and part was sloped, the cars were on an automatic hydraulic system that kept each of the six cars level.
Hungerburg Funicular Station
We made a couple of stops before arriving at the final stop at the top funicular station and then boarded a cable car to go up to the next station called Seegrube, at 1950 meters in elevation.
From there we took the last cable car to the Hafelekar station at 2,300 meters in elevation.
The last cable car was a little unique, it used only a single car that went both up and down, it did not have an opposing car for a counterweight, just a large sled of weights to assist with balancing the weight of the cable operation.
Cable Car to the Top of Innsbruck
Normally, there is a car at both ends, and we pass in the middle. Not in this case, we just passed the sled of weights.
It was a little cloudy at the top and quite windy, which made it feel a little chilly. We had to get out more clothes from our backpacks, but luckily we were prepared. We knew better about taking more layers for warmth after our somewhat ill prepared trip to the rainy/snowy mountaintop in Pontresina a few days ago.
Views From The Top
There was a climb to actually get to the top of the peak we were on, and it was quite steep, but manageable. We took our time and after about 15 minutes, we made it to the top.
Unfortunately, with the upslope winds blowing in from the direction of Innsbruck, the more humid air was condensing into clouds as it blew up the mountain, so we were not getting a good clear view of Innsbruck below.
Views From The Top
However, on the opposite side, the views were spectacular and clear. We spent a little time at the top enjoying the views, and then stopped at several locations on the way down to take photos of the two of us with the tripod.
It was starting to feel cold, and the wind seemed to be picking up, so we headed back to the station and waited on the next available car to go down.
Skier Warning Sign – 70 Degree Slopes
While inside the station, we saw some warning signs for skiers. This is all a ski area, and the cable cars are just part of the ski lift system in the winter. One sign warned of 70 degree slopes, and that there was possible danger. Really, 70 degree ski slopes might be dangerous!!. That is about a 20 Black Dimond rating in the USA.
We did not have long to wait until we were heading back down to the middle station at Seegrube.
Relaxing at the Cloud 9 Bar
We headed outside to a large deck and went and sat in some reclining wooden seats. The bar was appropriately called the Cloud 9 Bar, and we could see, or actually not see, why. This entire area was in a cloud, and the visibility was only about 100 yards. It was interesting to see several short grass covered ramps, about 20 feet long that just left the deck perimeter wall, and stopped, hanging out over what appeared to be nothing. I believe these were launch points for skiers, maybe with all of the snow in the winter time, it was not a steep drop off, but it was intimidating looking none the less. I guess people who learn to ski here are good, there are certainly a lot of ski areas, and no where did we see any type of slope level of difficulty designations like green, blue or black.
It was getting cool without any sun, so we headed back into the station and rode back down to the lower cable car station. On the last portion of the ride into the station, we saw what looked like a nice place to eat outside on the street level, and there were quite a few folks eating there. After leaving the cable car station, we walked over and looked at the menu posted outside, and it was quite extensive, and reasonably priced. I guess we need to adjust our expectation now that we are out of Switzerland. The only problem is that the Euro is worth more then the Swiss Franc, and both are worth more than the dollar, so we need to take that into consideration, but all the food seems a lot cheaper since we left Switzerland, even if it is just mental.
We sat in a covered inside area, and there were only a few people there besides us, other than a large party of about 20 people sitting near the back. At first, they were quite loud, but they were already finished eating and left right about the time we ordered, and it was quiet once they were gone. We had to show our Swiss Vaccine Certificates on the phone app to our waiter before ordering our food. It is so nice to have that permanent certificate now without having to do repeated testing every 48 hours. We also had to fill out a contact tracing form in case there was any outbreak of Covid at the restaurant. They really take Covid seriously here. With all of that proof comes the freedom of not having to wear a mask at the restaurant, so that was certainly a benefit.
We both ordered a 0.5 L draft beer, and I ordered a cup of chicken noodle soup, and a plate of Spätzli noodles, served in a cream sauce with cheese and ham. Stephanie ordered a Weiner Schnitzel with fries.
Lunch Time!
Everything was great, and it was too much to eat, especially for a lunch. Neither of us finished, we were just too full. With full bellies, we hobbled over to the funicular to ride back down into the Innsbruck City Center.
We used our Google Maps App to find our way over to the Old Town area. It was only a few blocks away from the funicular station, and took just a few minutes to walk there. It was amazing how we went from a hardly busy street to a street packed with people in Old Town.
Old Town Innsbruck
The entire Old Town area is pedestrian only, and it was full of fellow tourists. We went by one of the landmark buildings, the Golden Roof. The top portion of the building has gold embossed shingles and the building has some historical significance that we may add later after looking it back up.
We spent the next hour or so just walking the streets of Old Town, Stephanie was looking for some inexpensive souvenirs for some of her work friends. She went inside a couple of touristy shops, but was not satisfied with what she saw, so we continued down the main street looking for other souvenir shops.
The Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof)
Unfortunately, after walking a few more blocks, we had not found any more souvenir stores, so we headed back to the first shop and she went ahead and purchased the items there. I just waited outside, not wanting to have to put on my mask to go inside. I was getting very tired by this point from my cold, I did not feel bad, just tired.
We had seen a Spar grocery while walking at the farthest point of Old Town, and it was also near the stop for the J Bus Line, which would take us back to Igls and our apartment. We were so full from lunch that we knew eating out for dinner was out of the question, and we were also tired, at least I was.
Old Town Innsbruck
Our plan was to pick up our “go to” dinner, Penne Pasta with Arabbiatta sauce and some bread and have that for a lighter dinner. If we shopped for the necessary groceries here, it would avoid us having to shop at the Spar in Igls, which is not that close to our apartment. We would either have to make a couple of additional connections on the same J Bus route, or walk farther back to get home from that Spar near the apartment.
Unfortunately, the Spar here in Innsbruck Old Town was really small and so we decided just to check out the one back in Igls. We went to the bus stop and caught the J Bus back toward Igls. We only went about a block before we saw another much larger Spar Grocery, and right next to it was a large Aldi. We got off the bus at the next stop, about two blocks past those stores. Luckily this Spar was much larger, and so we loaded up with supplies for dinner and for happy hour.
Once our shopping was completed, we headed back to the same bus stop where we had gotten off just a little while ago, and only had to wait a few minutes before the next bus arrived. We did not have seats at first, but after a couple of stops, seats opened up and we could relax for the remainder of the ride back to Igls. Once we arrived back in the small town, we were glad we were not stopping at the Spar there, it was right between bus stops and we would have to do a lot more walking, and the store there did not seem that large either.
It was bad enough that we had to walk the several blocks from the nearest bus stop to our apartment, and it was also all uphill. We were tired and now we were also toting a fair amount of weight in groceries, bottled water and wine.
Once back at the apartment, I was feeling really tired, and the apartment was a little chilly inside to me. It was about 50 degrees outside, but they had not yet turned on the heat for the winter. Their system utilizes hot water circulated in radiators for heating. I just relaxed on the couch and got one of the duvets off of the bed to try and warm up. Stephanie sat outside in the sunshine, and actually talked to the lady who ran the apartment building and her granddaughter. However, once the sun went behind the mountain, even she was cold inside the apartment, so we bundled up together on the couch and watched TV, of course it was all in German.
We video called Mom on WhatsApp to wish her a Happy Birthday, and spoke with her for a while. It is amazing how well that works on a good Internet connection.
We had a glass or two of wine and just relaxed after our tiring day in Innsbruck. Eventually, we had to start getting dinner ready, so while Stephanie showered, I put on a pot of water to heat it up for the pasta. Once she was done, we started the pasta and also heated the sauce. We tried to use the oven to heat our bread, but the knob to turn on the oven only spun in circles, and never actually turned the oven on. We had flashbacks from our trip to Positano, Italy in 2019, we had the same problem there with a broken oven knob to heat our bread. Luckily, this knob, although broken, still gave us access to the protruding metal piece underneath, and I could turn it on with my small multi-tool that we always carry, problem solved. It still irritated us, these units need to be maintained better, but maybe no one had told the owner it was broken, for fear of being charged for a repair. We planned to let them know about it at check-out tomorrow morning.
We finished our cooking and sat down to eat, and it was really tasty. We only cooked half of the pasta, we knew cooking it all was way too much. We planned on keeping the leftover sauce to go with the uncooked leftover pasta, but then realized that we were going to hotels for the next two nights and would not have a refrigerator. We just kept the uncooked pasta, and threw the sauce away.
We put the dishes into the dishwasher that we planned to start in the morning after we finished breakfast. We were planning to sleep in a little in the morning and check-out by 10:00 AM, which was the latest time allowed. It is not a far drive to our next location, and we did not want to get there too early before the check-in time.
I showered, and we just relaxed a bit before heading to bed about 9:45 PM. I was hoping that I would feel better tomorrow, but took two Nighttime Nyquil Gel Tabs to try and make sure I got a good nights sleep. Stephanie was starting to have a little bit of a scratchy throat, so we thought she was just a couple of days behind me with getting this same cold, but we hoped not.