Innsbruck in Austria was our first stop. I cannot remember much about which way we started off but we did use the Brenner Pass to reach Innsbruck itself.
Just outside the city we had stopped to decide on our plan of attack when a Greek came over to us to enquire about the mountain passes and were they open. We had seen a few snowflakes but nothing to worry about. He seemed happy with this and went on his way.
One thing Ian and Guzzisue do when they decide to stop somewhere for a couple of days is to go to the nearest tourist information centre and book a hotel. By doing this they can find one in their price range and make sure there is somewhere to park the Guzzi.
The Hotel Royal was thus booked and was situated near to the old town above a cinema. Ian had to go round part of the city twice as he rode straight past it. It was difficult to see the main door I must admit.
Once out of the riding gear it was time for a quick look round before the rain caught up with us again and led to an early night.
Next day it was a dash between showers as we tried to play at tourists as we went up the StadtturmTower which was built in 1440. This gave us a view of Innsbruck’s rooftops and mountains. We would also have had a bird’s eye view of the building with a golden roof if it was not having some work done to it, however was a tarpaulin covering it that had been painted to look like the building itself.
Back on ground level we went into the Dom zu St. Jakob. Although none of us are religious it does not stop us from being interested in the arcititure of churches. Inside was very ornate and bright. If churches back home in England were like this I wonder if Christianity in any form would be stronger today.
A walk away from the town centre took us all the way to the Bergisel Stadion which was built for the Winter Olympics in 1964 and used again in 1976. There is a great view over the city from up here and in summer the bottom acts as a concert venue with 40,000 seats!
As usual on the way back to the hotel my friends were being nosey and spotted two bikes lurking in back gardens.
Tomorrow onwards to Germany.
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