A busy day with lots of activities. One measure: We took 627 pictures today. The previous high on this trip was 431 when we did the auto tour way back last Saturday. A total of 2,799 so far with tomorrow yet to go. Because of the number of pictures to process and the late hour (it’s almost 11 PM as I type). I’m going to post this epistle and maybe a picture or two. I’ll try to get the pictures processed and posted soon. I’ll let you know when they’re ready.
First stop today: an hour’s drive to Innsbruck and an Olympic ski jumping facility. You’ve probably seen ski jumping on TV: take off, flight, landing. Next jumper. What made this special was being close to the action and meeting a guy whose passion in life is jumping.
Our guide for this activity, Thomas, is a 28-year-old guy who once had dreams of a pro career but now jumps as a hobby and gives demonstrations for groups like ours. He started skiing at age 3 and jumping not too soon thereafter. While a good jumper, he never made the cut for World Cup or Olympic competitions so at age 21 he went back to school and today is a university research assistant. What a great guy: one with a burning love of the sport but who balances that with a healthy and seemingly happy life outside the sport.
Thomas did two jumps, as did a second jumper (who just this year retired from the pro circuit). Three other current pros were practicing so we got to witness maybe 10 jumps. The weather, forecast to be rain and cold turned sunny and warm. Thomas’s final jump, which he described as pretty good at 128 meters, equaled and beat several of the pros’ jumps. The old guy still has it in him. We viewed jumps at the top as they took off, midway down the track just before launch, at the landing zone and at the bottom of the hill.
Next, a local guide named Luc gave us a humorous walking tour of Innsbruck. Highlights: the Hapsburgs and their many inbred marriages and the founding of medieval Innsbruck. Two pairs of character actors brought some of the history to life. Innsbruck (translated as the bridge over the Inn River) came to life as a trading center. The location is near the lowest pass in the Alps between Italy and Austria and hence the Hapsburg Empire. A bridge opened a trading route; the toll paid to cross the bridge became a cash cow that financed the building of the city and its many cathedrals and churches.
Charlotte recommended a restaurant featuring traditional Austrian food for our “on your own” lunch. Carter put one foot in the joint and said, “This isn’t going to work. Give me your phone, Grampa.” Within 15 minutes we were seated at a pizza and burger joint where we had two pizzas and three drinks for 21 Euros. Kid knows how to save his grandpa some serious change and find food that satisfies. We topped it off with an ice cream, of course.
Back to the Aqua Dome hotel. Nap time was jettisoned in favor of hitting the swimming holes this place is famous for. There are three pools built on interconnected pedestals featuring, from top to bottom, a sulfur pool, a salt pool and a plain old water pool, each heated to 95 degrees. We spent maybe 15 minutes in each. There were probably 75 or so folks in each without feeling too awfully crowded. At ground level we waded in a walking pool, that included a whirlpool and a passageway into a large indoor pool. Not many photos of this activity since we were parading around in our swimsuits without a convenient way to bring an iPhone. Sorry.
That left us with an hour to get ready for the evening entertainment. A 20-minute bus ride brought us to Otzi Village (two dots over the O, please. Don’t remember how to do it). Otzi, you may recall, is a mummified body uncovered in 1991 not far from here. Turns out Otzi was a stone age man (copper age, more precisely) who lived, and died, about 5,300 years ago. Because he fell into a pond that froze over soon after he died, his body and many of his artifacts, remained intact until discovered by two mountain hikers.
Otzi was apparently a 48-year-old shaman of his village. He was murdered, as evidenced by an arrowhead stuck in his left shoulder. Why he was murdered is unclear. Many of his worldly possessions were found near his body. His gut contents revealed what he ate before his death. Medical analysis of his body revealed a litany of illness and conditions, ranging from heart disease, dental problems and severe arthritis.
Otzi Village is a recreation of Otzi’s life, death and supposed living conditions based on the evidence revealed by the discovery of his body. The museum here contains replicas of the original items. Otzi’s body and his belongings are in a museum in Italy. Turns out that his remains fell about 90 meters on the Italian side of the border. Austria had to turn over the body and artifacts to the Italians.
We divided into two groups. The kids went to a campfire and cooked their dinner (chicken, sausage, vegetables, bread and marshmallows) over the fire. Carter said he did OK but the raw dough tasted better than the cooked version so why bother cooking?
The adults went to a small restaurant that served a salty but tasty soup, a sausage-like, vegetable filled item of some sort, accompanied by pasta (potato pasta, maybe?) and strudel. The big deal for us was a husband-and-wife duo, guitar and a double-barreled accordion-like device. They put on quite a show, playing traditional Alpine songs (sounds much like polka music), drinking songs and yodeling. Before we were through, they had us all yodeling and up dancing to the music. The kids joined us and they switched to popular songs the kids could dance to. A fun time was had by all.
Tomorrow, we leave at 8 AM for Munich and our final day on the Tauck tour. There’s to be a city tour and the farewell dinner. Departure for everyone but the two of us is Sunday.
Carter’s dad Jeff flew into Munich this morning and will fly home with Carter on Sunday morning, leaving Judy and I to our own devices. Today, Jeff visited the concentration camp at Dachau and tomorrow plans to do a tour of two castles in the Munich area.
Judy and I think we’ll do the Dachau trip on Sunday. Monday we’re picking up our rental car in Munich and driving a couple of hours to Salzburg to begin the next leg of this three-legged journey. Stay tuned!
